Welcome back by Houston by Houston
Good afternoon
Good afternoon, and welcome to the City Council meeting of Tuesday, January 6th
2026 happy new year everybody before I take roll. I will go over speaker card instructions
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On roll are council members Brown.
Excuse.
Council member Fythe.
Council member Gallo is participating
under the assembly bill 2449 participation rules.
So I would defer to the council president for that.
Council member Gallo, are there any adults in the room
with you, 18 or over?
No.
No, there isn't.
Thank you.
OK.
and a reminder your camera has to be on.
Thank you.
It is, can you hear me?
It's on.
Okay.
Thank you, Council Member.
Thank you, Council Member Gallo.
Council Member Houston.
Thank you.
Council Member Ramachandran.
Present.
Council Member Unger.
Present.
Council Member Wong.
Present.
And Chair Jenkins.
Present.
Showing seven members present at this time.
Do you have any announcements before we begin?
announcements. No announcements moving to item three which is modifications to the agenda and
procedural items. Any modifications? Seeing none. Going to item four, consideration of items with
statutory public hearing requirements. There are none on this agenda. Moving to item five which
is action on the non-consent calendar starting with item 5.1. Adopt a resolution calling giving
giving notice for the holding
of a special municipal election on June 2nd,
2026 for the purpose of submitting to the voters
a measure that would amend the city charter section 2601
to among other things expand the eligibility
for members of the Police and Fire Retirement Systems Board
and change the board meeting frequency from monthly
to no less than quarterly,
requesting consolidation of the special municipal election
with the statewide direct primary election
to be held in the city of Oakland on June 2nd, 2026,
directing the city clerk to take any and all actions
necessary under law to submit this measure to voters
at the June 2nd, 2026 election
and making appropriate CEQA findings.
You do have two speakers on this item.
Councilmember, you presented this before.
How many minutes will you need?
Three minutes.
All right.
This is the PIFRS ballot measure,
which we have presented a few times.
PIFRS is a closed-end pension fund for police and fire
that has been closed for many, many years.
We have fewer than 600 members in that account now.
It is almost 99% funded, I believe.
So the money is there, but what's happening is that
because the members are elderly,
we are having trouble getting them to regular meetings.
we require monthly meetings and participation
of only members of the PFERS board.
Because many of them are in retirement homes
and many of them, the average age is over 80,
we are no longer able to get them to meetings.
So we are trying to change the requirements
of the meetings so that this board can continue to meet.
It is fully funded.
There are no issues with this board.
It's working well.
So we are changing, we are asking the voters
to change a couple of things
because this is a charter amendment.
It has to go directly to the voters.
Basically, we are changing the frequency with which they meet
and changing the membership so that current members
of the police department and fire department,
or sorry, retired members of the police and fire department
who are not necessarily in PFS can be members of this board.
There are no fiscal impacts to this.
As I said, the fund is fully funded.
And in fact, we had been collecting a tax from voters
over the past several decades.
Two years ago, half of that tax rolled off.
In a couple of years, an additional amount of money
will roll off, so the average amount
is for an assessed value of a million dollar home.
About $1,500 worth of taxes have rolled off 750 a couple years
ago and another 750 upcoming in the next several years.
So this is one of the rare occasions
where we're actually seeing a reduction in taxes.
And in closing, I just would like
to take a moment to honor Chief John Speakman.
He was a firefighter for 42 years.
I'm sorry, and was a member of this board.
He just passed last week.
He gave many, many years of honorable service
to this board.
And the fact that these members are aging
and I think that's what we're
going to do is we're going to
look at the underlines why we
need to make these changes so.
That is all I have. Thank you.
Thank you with thirty seconds
remaining would you like to.
Close this meeting in memory.
Okay okay any questions from the
council members. Councilmember
Houston yeah I like to move it I
know we got to hear the audience
and I spoke to under this
morning it sounds good and I
love it I love. Got a motion
let's say anger moved it and then Houston seconded we have two speakers as
a car your name please support support him in any order please state your name
for the record before beginning if you are participating via zoom please raise
your hands so I can easily identify you mr. sadha ola bala and mr. hazard so I
take issue Oh a side only bow I take issue with 80s being necessarily
non-functional people. I'm B81 this year and I'm very functional, so I just don't think
that's valid. We have a lot of people in their 80s. I also take issue with the change for
eligibility is not clear. It just says someone can be a member of the system with no qualifications
whatsoever, you don't identify any qualifications, so.
But the real issue is when 90% of your police department
doesn't live in Oakland, I'm sure it's a challenge
to get people once they leave the system,
no longer living here, to wanna participate
in anything in Oakland.
I don't know if there is a cost involved
in putting the item on the ballot.
And if that is a cost, what is that cost
and what is the source of funding for placing on the ballot, the item.
And lastly, I think that seven members is going to remain, and I'm not clear if you're
going to change, and meeting four times a year and not every month, some explanation
for reducing it to just four times a year if you thought it was necessary.
But I just want to emphasize again, people in their 80s are still vital and I don't know
what group this is, but I got a lot of energy at approaching 81.
For the record, Gene has it.
Vote no on this proposed measure.
Ninety percent of the officers live outside of this city.
We're going to accommodate them and then they're going to go to San Ramon, Antioch, and wherever
less they live.
And also, there are other hidden agendas on this,
just like there were hidden agendas on measure XXN22.
They put out their term limits for council members,
but that was not the issue.
They changed the Roberts rules.
They asked for increase in salary
for the city attorney and the city auditor.
And even in the special election of April 15th,
it was a transaction of use tax, not a sales tax.
But the city voters are paying a sales tax that
wouldn't, in fact, October 1.
Do not support anything that this council puts on the agenda.
They didn't go and circulate a petition,
But they come up with their hidden agendas.
And I guarantee you, there's hidden agendas in this measure.
This council has a pattern and practice
to deceive the public, Mr. Unger.
And so it's not as glorified as they would have you to believe.
80 years of age, 90% of our officers live outside of Oakland?
what are we paying for them to live elsewhere.
It'll be different if they were here in this town.
Go check the record.
Thank you, Mr. Houser.
We have a motion and a second.
Oh, council member Houston.
Yes, I like to just state that I don't agree with 90%
of the individuals that live somewhere else
that are working here.
but we can't stipulate that.
I mean, I don't know how we able to stipulate,
can't stipulate that.
Because I would like the officers and firefighters
to live here in Oakland,
because you know I'm about Oakland first, right?
Oakland first, Oakland first, Oakland first.
So, but that's one thing I don't like,
but we can't stipulate that.
So I moved it and let's keep it going.
Thank you, Celia.
Celia Warren, Office of the City Attorney.
I am also the parliamentarian
for the Police and Fire Retirement Board,
And I helped them draft this proposed measure
to send to the council for approval to send to the voters.
