Good morning and welcome to the Rules and Legislation Committee of Thursday
November 4th. Before I call roll I will give speaker card instructions. If you
would like to speak on any item on this agenda, please fill out a speaker's card
and return that card to a clerk representative before the item is called
or 10 minutes after the start of this meeting. This meeting started at 1030 so
the last opportunity to turn into speakers card will be at 10 40 a.m. if
you were looking to submit an online speaker card that time has passed as
later due 24 hours before the start of this meeting on roll today we have
councilmember Brown present also member five excuse councilmember Ramachandran
present and chair Jenkins present showing three members present today do
Do you have any announcements before we begin?
No announcements.
And moving right along to item number one,
approval of the draft minutes
from the meeting of October 22nd, 2026.
We just need a motion.
So moved.
There was a motion by Council Member Brown,
second by Council Member Ramachandran
to approve the draft minutes of October 22nd.
Council Member Brown.
Aye.
Council Member Ramachandran.
Aye.
And Chair Jenkins.
we'll let council member five do a long distance vote
on the minutes.
Hi, thank you.
Noting the arrival of council member five at 1032
and that the minutes pass with four ayes.
Hi.
I'm sorry, I forgot about you.
Council President Jenkins.
Aye.
Thank you.
The minutes pass with a vote of four ayes.
Going to item two, determination of scheduling
And if you have a member of
the council, please raise your
hand.
And if you don't see him with
outstanding committee items, do
have one speaker on the side.
Anything from the administration?
No changes at this time.
Anything from my colleagues?
Seeing none.
Anything from the public
speakers?
Blair Beekman, you can approach
the podium or if you're on Zoom,
please raise your hand so I can
identify you.
I do not see him.
Thank you for everybody that
councilmember five. Second by councilmember Ramachandran to approve the draft minutes.
Councilmember Brown. Aye. Councilmember Feit. Aye. Councilmember Ramachandran. Aye. Chair
Jenkins. Aye. Motion passes with a vote of four ayes. Moving to new scheduling. Starting
with item three, going to item 3.1, a resolution to amend council resolution number 91092,
CMS authorizing the city to accept an appropriate loan and grant funds under the state of California around 9
2025 to 2026 affordable housing and sustainable
communities program for the 285 12th Street project in an amount not to exceed 35 million
873 thousand sixty-six dollars on the November 17th Public Works and Transportation Committee agenda
going to item 3.2 a
resolution awarding a construction contract to OC Jones and Sons for the Embarcadero West rail safety project phase
one number one zero zero seven zero nine one
The lowest responsible and responsive bidder in accordance with project plans and specifications and with contractors bid in amount of fifteen million
two hundred forty thousand five hundred eighty six dollars and ninety-eight cents
Authorizing the city administrator to execute change orders to the construction contract up to twenty five percent of the original contract
Amount and adopting appropriate sequel findings on the November 17th Public Works Committee agenda
item 3.3 a
Resolution authorizing the city administrator to award and execute a professional services agreement with HF and H
Consultants for future solid waste franchise and consulting services and an amount not to exceed 1 million hundred 1 million
one hundred fourteen thousand sixty-eight dollars in
appropriate two hundred two hundred thousand dollars from fund one seven one
zero for fiscal year twenty six or twenty seven and adopting appropriate
sequel findings on the November 17th Public Works and Transportation agenda
item three point four is a long title adopt a resolution authorizing the city
administrators to award construction contracts to Ron do prott Ford Inc in
an amount not to exceed $1,400,000.
To provide collision repair and body shop services
for light vehicles for a three year term.
And to two one year options to renew
in response to request for qualifications.
Turbo auto body LLC in an amount not to exceed $700,000.
To provide collision repair and body shop services
for light vehicles for a three year term.
And two one year options to renew.
Experience auto body in an amount not to exceed $350,000 to provide collision repair and body shop services for light vehicles for a three-year term.
And two one-year options to renew.
Falcon collision repair in an amount not to exceed $1,750,000 to provide collision repair and body shop services for heavy vehicles for a three-year term.
for the second year.
And two one year options to
renew.
Making findings pursuant to open
municipal code chapter two point
zero four that the contracts
involve specialized services.
And as out the property sequel
findings on the November
seventeenth public works and
transportation agenda.