And I just wanna reiterate and reassure everyone
that the PIFRS board themselves approved
these changes to the charter.
They themselves are in their 80s
and they are looking down the road to the future
when they're approaching their 90s
and needing to be at these meetings.
And that it was their idea to push to be able
to expand the membership of the board
because they have reported that they have trouble
finding members within their system
to actually attend these meetings
which require in-person participation.
So they asked to be able to expand their membership
and to reduce the frequency of the meetings
from monthly to quarterly, to no less than quarterly.
So they can still absolutely meet monthly
if they need to do so.
But given the financial status of the system,
it's in great it's in great shape right now it just and they have over time
de-risk the system so there's less and less for them to actually monitor and
meet on a monthly basis for anyway so this is again driven by the police and
fire retirement board and they are asking the council to approve this and
again it has to go to the voters because it's a charter amendment
unfortunately thank you thank you seeing no more comments
motion to adopt the staff. I'm a
is with a vote of seven ayes, one excused, Brown.
I believe that was your only non-consent item.
Going to item six, which is the consent calendar,
starting with item 6.1, approval of the draft,
minutes from the meeting of December 16th.
Item 6.2, a declaration of a local emergency
due to the AIDS epidemic.
Item 6.3, a declaration of a medical emergency
due to cannabis.
Item 6.4, a declaration of a local emergency
due to homelessness, item 6.5 is amendments to ordinance
number 12187, which is the salary ordinance.
Action on this item will result in final passage.
Item 6.6 is the ordinance amending the Oakland Campaign
Reform Act.
Action on this item will also result in final passage.
Item 6.7 regarding the 27th Street Complete Streets
Construction Contract Award.
item 6.8 a resolution regarding a settlement for Twombly versus the City of Oakland, item
6.9 appointments to the Mayor's Commission on Persons with Disabilities, item 6.10 a
resolution for appointments of the Commission on Homelessness, and item 6.11 appointments
to the Civil Service Board, item 6.12 a resolution for the Oakland Alameda County JPA appointment,
and you do have speakers on this item.
Any comments from the council members?
Council member Fyfe?
Yes, President Jenkins, can you hear me?
Yes, we can hear you.
Noel Guywood.
Huh?
Yes, we can hear you, council member.
Yes, item 6.7, the contract,
this before us regarding 27th street,
I'd like to register a no vote,
And the reason being is that I still believe strongly
that we need to keep our contractors in Oakland
employed doing business.
And based on the presentation the second the second bidder
is local and yet the contractor are local contractors
and I want to support that we invest the money
and local contractors because not only are they here
doing the work but they're also part of the Mandela Training Center where we
train our young people and they wind up being working for the local contractors
and so I'm gonna support that we go with the second bidder as opposed to taking
an outside contractor from the city of Louisville. Councilmember will register
your no vote on item 6.7 I believe you said that is. Yep okay Councilmember 5.
Thank you, President Jenkins, for the recognition. I wanted to discuss this
item briefly because I pulled it from the last agenda and it was put on
today's agenda because of the explosion that is under investigation by the
National Transportation Safety Board for the incident that happened in Hayward.
I'm not ascribing blame to Regwick for this particular incident and I had a
conversation with the city administrator's office as well as the
city attorney's office and want to say that I'm okay with the city not having
liability in this particular contract because of the insurance policy held by
this company. But I also share in some of the concerns that are being raised
about our
our contracting process and how it impacts minority contractors. These two
things are completely separate and not related. But I was happy to meet with our staff today
about how we plan on moving forward with ensuring a process that is equitable for our contractors.
There's not a lot I can say because it's not agendized about how we plan on moving forward,
but I also share some of the concerns as expressed by my colleague, and I know some of my other
colleagues share those concerns as well but I wanted to to state why I pulled
this from the agenda initially and those initial issues have been addressed by
our city attorney. Thank you councilmember five councilmember Houston.
Yes on item 6.12 I'd like to speak and say a few things on that item okay say
it now oh okay I get to speak ahead all right so we have David Newton we're
appointing to the JPA and Mike went off. I'm not sure if you got anyone had the
chance to meet with this gentleman or speak to this gentleman. He's eloquent,
he's brilliant and I sit on the JPA and it's going to be an honor, an honor to
have David Newton to sit on the JPA with me because he knows real estate, he
understands real estate. There's a big real estate transaction that's going on.
So I just wanted to speak that I'm so happy that
President that you chose David Newton for to sit on there, which
Is was a great great choice and he's out in audience right now
Councilmember Houston
In accordance with our contract with a SCG. Did you get permission from a SCG for this appointment? Yes
They sent the email out and they said that they
Recommend are they approve of David Newton's appointment also. Shall I say OAC Oakland acquisition group? Yes, they did. Okay
else
Seeing none. Let's go to public comment
As a current name, please approach the podium in any order
Please state your name for the record before beginning if you're on zoom your name is called
Please raise your hand so I can easily identify you miss Asada Ola Bala. I have you for all items on consent
Isaiah Daniels Kevin Patrick Hester
Bruce
Grom or is it growing Derek Barnes. I have you with three items
Kevin Dally
Jennifer Siebert
Stanley Cooper
Eric
Castellan
Sam right rahabbi
Bob rahabbi Blair Beekman. I have you with
three items
And Mr. Hazard I have you with all items as well in any any order
Please approach the podium again raise your hand and zoom if your name was called so I can easily identify you and you still wish to
speak. Thank you
Hello, my name is Barbara Heavey. I'm president of intellectual construction company for the record council member
Gallo, we are a local business in Oakland. We started off with small local business. We moved here in
2012 we have been here for 14 years
We are on our contract, we have a very small local business, CEO construction,
which he is here and he will speak.
In regards to the incident over in Hayward on December 11th, the lateral was not hit
by a Jesuit construction company nor an employee of a Jesuit construction company.
It was hit by another company at 7.30 in the morning on December 11th.
PG&E took control of the site at 740 a.m.,
and the explosion happened at 939 a.m.
We were working two blocks away,
and we were not within the vicinity of the explosion.
So that is under.
Council Member Houston.
Can we ask a couple questions to the president?
Can I?
The gentleman?
A few.
A few.
So, what local participation are individuals or companies
that you've hired in the last year or two years
are just being, so you just said that you started off
as a small local business, correct?
That is correct.
And hold on, hold on.
And you went through the SLBE program?
We did, and our volume increased.
Hold on, hold on, I'm gonna ask over,
just give me some yeses and noes.
And then, how long did it take you to go,
What did you start off with?
What was your company size when you started off?
The company was started in 1947.
When I purchased it, it was much smaller.
So when I moved it to Oakland after I purchased it,
and we were doing about $7 million a year
when we moved to Oakland.
And how many employees did you have
when you started off as a small local business?
We had about 10.
And you owned it how long?
I have owned it since 2005.
this is what I want to say
okay I'm a pass it to my
council on.
Councilmember five.
So thank you for sharing about
the incident I want to be
absolutely clear that the reason
I raise it is because I wanted
to ensure that the city of
Oakland was not would not be
held liable.
At while this investigation was
moving forward so in in thank
you for sharing that it was not
caused the explosion there.
Who was it then?
It was a subcontractor to Redgwick
and it's under the NTSB investigation,
but it was not a Redgwick itself.
So it was that subcontractor contracted by Redgwick?
It was contracted by Redgwick,
but there are not on the 27th Avenue contract.
Thank you.
One more question.
Were they listed to be on that contract for 27th?
Were they listed?
No.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, sir.
Ms. Charlene.
Hi, one more question to red brick.
Bob, one more question.
So it sounds like the subcontractor was the one that
was at fault or whatever language you wanna use,
but I'm wondering if there was a coordination piece
that you all as the prime were responsible for
and if you can speak to that,
like coordination with PG&E, et cetera.
Well, the prime is always responsible.
So, you know, there is a subcontractor works
under the prime contractor.
So it's a project that Regwick had
and they were on that project,
but they're the ones who hit it, and it was not Regwick.
And so in retrospect, what was the,
what was ultimately the issue that came out in Hayward
and how can we prevent that from happening in Oakland?
It was a mechanical failure on a piece of equipment
that hit a lateral that fed the main line.
But it was not.
It was just an equipment failure that a guard on a piece
of equipment dropped down and hit a lateral.
I think you're free to leave now, Bob.
We need to let the public comment.
Can we save the rest of our questions for Bob towards him?
So Bob you'll come back up here after everyone's spoke.
Yes, good afternoon.
My name is Eric Castellan.
I am the president of CAU company.
I am a listed subcontractor for the 27th Street Project.
I am an Oakland resident.
My business is also small local business out of Oakland.
I am here to tell you guys
to support Regwick that has been mentoring me
throughout my two years here in Oakland.
They have effectively listed me in multiple projects
throughout the city of Oakland
and through the unified school districts
of the city of Oakland.
They have effectively communicated with me,
invited me to bids, not only in Oakland,
but throughout the greater Bay Area.
and I am here to support them to provide you guys
to award them and that basically will give me
a contract as a listed subcontractor.
Ultimately, our staff is depending on it
and I'm depending on it as well.
This project bid on June 5th
and we have been patiently waiting.
Thank you.
Can we wait?
But council member, if you wanna go right now, please.
Due to chair, come up young man.
what type of work do you self-perform?
I do underground utilities.
You self-perform it?
Yes.
And how many people do you have in your company?
I have three employees with me.
Okay, thank you.
I'm very small, sorry.
Thank you.
Thank you, next speaker.
Sam Rahibi, a proud member of District 7.
Retro Construction is proudly Oakland.
We're proudly local, through and through.
I've been working for a red book since I've been 13
And I've been driving to Oakland every single day,
every summer, throughout school.
And I'm very proud of Oakland.
And that's why I'm proud of the work we do.
We're stationed here in Oakland.
I personally drive to Oakland every single day.
Additionally, we're the low bidder for 27th Street
by a million dollars.
We're a million dollars lower.
These are Oakland dollars, community dollars,
million dollars which could be saved by Oakland which could be used to build
the city and further improve the city which we all love thank you as council
member Houston said Oakland first council member Houston sorry um what
city are you driving from to Oakland to come to Oakland I actually moved to
San Francisco asking your direct question what city are you driving to I
I mean from to come to Oakland San Francisco, okay. Thank you
Thank you
Hello. My name is Jennifer Ben Ford Cybert's and I'm here to speak on the awarding of the contract and
By accepting the bid from redwick
it doesn't it reflects a more restrictive list of subcontractors lack of diversity and
is not as diverse as the list provided by McGuire and Hester.
Number two, I'm not in favor on behalf of either of myself
as a constituent in district seven and six, I straddle both.
Although it is the lowest bid,
that also means lower tax revenue through the taxes
from the permits that they would have to pay for.
And also, if it is the lowest bid,
that also means that they're paying the employees
more than likely lower and less revenue
coming back from the local economy from those employees that would be working
here they'd have less money to spend and number three this bid fails to
support the disparity study from 2017 where there were thank you ma'am your
time is up good afternoon my name is Kevin Hester so born and raised in
Oakland California I work for a company McGuire and Hester we're this year we're
celebrating our 100th year also founded in Oakland. So one thing I got that goofy
last name Hester, about 20 years ago McGuire and Hester turned into a hundred
percent ESOP owned company so although I definitely have something to do with the
management of the company I'm representing 200 plus employee owners
for this contract. As I said before, about 10 years ago, McGuire and Hester had the
opportunity to do a mentor protege similar to what we're doing right now,
what we'd like to do right now with Cooper with Geron Construction. At the
time Geron, this was in San Francisco, Geron was doing, had probably about 10
employees and was doing about two to three million dollars worth of
work a year. Today, Jaron Construction has over 50 employees and it's probably doing
40 to 50 million dollars. McGuire and Hester would like this opportunity to have the same
success with Cooper Engineering. We really want the council to invest in a local contractor
and we want and we think that we can work together
and give Cooper the same opportunity
and mentorship that we gave to Ron.
Thank you.
Good evening everyone.
My name is Isaiah Daniels.
I'm a superintendent for Cooper Construction and Engineers.
First of all, I wanna say that we're advocating
for McGuire and Hester.
We've been on a few projects with them now
and it's, you know, they're, you can say for a small company
right out of Oakland, they're very nurturing as far
as helping us get to where we need to be.
We've been on a couple of projects with them now.
They have been a great success.
And this success is not only to the construction work we're doing,
but it's also to the uniting with the community around us.
I remember as I first drove into Oakland, I'm here at probably
around 5, 5.15 in the morning walking the streets of Oakland.
And I remember the looks I used to get.
Now I get a bunch of waves, hello, good morning,
I even get coffee on some occasions, you know.
So what I'm getting at is that we're right here
out of Oakland, the owner of this here company
is born right here in Oakland.
I make sure that my crew is hot.
Thank you, Mr. Daniels, your time is up.
Can I get two minutes, find a chance?
I'm the owner of Cooper Construction Engineering.
We'll have to be fair to all our speakers,
how many items did you sign up for?
I signed up for this right here.
Last time I was here, I had people yield,
and they told me that they couldn't yield,
so I didn't even do all of that this time.
So you signed up for one item?
Just to speak on 6.7.
Thank you so much.
Okay, hello, City Council.
Hi, my name is Stanley Cooper.