Item three point five a
resolution authorizing the city
administrator to negotiate and
enter into contract with auto
plus towing for the period of
option to extend the contract for up to five years without return to Council for
towing services and storage of vehicles collection and administration of towing
fees lean sale by public auction abandoned vehicles and various
administrative services related to towing operations and accept an
appropriate annual payment estimated at $172,000 as annually adjusted based on
on the consumer price index,
plus a referral fee of $54 per tow vehicle annually,
adjusted by the CPI and plus a percentage
of gross revenue received by app towing,
I'm sorry by apps and conducting tow services
for the city of Oakland for payment of administrative
and other costs on the November 17th
special public safety committee agenda.
Item 3.6, a resolution accepting the 2024 and 25 annual
reports for the gunshot location detection system.
Shot spotter making a termination regarding
whether the city should continue to use this technology
and approving changes to the surveillance use policy
for technology on the November 17th, 2026,
Special Public Safety Committee agenda.
Item 3.7, receive an information report
from the informational technology department
on the 911 system outage occurred in October, 2026
To include outage root cause, infrastructure redundancy,
system failure, call rates to OPD,
and OFD loss and receive emergency call rerouting,
interagency transfers, and contingency protocols,
and equitable access contingency during disruptions
on the November 17th Special Public Safety Committee agenda.
Item 3.8, a resolution confirming the mayor's appointment
of Monique Dorlin as an undersigned,
designated member to the housing residential relocation board on the
November 19th rules and legislation committee Adam 3.9 a resolution honoring
the WNBA Golden State Valkyries for their historic 2026 championship victory
and celebrating MVP Gabby Williams on the December 1st 2026 City Council
agenda on consent the rule 24 reason for going straight to council this is a this
is an advisory resolution recognizing the achievements of the Golden State
Balkyries and MVP Gaby Williams advisory resolutions of this nature typically go straight to full council
Bridget for council member Wong and she would like to be added as a co-sponsor to this item
Noting to add council members Wong and Ramachandran to item 3.9
item 3.10 a resolution amending the following resolutions resolution number nine zero eight nine eight
To increase the not to exceed amounts of contracts with the homelessness services providers and the amounts identified in table one
resolution number nine one two nine five
to increase the not to exceed amounts of contracts with the homeless services providers and for the amounts identified in table two and
resolution number nine zero three five eight to increase the not to exceed amount of fiscal year twenty four through twenty seven
contract with you spirit artworks by
2013 thousand two hundred and sixty-five dollars for a total amount not to exceed two million thirteen thousand two hundred sixty-five dollars
And waving a local small business local enterprise requirement for house on consortium of the East Bay
Bruce community health center and society of st. Vincent de Paul
Of Alameda County for interim shelter and lifelong medical for supportive services on the December 8th life enrichment committee agenda
Also noting that is three. Sorry 1041 your opportunity to turn in speaker cards has expired
Going to item three. Oh
Sorry, it can be after
Going to item 3.11, which is your final scheduling item in ordinance amending chapter
8.70 of the Oakland Municipal Code
to expand the definition of nuisance vessel
Established docking time limits and limits anchoring and mooring time to four hours
we classify violations as infractions,
establish a graduated fine structure,
and include vessel impoundment as a remedy.
This is asked to go to December 8th,
Public Safety Committee agenda.
Morning, we have a title change for this item.
An ordinance amending chapter 8.70
of the Oakland Municipal Code,
nuisance vessels on Oakland waters,
Two, one, expand the definition of nuisance vessel
and add the definition of dock and docking.
Two, establish docking time limits
and limit anchoring and mooring time to four hours.
Three, reclassify violations as infractions
for establish a graduated fine structure.
And five, include vessel impoundment as a remedy.
Welcome everyone good morning
everyone Misha McLaughlin
deputy chief of staff for
council president Kevin
Jenkins I am here to schedule
an item to the November tenth.
City council meeting on
consent- this will be- title
will be resolution authorizing
reimbursement for council
members Janani Ramachandran
Kevin Jenkins act under Carol
five can Houston Rowena brown
the city council. From the city
register before registration is full.
So you said new mayors and council members Academy,
but it's just 2027 mayors and council members Academy,
just so that we have that for the record.
The new was not in there.
Thank you so much.
Through the chair, just in the future,
please have copies for the staff and your dais colleagues.
And if you could just email the title quickly to my staff
so we can create the files.
Council Member Fife.
So is the entire council attending?
The entire council wants,
I don't know if they're all gonna attend,
but they wanna be on the resolution, in case they, yeah.
Council President, I have a question for Public Works,
the special meeting on the 17th.
If we add all three items here,
that'll bring it to 11 items.
Even though I don't sit on the committee,
I am co-sponsoring an item coming that day,
which I know will be a number of speakers,
as well as some of the other items seem like
there might be a number of speakers.