I'm the proud owner of Cooper Construction and Engineering
right here out of Oakland.
I am born and raised right here in Oakland, K through 12,
graduate of Skyline High School and then since then I went on and got
myself educated and I proudly run a civil engineering firm right here in
Oakland. Some of the points that I want to make, I've already told you that I'm
from Oakland, I'm also a very small local business enterprise registered right
here in Oakland. We need to, we need to, we need to support local businesses, you
the city of the city of the
This is a public speakers that yeah no no you want to ask them let's go okay well okay so
it's to the two construction owners we will ask them after the rest of the
speaker speak mr. saddison went impatiently and then I also want to hear
from mr. Newton thank you madam clerk I'm addressing item six point one first
which was the minutes from the last meeting and the public hearing related
to the violations of tree cutting. That baffled me because the question was asked
why it took three years to address the issue and two staff members gave two
different reasons for three years being the amount of time to address it. One
said it was a staffing issue, the other one said a process was not in place. The
The individual who owns the property had intentions of developing the land, and for three years
he's been unable to get a permit.
Let's do something about this, please.
Item 6.4, emergency homelessness.
It is not an emergency.
You have done nothing that's substantial to deal with the homeless situation in this city.
6.5 deals with minimum wage being addressed.
When are you going to address the 9% of unemployment of African Americans in this city?
That's never been addressed.
6.6.
You have a statement that says there's a need to take immediate action to avoid a substantial
adverse impact.
This is related to Campaign Refund Act, but you don't have a need to address the issues
of gentrification and what's happening to the African American community in Oakland,
with the substantial adverse effect impact is taking place.
6.7, the 27th Street complete project,
that's around Lake Merritt in downtown Oakland.
You have 15 projects related to street development
around Lake Merritt.
And some communities in Oakland have no projects going on
to correct street issues.
6.8 is the lawsuit. The lawsuit that you have is another lawsuit in the Department
of Transportation, dangerous condition, $40,000. A bicycle hit a traffic blight when it fell
down. And over and over again lawsuits are going on in the Department of Transportation
and you have not sat down to address how we're going to stop these lawsuits.
6.10, Commission on Homelessness.
That commission, the last time it met was in September 24 to 25, and then before that
June of 2025.
That commission is not meeting sufficiently to deal with homelessness.
And when they did meet, they dealt with something that I found out.
The pet-enchantment policy, they have to review it every year and produce a report to this
body on the encampment policy that has not happened so the the count that's
supposed to go on that is addressing and it said in their meeting that that count
will not produce on the item on that proposed ballot measure mr. solder it
asked how much is it going to cost and councilmember Houston before you became
actively involved a number of years and you question 90% of officers or first
responders that lives outside of Oakland go check the data about 10 years ago
they extended the perimeter to 50 miles okay because folks live outside and there
was going to be some proposed legislation to address that so they
extended the perimeter you can't tell me that 90% of our first responders are
The police officers live outside of this Oakland.
So you go check it, and then come back and tell me.
And why do you keep having cannabis 6.3 as a health
emergency, and you don't deal with fentanyl?
Shame on you.
Every one of you.
Fentanyl is a crisis.
It's killing our children.
And you sit up there, and you don't have it,
but you have cannabis.
I gave you a copy of a draft final.
And you go to clean Oakland dot com, and you will see it.
This relates to the unlawful act that this president did
with suspending rule 29, because the mayor declined
to break the tie.
Let me read something to you.
A tie vote is not broken results in failure as a matter of law.
California law is clear, a failed motion cannot be treated as pending,
cannot be revived by rule suspension and cannot be revolted upon absent or
properly noticed reconsideration consistent with adopted rules due process.
Rule 29 cannot suspend to override a failed vote.
What you did was unlawful, and I'm prepared to do litigation.
If you don't correct this, it's the same crap you did,
and the city attorney defaulted.
They did not respond to my writ on April 15, 2025,
transaction use tax.
The voters in the residents of Oakland
now paying a tax which is illegal that went into effect on the first. I will be
filing the default motion and I'm prepared to go to litigation if you
don't correct the suspension of rule 29. This is unlawful illegal. You're doing
like Trump does. He don't give it a because you didn't. Thank you Mr.
Hazard your time is up. Derek Barnes with East Bay Rental Housing Association. Good
thank you for having me. And
thank you for having me. Thank
you for having me. And thank
you for having me. And thank
you for having me. Thank you
for having me. And thank you
for having me. And thank you
for having me. And thank you
for having me. And thank you
for having me. And thank you
for having me. And thank you
for having me. And thank you
for having me. And thank you
for having me. And thank you
for having me. And thank you
We liked your participation in helping to advance in this coming year.
One is a vacancy and habitability restoration plan.
I've talked to some of you about that already.
Another is affordable housing for OPD and first responders that we heard a little bit
about earlier in today's meeting.
I think we've got a good plan for that.
And finally, a ready-to-own program, which establishes a program and a way for first-time
home owners to get into this tough market, as well as providing some education for our
small owner operators who become rental property owners as well.
We are also going to be releasing a winter housing report coming up.
Some of you have been given some of this information already, and I want to just call your attention
to some of the key data points in that report, being a decline in our small rental property
owners in Oakland but also a decline in the black rental property owners and
homeownership in Oakland as well. And so council president Jenkins we look
forward to following up and following through on some of the proposed
legislation that we talked about last year and council member Wong we look
forward to working with your office in advancing some of the affordable housing
discussions that are critical to our first responders I think we can get some
and win, win, win opportunities here.
And to our dean and our council member, Fife,
my council member, we look forward to working with you
on maintaining and building businesses in D3.
I think that's really important.
That includes things like advancing Costco
and helping to make sure that we can get
those kind of businesses in.
And also creating home ownership and opportunities
through a ready-to-own program that we desperately need.
We've talked about that as well.
hopefully releasing the last racial disparity report. We have to get that
out so we can figure out what we need to do collectively to help our communities
that are under resourced and in desperate need. Councilmember
Houston, public safety, encampment initiatives, illegal dumping activities,
you have our support around that, and Ramachandran and Unger incentives for
We're encouraging more commerce and stabilizing small businesses in Oakland is an imperative.
But please don't forget our small businesses that are rental housing providers as well.
We have I think it's a good plan to get some of those people into the business of rental
housing.
But I think we can do that with creating some incentives in the way that you've suggested
in your in your proposed plan.
So thank you.
And I look forward to working with all of you in twenty twenty six.
Thank you, Mr. Barnes, if your name was called and you are in the chamber, please approach the podium.
Blair Beekman, Bruce, are you in the chamber?
Mr. Beekman, do you wish to speak on this item?
I do not have a card for her.
Hi, thank you, Blair Beekman, happy 2026 to everyone, kind of a tough start.
I want to speak on items 6.1, 6.4, and 6.7.
For 6.7, you guys have been working hard here today on it already, thank you.
I always come in with the procurement process should always have hopefully good practices
of tech accountability involved and what to expect with the tech involved.
How that involves, you know, our local wheelchair community, how they, what their role is in
in this process of decision making and tech accountability,
advocacy, what their role is,
all that goes into the procurement process
that you're deciding today.
Good luck in those efforts
and what the future of our community we're building.
For item 6.4 is an unhoused homeless declaration,
its importance here in Oakland, thank you.
I hope we had, there was some items in 2025
in the fall addressing homeless issues and cleaning issues.
You guys have worked really hard to address different ways
we can talk about keeping our Oakland streets clean.
Thank you, we're trying to find alternative ways
than what was a very strong initiative presented here
that I think we're trying to find ways to mellow
good luck in those efforts, how we can do that.
And to conclude for Item 6.1 on the December 16th meeting
minutes, I just want to say very much of a thank you
in the recent interesting compromise
of agreeing to a two-year Flock AOPR vendor contract,
while also at the same time looking for a new AOPR vendor
in the next two years as well.
Thank you again.
Oakland has simply created a good reference point
of peace and best practices in local community policymaking
and impossible growing time of war.
I hope our local media can learn to more clearly report
on these good ideals
and how we're promoting an Oakland love life philosophy
and policy of do no harm.
It can be a good example for everyone at this time.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Beekman.
Moving to the Zoom speaker again if you're in chambers
and you wish to speak on this item.
The only person I have is Bruce moving to Kevin on Zoom.
I have you with one item for item 6.7.
Please unmute yourself and begin your comments.
Kevin Dalley, Transport Oakland.
I'm speaking in favor of 6.7,
the 27th Street Complete Streets Project.
27th Street is a dangerous street.
We have had fatalities on 27th Street
and near 27th Street over the last year or two.
I also cycle on 27th Street,
look forward to having it made safer.
The contract has been approved
following standard practice since Regwick
is a local company, Hegenberger Court
in Council Member Houston's district.
It's wonderful to have two local companies
discussing which one is more local.
And I look forward to seeing McGuire and Hester
on future contracts.
and let's also look on contract reform in the future.
But for now, we need to pass the 27th Street Project,
move forward and make the street safer.
Thanks.
Thank you, Mr. Daly.
That was the last speaker.
So anyone who was appointed to a commission,
Board of Commission today that wants to have words,
I see Mr. Gonzalez there.
I see David Newton, any supporters wanna come in,
have words, all for public participation.
please feel free.
And if any council members have any questions
of the commissioners or potential commissioners
and please feel free.
Please approach Mr. Newton and Ms. Breyenne.
Appreciate you.
Just wanted to take this time to personally thank
District 7 Ken Houston for standing on business
and being who you are, a special member of our community.
Wanted to personally thank the president, Kevin Jenkins,
for your work in this community,
and giving us the opportunity to come to the JPA board.
I understand that that seat was held
by one of our local heroes,
who was also, I'm also a Skyline alumni
and a Peralta College alumni.
I'm also a member in lifelong native Oakland.
I appreciate everything that this means.
The importance is astronomical.
Right here is my adoptive mother and auntie,
one of our iconic figures, Miss Elaine Brown,
who has done real work in this community.
I had to recognize her in this room.
She embodies the spirit.
Dr. Huey P. Newton said, our place is in this community.
As we revolutionize this landscape,
people like my mother, Barbara Newton,
worked on projects like this and did real work
to affect the city and houselessness,
to affect the city and jobs.
Oakland Coliseum used to be the home of our sports teams.
Now they're gone.
One of the last standing heroes of our community
is what you see murals of everywhere through Oakland
as a Black Panther Party.
I could not let this day pass without recognizing that.
I just want to thank everybody.
I prepared something, but I felt I had to come to the heart.
We ready to do this work.
All power to the people.
So Bruce, I saw you, Bruce, I saw you sneaking in.
Come on, come meet your time.
Thank you very much.
I apologize for my lateness.
My name is Bruce Shore, I'm president
of the National Association of Minority Contractors.
I'm here today to speak in support of the contract
that awards that has Maguire-Hester slash Cooper Engineering
as the bidders for the Street Maintenance Project.
I wanna encourage you to continue to reward good behavior.
And I think what you see in their offer
is that it's the kind of thing that
aligns with what Oakland is looking for,
the kind of behavior where you're
trying to spread equity to all the corners that are typically
not addressed.
McGuire-Hester, with well more than 100 years of existence,
is a company that has, by their very nature,
been a good corporate citizen here.
And they've gone out and done their very best
to encourage equity by putting together a mentor project program where you actually
see them attempting to advance.
Thank you.
Mr. Secretary Treasurer, come on up.
Good afternoon Council President and honorable members of the Council and staff.
My name is Rudy Gonzalez and I am honored to be a mayoral appointee and with your approval
on the consent agenda today, one of two of your newest members
of the Civil Service Board.
It's kind of in the weeds sometimes in jurisdictions
about what the purpose and responsibility is.
But as an Oaklander, I'm proud to serve
in this perhaps lesser known and hopefully less controversial
board or commission for this body.
I think it's really important to achieve our goals of equity
and to uphold the personnel roles that are deeply
rooted in the charter, but also an important element
to adjudicating employee issues and employee appeals.
So honored to serve in this capacity
and to give back to my community in Oakland in this way.
So I appreciate your support, thank you.
Thank you.
All right, so now we have, please do speak.
Well, I'm only, I will be short.
I am honored to have been accepted
to be on the Civil Service Board.
I am a 30 year HR professional.
I'm an ambassador for good HR practices
and I want to support the attraction and retention
of quality talent so that we can support each other
in this city we all love.
So thank you, I look forward to working
with the other commissioners as well.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for your service, and then council members,
I know we had some questions of the construction companies.
Questions for Stanley Cooper.
Hey, Stanley.
How many people are employed at your firm?
We're a small company, very small local.
So it's eight of us, full time.
And my superintendent right over there.
OK, that's helpful.
If I have questions for staff, do we
have to pull it off of consent?
OK.
No, you don't have to pull off a consent.
You could just ask.
OK, great.
I have some questions.
Yeah, this is, yeah.
So my office is right here in Oakland.
And so I'm a local grown company.
Any other questions?
No, I don't have any questions for you, Stanley,
for the staff.
Thank you.
That concludes for now.
Is there a relevant staff member for this?
Hi, Director Rowan.
I have a question.