Is there any way the items here that we are potentially
approving could be moved to another meeting
if the district, if the chair's staff is open to it?
Three items to the future meeting?
Through the chair, I believe there's a few items
that are gonna be moved on item four.
So Councilmember Morama-Chandler.
Okay.
We do have one public speaker for item three,
Blair Beekman.
If you are in the room, please step to the podium.
If you're on Zoom, please raise your hand.
Let's see there.
Please unmute yourself and begin your comments.
Hi, thank you.
Blair Beekman at the beginning of November.
I'm going headed to Southeast Asia on Sunday.
So this is my last day in the USA for my last few days.
So hi to everyone. I wanted to comment quickly on items 2.5 and one other item.
2.5 is an OPD, APT towing contract. Good luck with towing issues and there's a really important
goal of working towards equity with towing that we've been developing I think in the
past decade now. San Diego has really caught on to it in the past few years since I moved
here in 2022 and they've been doing some really good nice work here that you guys might want
to check out.
It's just really good examples that maybe can be of help to you in how to continue addressing
the future of towing equity.
Good luck in the efforts and with that you have item 3.6 the shot spotter annual reports
and use policy.
Boy remember how we used to make a big deal out of shot spotter and then shot spotter
itself ended up saying that their practices are going to be more of a broad data collection
idea as opposed to being very specific.
And I think we've kind of lightened up on the ideas of ShotSpotter, and quite possibly
is what set a course for my own self to realize that we don't need, I mean, San Jose is, they
put in a ton of ShotSpotter, when I think we're realizing we don't need all that much
technology to do the same amount of public safety work
or just about the same amount.
And we, I'm really hoping we're at a time
to learn those lessons into 2027,
how we're going to address the future of leaving floc
and what a new ALPR vendor means.
It means we could be reducing a lot of tech, you know,
and still practicing good public safety.
So really good luck in figuring that out.
And hopefully that shuts the spot spotter contract
can can you can be thinking of that and what what what are we going to do with ending the
upcoming swaps contract overall and what that means. It means peace and better principles
if nothing else thank you in that sort of effort. And 3.9 honoring the WNBA Golden
State Valkyries and celebrating them the MPP. Thanks a lot I just learned about the Valkyries
for the first time and you guys were all excited last week at committee on this and it was nice
to be around. I watched their games and it was nice. I really liked the games a lot watching
them. So congratulations and good luck to next year. Thank you.
That was great, thank you. Anymore people? Okay. Councilmember Brown, you have something?
Okay, so noting 3.9, adding Councilmember Ramachandran and then Wong as co-sponsors and
noting 3.11, the title change. Councilmember Ramachandran, do you have anything?
I think we're trying to connect with public safety.
Dr. Jones is here to move a couple of items from the 117 public safety.
I don't know if you want her to do that right now.
I know that there would be an item for right.
Yeah, so there's a couple of items from public safety that are going to get
moved this morning.
So you're specifically talking about an item on three that you want moved.
I I'm open to keeping these here now that I know the next item will have about three items removed
Okay, perfect. So noting 3.9 adding and customer from Chandra and Wongus co-sponsors and noting 3.11 the title chain
I'll entertain a motion
There was a motion by councilmember Rama Chandra and second by councilmember Brown to
Approve item 3 which is new scheduling councilmember Brown
I also remember five. I also remember Ramachandran. I share Jenkins motion passes with the vote of four eyes
Going to item four which is a review of draft agendas pending list and City Council and committee meetings
Noting that all of your Council and committee
Pending list draft agendas and agendas are attached now is the time to make any changes you would like
You do have one speaker on this item
Good morning, Tracy Jones post police services manager for OPD
OPD is requesting to move two items from
the November 17th public safety
Pending list. These are items three and four on the pending list and
Instead scheduled those to November 10th Council on consent
Items three and four
You're oh, I'm sorry. I need to look at the draft agenda for November 17
So yeah item number five what we looked at yes forensic examination reimbursement and payments and item number six is the opd
And I be in modernization grant staff is requesting for November 10th Council on consent if possible
What item is that?