I noticed in the report that it said that since the project is
funded by ACTC at the county, that typically this project
would be required to comply with the county's local business
contract equity program LBCE but however that the county has allowed the
city to substitute the LBCE requirements with the city's local small business
enterprise requirements can you talk a little bit more about the county's
requirements and what it is that we're replacing with our with our own through
through the chair I would have to lean on the technical team for the county's
requirements typically ours are our requirements are stricter than theirs
are, which is why we request that we use our SLDE program. But as far as the specifics
of their program go, I don't know the differences.
Okay. No problem. My other question is just between the two top bidders, so this is McGuire
and Hester. Was there anything in their proposal that flagged that you didn't think they could
complete it, or was it just the price differential?
through the chair, to answer that question, that's a difficult one because for construction contracts, they're low bid.
And so it's kind of like comparing which vanilla ice cream you like the best.
The city has its SLBE program that we don't evaluate. That's not a DOT function that is done by DWES.
And we rely heavily upon them to do that evaluation.
And so we we take their report and incorporate that into our evaluation.
But when it comes to the two contractors who were talking about both have performed well for the city.
So there there's nothing that we would object to to either one.
But we would we want to see not only those two competing for our work but we'd like to see five or six more competing for our work.
And so I have no objection with either.
I've I've I think they both serve the city.
I think they do very fine work where they're working for us currently. And so there's nothing that jumps out at it.
So at the end of the day, they were both compliant with the SLBE program, and they were both responsive, and they were both responsible.
And one was lower than the other, and we go with the lower.
That's our recommendation.
okay, I also noticed that McGuire and Hester had the they were like way above
compliant at a hundred
Thirteen percent. Can you just explain?
how does the
BSLB accreditation work because they got
30% versus the 15.4% and we did receive a letter that question that accreditation
Can you speak to that through through the chair to the council member? No, I actually cannot that that's
that is that is managed by
By by our West Department again, like I stated we they do those evaluations on the bids
They look at things like the bid discounts the the mentor protege
And so we rely heavily on their interpretation
But my understanding is is that the McGuire and Hester team was given the maximum bid discount
That's allowable under City code and even with that bid discount. It did not change the outcome of this bid process, okay?
And then, my other question is just with the,
since it was a price differential of 11,
I think about 0.9 million dollars, right?
I'm just wondering, say in theory,
were we to reward the contract to the McGuire and Hester bid?
Where would you identify the additional funding?
Would it be measure KK?
Is the funding available?
Would it take from another project
could that in theory be done through the chair so specific to your KK question
we're actually maxed out on KK so that that's off the table we would have to go
back and find nine hundred thousand dollars to to fill that gap and I
standing here today don't know where that would come from but and in reality
we would we would have to find another project and take from it to to fill that
out. Okay that okay that's that's helpful okay that's the end of my
questioning. Thank you any more questions from council?
Houston. That was a good question I'm council member. Is it possible through
the chair I can call up the subs? I want to call up the subs that were here for
for Maguire and for...
Regerick, please, and it doesn't matter,
but I don't want to mix it up.
If it's gonna be Regerick, Regerick, Regerick, Regerick,
if it's gonna be Maguire, Maguire, Maguire, Maguire.
So come on up real quick, the subcontractors.
I have a couple questions.
And it's just, it's real simple questions too.
It's what projects are you working on right now,
and where are they located, and your core employees?
How many do you have?
So just answer the first one for me.
Yes, so I have three employees.
Two are residents out of Oakland.
I'm currently working on the 14th Ave project,
and I have another project that is not with Reg Wick,
but it's in San Leandro.
Those are my two current projects.
And you self-perform.
I self-perform underground utilities, correct?
I have equipment and my labor runs the equipment
and the laborers run small tools.
And you live in Oakland?
I live in Oakland, yes.
OK, cool.
I'm good, unless my colleague has any questions
through the chair.
Good, OK.
So any other Redwick since you, any other Redwood contractor
in the audience?
OK.
McGuire and Hester's subcontractor.
So I'm going to ask you the same thing, sir.
Is that what job are you currently working on right now?
Okay, hello everyone, once again,
my name is Stanley Cooper
with Cooper Construction Engineering.
I'm a General Ace of-
I asked you.
And so, I'm working on, with McGuire and Hester.
I'm listed for two things.
I'm listed for the concrete,
which I'm currently just finished, the West Oakland.
Mr. Stanley, I'm gonna ask you a direct question.
What contracts are you working on right now?
That would be Wostep in West Oakland.
and I'm trying to get this one right now.
Which ones, okay.
And CORE, CORE, how many CORE employees do you have?
Like?
I would say about between six and eight CORE employees.
So they're working right now
on that contract in West Oakland?
Yes, we are.
Okay, and you self-perform all the work?
Most definitely.
We self-perform all of our work.
Okay, where do you live?
I'm in Oakland, I live in Oakland.
I'm doing any my colleagues have any questions and that was the two kind
subcontractors is in the audience right now for both companies.
Okay thank you council member long of five and then one I don't have any
questions I just think that the interest from my colleagues on this item
and the interest from the public really emphasizes the fact that we need to do
more work on our SLBE, LBE program, as well as our contracting in the city of Oakland.
It's been under discussion for many, many years.
It was hotly contested when I first was elected, and I want to let the public know that this
will be one of my prime projects for 2026, is organizing this program in a way that is
equitable and works in the best interest of the city of Oakland.
There's a lot of work to do.
It's not going to happen overnight,
but we need to ensure that we're moving forward with equity so
that Oakland-based firms are highlighted and nurtured so they can grow and become
larger businesses and one of the ways that I think all of these things are connected
project is
is through the the processes that we put forward here so
i just wanted to say that because we're going to keep coming to council
project by project
asking all these questions having these inquiries if we don't
clarify
what our program should be and and we we gotta do better we just gotta do better
thank you uh... councilmember
uh... councilmember one
Thank you.
Through the chair, back to Director Rhone, if you wouldn't mind coming up.
So you mentioned that additional funding would need to be identified if McGuire and Hester
was given the award.
Would that delay the implementation of this at all?
And I assume that, you know, small amounts could be taken from a number of projects.
How feasible do you realistically think that would be?
Through the chair.
really not in a position to answer that today. I mean, we have only so many places that we can go searching for
funding.
We would have to look to see what what other projects we could potentially
borrow from, if you will.