Item five and six item five and six going in November 10th Council on consent. Yes
Okay oh and the rule 24 for those two items because November 17th public
safety is impacted Michael Ford with Department of Transportation
respectfully requesting that item three on the November 17th Public Safety
Committee be rescheduled it's the safe Oakland streets annual information
report and we're requesting that it be rescheduled to the December 8th
public safety committee and we've consulted with chair Wong and her staff
and they agree to this anyone else I don't believe staff has any changes hi
Jody Christian gender coordinator for the finance department bringing your
attention for a title change on the draft agenda for November 17 finance
committee item number for subject matter parking operate operator contract
extension okay the new title resolution authorizing the city administrator to
amend the professional services agreement with the City of Oakland
parking partners for operation and management of municipal parking
facilities to extend the term for up to one year through December 31 2027 for a
total amount over the amended term not to exceed $4,133,013,000, waiving the competitive
request for proposal qualifications requirement under Oakland Municipal Code Section 2.04051b
and adopting California Environmental Quality Act exemption findings.
And we also have a second request for the same November 17 draft agenda.
Through the council president, Brad Johnson, director of finance, we'd like to ask that
item seven on the November 17th finance and management committee be withdrawn.
This is the Fair Labor Standards Act FLSA overtime investigation report.
The contents of this report were discussed in the context of labor negotiations in closed
I think that's a good question.
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And I think that's a good question.
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I think that's a good question.
I think that's a good question.
I think that's a good question.
I think that's a good question.
I think that's a good question.
I think that's a good question.
We have one item on the life
enrichment committee meeting
that that precedes public safety so you may want to move up the
public safety committee meeting to 5 p.m.
so that we can have a more concise day.
Consult with the chair.
Thank you.
Excellent.
And I just have one question.
I just have one question.
The chair.
Thank you.
Excellent, and I just have one question.
Can you restate when the safe streets item is coming?
Item number three to December 8th.
Okay, so that one is moving.
Do we actually have space to here?
Item number six, the OPD grant item,
instead of sending it straight to council?
I think that's up to the chair.
is we're going to talk about
a little bit about what we're
going to do with the public
safety agenda. Yeah. The chair
had already agreed to move it
okay I think we should stick
with that okay yeah. When the
staff has one more change to
the November seventeenth public
safety. Good morning Jenny
Lindsay deputy chief with the
department of violence
prevention- in consultation
with chair long we are
requesting to move. An item
from the November seventeenth
public safety committee
I would also like to remind
everyone that there is a grant
from the burn discretionary
grant program it will fund a
full time life coach within the
department of violence
prevention for the cease fire
lifeline strategy and we are
currently at capacity with our
life coaches and need to hire
that position as soon as
possible.
And it's item number seven on
your draft agenda for November
seventeenth public safety.
Council member.
Excellent thank you so much I'm
of the item exceeds even just the life coach or were there some other
parameters that also are included there are the incentive payments associated
with the participants who would be served by that life coach and then there
is a contract with restorative justice for Oakland youth to hire a full-time
mental health clinician to serve those participants yep just wanted to make
sure we walk through the full scope of the item thank you do we have public
on this.
We have one public speaker, Blair Beekman.
Hi, Blair Beekman.
As I mentioned last week,
on item four for Public Safety Committee upcoming agenda items,
you've moved a Smart Streets report.
Smart Safety Streets, I can't quite remember its name,
it's a report from 2025.
It's going to be really important.
It's going to be delivered to the public committee meeting sometime in mid-November, I think.
So with that item, along with the – you had two crime reports, crime data reports,
that were supposed to be, I think, in June that you delivered last week or the week before
a committee, public safety committee.
It was really nice that you did that.
Thank you.
And I think those three reports are going to set a really important course how we're
to begin to really discuss leaving block and on the public safety concerns we have into 2027.
And I hope I've learned important things how we can talk about leaving AOPR use and what
would be the future AOPR use, reducing AOPR use, while still also talking about public safety as
well and making that a balanced conversation so all sides can weigh in and state, you know,
well we need it for this but we don't necessarily need AOPR use because it may not be that vitally
urgent. You know we go back and forth on that conversation over the next year and work towards
the middle ground and I hope that can be really satisfying and good and we come to some good
conclusions together and that way I think we can greatly reduce our technology. We find a better
principles ALPR vendor if that's what's needed and I think I think we can be in
agreement in those kind of things that leads to the better principle vendor so
good luck what we how we begin the real process of leaving talked in the next
year thank you thank you mr. Bikman mr. chair that was the only speaker for this
item yes thank you for that noting item number three item number four FMC title
item number seven withdrawn public safety committee item number three
rescheduled to December 8th item five moved to November 10th council on
consent item six moved to November 10th council on consent and item seven moved
to November 10th council on consent on entertain a motion I need to find out
if public safety from the district to representative if there was a
I, I haven't been able to be in touch with the chair at this point in time.
Okay.
Okay.
We'll have time.