And then the question becomes, is the money committed? Is the money encumbered? That there may be contractual issues
There may be legislative requirements. So I just I I wish I had every penny of our budget memorized
but I don't we would have to go back and look at our program budgets and
See where we would make up this difference. Okay, I'm just curious to just given
Some of the public comments to around the disparity study
it's it's my understanding that some cities like San Francisco have a
Small business or a small local business carve out or set aside and at the federal level where I used to work at the Department
Of Transportation there is a set aside for
disadvantaged business enterprises. I'm wondering if
You have thought or your department has thought about doing that at the Department of Transportation or public works and how that could
Advance our goals or have any other sort of consequences that you've been thinking about
Through the chair to councilmember Wong I at the risk of getting myself in trouble
My came here from Atlanta. We have MBE and
FBE and DB programs. I fully support them philosophically. I don't have any issues at all with them
We also had the opportunity to do what we called market shelter and procurements, which was the the DBE
MBE FB community only
That worked very well for small projects because quite often what the goal is if you notice today I
Really appreciate one of the comments that McGuire and Hester made because we don't want the SLB ease to be subs forever
the goal is to really grow them to be primes so that they're able to handle more and do more and quite often the
largest risk for a construction company
It isn't actually doing the work, it's actually dealing with us.
And so to your point, yes.
I would entertain all of those ideas.
I also fully support the idea that while maybe we're not allowed federally or by the state
to be doing things like a DBE program, there's nothing that stops us from having goals and
measuring our success against it.
But the biggest thing, and I've said this before, is for this program to work, we're
going to have to be letting smaller projects more frequently.
And I'm committed to that.
And I think that's the goal.
Most cities bundle these things up.
And so you'll have these mega projects, and you'll have a handful of subs who benefit
from it.
And my experience has been that generally the subs don't see a lot of growth because
because it's hard to go from being a, you know, a sub doing a million dollars on a $50
million project to then growing to be managing that large of a project. We really do need
to have this in mind that these subs become our primes. And to your point, yes, if we
could market shelter, we would look at that. I was, and I know the councilmember Houston
and I have talked about, that we did a small business RFP, an on-call. The on-call waved
basically every procurement provision in Oakland City Code.
It put the department in a position
where we could just pick up the phone
and call somebody on the list
and say we'd like you to do this project
and let's negotiate the price.
We got, I think, five bidders and one was non-responsive.
I was really expecting to see a dozen.
So it was a swing and a miss.
I think our hearts were in the right place,
but the results didn't pan out the way we thought they would.
But I think that's what we have to get back to is the mindset
has to be how do we put these SLBEs, the local and small
business, in the prime positions.
And again, there's a risk element.
There's an administrative element
that they're not used to.
But yes, we're prepared to do what
we need to do to make that happen.
I think there are going to be some code changes that
are going to be required for us to do that.
So sorry about the long answer.
but philosophically, I have no objection to any of that.
So as a strong supporter and follower of the Brown Act,
we need to keep this to the contract.
And this seems like an excellent conversation
to be had in public works.
There's really fruitful discussion
outside of this contract.
But I think there's all an interest here
to ensure that everybody eats here in Oakland
and we're spreading the love.
But if we can keep it to this contract.
Fair enough.
I did wanna just register a vote then to vote
for the second most responsive bidder.
To the parliament, too.
To echo what Council Member Gallo's vote was,
if that's possible.
Through the chair to the council,
what's noticed before you today
is a resolution awarding a construction contract
to Redwood Construction.
That's the rezzo that's before you today.
So you can approve the rezzo
or you can choose not to approve the resolution.
But there's no resolution before you awarding
to another contractor as the DOT director mentioned,
there is a requirement in your purchasing ordinance
to will staff is required to award it
to the lowest responsible responsive bidder.
Got it, I'll register a no vote then.
Okay, 6.7 no from one.
Through the chair to Mr. Rowan.
If this contract is awarded to rhetoric,
When will the groundbreaking happen?
And hold that thought real quick
because I was sitting in closed session,
being a new council member, city attorney,
city administrator, and the president said,
Ken, it's things that I hear in closed session
that I don't like, but is it in the best interest of the city?
This is what they tell me, and I gotta keep my mindset on,
is this in the best interest of the city?
Not how I actually feel, right?
that's how I move now so I'm gonna ask you a question is that when will the
groundbreaking happen if this is approved today mr. Rowan so through
through the chair thank you for the question councilmember Houston this is
actually fairly fortuitous timing and that it's January and it's rainy and the
weather's kind of crappy outside and we don't typically start projects in the
rainy season so our goal would be for a springtime start so I
would I would imagine within 90 days we would have contracts
executed and be looking at starting in earnest and the
spring of this year when when the weather breaks OK and so
through the chair again Mr. Ronan it's not approved and I
don't care what contractor it is I just want local local local
local and I need my s l be ease to be embraced. If it's
not, what will the time frame be to pick the second person,
the third person or go out. So you saying it'll be 90 days if
we approve it and the project will move forward. If it's not
what timeframe is that Mr. Rowan?
So that that's a to through the chair of the council member.
That's a that's a tougher question because there's so many options
Well, there aren't so many but there are options in there and you alluded to two of them. So if if
An award was made to number two
there would have to be
New legislation to get the council to to waive the code so towards the low bid if we went back out to bid which I would
Strongly encourage us not to do that
Then you're probably looking at another six to eight months
how critical is this job is it a public safety issue. Will it
cause some type of problem with getting lawsuits that we got to
deal with in closed session. I'm just saying how critical is
this infrastructure piece of scope of work through through
the chairs of the councilmember you know the if you look at
really the the discussion with the public safety issue.
Through the chairs of the councilmember you the if you look at really the the work that we're moving forward
There's there's a very heavy safety emphasis and so you know 27th doesn't have the best track record and so
You know, I don't want to say it's not critical
But I also don't want to say that we have to award it tomorrow because if we don't the sky is gonna fall
So it's an important project to us. That's why it's where it is in our schedule
But but we also want to thoroughly bet these issues and so
When you see us with these complete street type projects, they're they're very much safety oriented
So let my last question through the chair
So if we wait in this eight months, then we're back in the rainy season again
So then that means we wait another three months if it depends in on the weather
through the chair, I do believe council member in all reality if we rebid you're talking about a year and
Prices don't know where they land a year from now
You know how difficult this is for me?
This is very very very difficult
Because like I said the president said Ken in the best interests of the city the city administrator
City attorney
And the best interest of the city. Okay. Thank you. Thank you councilmember councilmember five. I
Just want to express to the community and to my colleagues that this project is in my district
And it's also difficult for me because I'm seeing a pattern that is deeply concerning.
And I want to alert my colleagues to the fact that sometimes asking questions can put you
crossways with individuals in the city.
And it's a delicate balance that we have to walk because when I was first elected and
did some of this same kind of inquiry about why is it that it is so difficult for minority
contractors to get work in the city of Oakland, there were people who scream bloody murder
as if I was engaged in some kind of corrupt activity when the reality is there are issues
that we have to address in the city of Oakland when it comes to who gets these multimillion
dollar contracts and who doesn't.
And then we cry about issues of crime and education when we are not, we don't see the
same type of economic opportunities in the city of Oakland.
That is a problem.
At the same time on this 27th Avenue project, 27th Street project, there are people who
are getting injured on a regular basis in that part of my district.
It's near two senior centers and an elementary school where kids have to dodge cars that
are driving like maniacs on a regular basis, and seniors are at risk of consistently being
hit.
So there are deep issues that the city needs to resolve that we are not going to resolve
today with this particular contract, but it should be our primary work to fix this contracting
process in the city of Oakland. So I'm going to I want to move this forward. This is again
it's a contract that falls in my district and I want us through the chair to the city administrator.
I know you are focusing on this work this year. I want to make sure that we are coming back to
council with updates about what the Department of Workforce and Enforcement, DWES is doing to
to make sure that we're bringing minority contractors into the conversation and moving
equitably so they can grow to be primes because right now that is not happening in the city
of Oakland, period.
And so I just wanted to emphasize that I think it's important that this project move forward
and we cannot afford another year delay.
Thank you.
Thank you for your words.
So you're moving the consent calendar?
I would like to make a motion to move the consent calendar.
I'll second that.
So five under, no 6.7.
No 6.7 for Gayo, no 6.7 for Wong.
Council Member Houston.
Through the president, can I ask a couple more questions,
president?
Of course.
OK.
You know I'll follow your lead.
Put the timer on him.
These two contractors are in my district.
This project isn't in my district.
And my colleague wants to move it forward.
And I, my most important, the most important piece for me
is that these small local businesses have growth.
But at the same time, and I'm telling you
what I'm listening to you, Justin,
about the best interests of the city.
We already have enough lawsuits.
we have things that and and we can't wait.
Another year for.
This project to move forward.
I'm a follow.
The lead of my.
Colleague and I'm about move the project.
OK, so we have a motion and a second with six point seven no four.
Wong six point seven no for Guido.
Madam Clerk.
Thank you on the consent calendar moved by Councilmember five
second by Councilmember Unger with a no stated by Gail and Wong. Councilmember
Brown is excused. Councilmember Fyfe? Aye. Councilmember Gallo? Excuse him. I see him.
Councilmember Gallo please unmute yourself. Councilmember Gallo. Councilmember Gallo I see you
talking could you please unmute yourself. Can you hear me now? Yes. Yeah the
answer is no for six point seven. Got that we're voting on the entire consent
calendar at this time? Well in this case if 6.7 is part of it so I vote no. Are
you voting no on consent or just no on 6.7? No on 6.7. Thank you.
Councilmember Houston? He didn't got me confused.
Councilmember Ramachandran? Aye. Councilmember Unger? Aye. Councilmember Wong? Aye.
I chair Jenkins consent calendar passes with a vote of seven ayes noting councilmember guide on longs no votes on item six point seven and councilmember Brown is excused you are now on council acknowledgments and announcements councilmember Munger would you like to get the name yes assistant chief John speakman any announcements from council members I'd see a none let's go to open for him.
I call your name. Please approach the podium in any order. Please state your name for the record before beginning
If you are on zone, please raise your hand so I can easily identify you
Miss Asada Olabala Blair beekman
Jennifer Finley, mr. Hazard and
Mayvis Griffin in any order, please
If clerk staff can put one minute on the clock, please for open forum one minute not to oh
No, I was expecting two minutes. Oh dear
Well, I spoke most of my words I meant previously I may always be thankful to Oakland City Council in trying to work out a
Fair compromise for the flock a LPR issue
Besides the OPD and PhD Commission
I hope all parts of the community should be allowed much additional input to help deciding a new a LPR vendor
I hope we can all have
Upcoming a LPR vendor procurement updates at Oakland six City Council committee meetings in something like six month intervals
And from this I feel this should be a time to have a more clear open discussion in more strategically placed reduced amounts of surveillance
Technology in Oakland neighborhoods as this can continue mostly the same current public safety standards
within Oakland neighborhoods
I hope our Oakland community can be an agreement to want to continue our well-balanced approach of social services the Oakland macro program
open tech accountability and law enforcement all working together in
building Oakland Public Safety. Good luck in our efforts this 2026. Thanks.
Jenkins and where's the projects in your district? This project is over there by
Whole Foods. They have 14 projects over there by Lake Merritt. You have no
protected bike lanes in your district. None. Speak up for your district. It's
It's not about the contract, it's about fairness and equity.
Over at McClymon's, facilities has applied for a notice of
extinction, exemption.
That means they don't want to remediate the lead in the soil at McClymon's.
They're asking to be exempt from it.
That Costco over there, I will not go to it because we are making too many efforts to
avoid the lead, the contamination going on in West Oakland. They've done nothing about
the remediation of Bunch. The project at McClimbers was supposed to start in the summer. They've
done absolutely nothing. They moved the children over to half of the building and nothing has
happened. Nothing. Speak up for McClimber.
Thank you, Ms. Olabala.
go to clean Oakland dot com. Let me read said once the mayor acting pursuant to the
Oakland city charter declined to exercise her discretion to break the tie the matter
failed as a matter of law at that point no parliamentary maneuver rule suspension or
procedural device could revive the failed item without violating the city charter the
brown act thank you councilmember five thank you councilmember Wang thank you councilmember
on 1216, you look on the last page, you voted against this unlawful procedural change that
the president pushed through.
It's illegal.
Get prepared for a writ.
Okay?
I've already written the draft.
I've already written the judicial notice.
And here I've already written the memorandums and points in authority.
You will lose.
Look at this document.
at the case law that supports what I'm saying. Thank you Mr. Hazard your your
time is up. Jennifer Finley if you're on Zoom, Mavis Griffin if you're in
chambers please approach the podium or raise your hand otherwise at this time
all names have been called off Mavis come on up. Yeah hi Maven Carter Griffin
with Street People's Collective, long time resident of Wood Street Unhoused
Community. We're doing the crisis, homeless crisis, and I'm just kind of
curious what that really means because we're not getting any help and what
would be paying rent or helping us move forward in our life, we're prevented from
interacting. We want to contract with City of Oakland, we can't navigate that.
We are in a crisis, but it seems like it's more of a crisis about the businesses or about the
new developments coming in for affordable housing. We need affordable housing and we have affordable housing.
It's called trailers, and and we are tucked away in the corner of the industrial area of West Oakland.
We don't have any equity. There's no fairness for us. We can't come to the table.
We have no entry into these conversations or any of the rules or
around them or or whatever ordinances
We're just left completely out. We have no voice which makes us kind of a second-class citizen and it
Thank You Miss Carter Griffin you're
So I'm sorry that that I'm I'm sorry that that happened. We have to be equal with the time
ma'am
Does that conclude the speakers?
Jennifer Finley if you were on the zoom cue, please raise your hand. I do not see your hand
At this time all names have been called
We adjourn this meeting in honor of assistant chief John Spearman
I'm sorry John Speakman
Thank you this meeting so Jared