We'll have time to move it.
Yep.
Okay.
I understand the motion.
Five.
So moved.
Second.
It was a motion by councilmember five, second by councilmember Ramachandran to approve item
four as amended.
Councilmember Brown.
Aye.
Councilmember five.
Aye.
Councilmember Ramachandran.
Aye.
Motion passes with the vote of four ayes going to your final item which is open
forum. As I call your name please approach the podium in any order please
state your name for the record before beginning if you're on zoom please raise
your hand so I could easily identify you as with standard practice we will take
those in chambers first then move to the zoom speaker Blair Beekman David Peters
Justine Wubo, maybe, Stephen Oded Nimes, Kathy Kinney, Judy Greenspan, Iman,
Madeline Stacy, Angel, Fatima, Michael Vincent, Ellen J, Jabari, Ryan. So you have
one minute to address the committee. The time is shown on the screen behind me
And as the council was a procedure state, there is there is no sitting time during open forum
Please begin
Hello, my name is Steven. I was born in Oakland and I live in Oakland
I'm here today on behalf of Oakland divest for over two years
We've been campaigning for an ethical investment policy which prohibits city investments in companies that facilitate severe human rights abuses
Such as apartheid genocide and occupation in any country our legislation also prohibits investments in industries of security
defense the military
including transport of military goods and
industries of mass incarceration and detention including companies that use prison labor
we're here today to continue demonstrating our support for an ethical investment policy and to thank the committee and
Council president Jenkins for recognizing our right to introduce this legislation as members of the public per rule
24 section 4 of the rules of procedure and scheduling our ethical investment policy to be heard of the November 12 rules committee
We urge you all to vote. Yes. Thank you
Hi, my name is Ellen. I have lived in district one for about eight years right now
Our co-sponsoring coalition includes over 20 organizations of labor unions faith groups and community groups
This includes indivisible American Friends Service Committee Council on American Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area
lighthouse mosque black organizing project bait to Coon synagogue
Yem Pali Collective, Nefir Collective, Alameda Labor Council, Oakland Education Association,
United Auto Workers Region 6, United Auto Workers Local 2320, 1020 Members for Palestine,
Healthcare Workers for Palestine, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and East Bay
Democratic Socialists of America. Together, these groups represent thousands of Oaklanders
in favor of an ethical investment policy on behalf of this coalition I thank the
committee for recognizing our right to introduce as members of the public and
thank you your time is up. Hi my name is Odette Nemez I was born in Puerto Rico
and moved to Oakland in district 6 20 years ago because there are limited
places where I felt I could safely raise my kids who have two moms I'm also the
daughter of a Hungarian Holocaust survivor my dad was six years old my
My son's age now when the Holocaust ended.
It's important for me to honor his legacy and our family that was murdered in the Holocaust.
His dad, his grandmother and his aunts.
I think a lot about what ordinary people all over the world were doing as my dad was starving
in a ghetto, while my grandfather was worked to death in a slave labor camp, while my grandmother
was being marched to a concentration camp.
I wonder what ordinary people were doing while six million Jews were being murdered.
I think about what I can be doing while Palestinian children and families are being murdered in
Gaza.
Every kid in Palestine, my dad, and my son all deserve a safe place to live and grow.
I joined this Oakland Divest campaign because I felt powerless and overwhelmed.
Via this campaign, I learned that my city, my community members, my councilmen…
Thank you.
Your time is up.
Thank you.
Your time is up.
Hi.
My name is Judy Greenspin.
representing the Oakland Education Association.
The teachers union in the city, we have over 3,000 members,
and we are here in support of the divestment effort
being put forward by Oakland Divest.
So the results of this last election nationally showed
that people are really tired of the billions of dollars
being spent on endless wars with our tax dollars.
I am here today to support the national movement,
demanding divestment from war industries,
including tech companies like Google and Palantir,
as well as divestment from companies causing harm
to our communities and the environment.
We cannot continue to fund the genocide in Gaza
and the West Bank when our Oakland schools
are crumbling in disrepair.
This school year, we have no funds
for school supplies and field trips.
Oakland teachers continue to struggle.
We're asking that you agendize
next week's rules committee meeting, the legislation.
Good morning.
I'm Kathy Kenny, Kathy Saade Kenny.
I'm a proud Palestinian American
and a resident of Oakland's District One,
which is one of the many grassroots organizations
supporting this effort.
Our membership strongly supports
the proposed ethical investment policy.
And I'll be brief today, but I want to tell you
just on a personal level,
I have family in the West Bank.
I worry about their safety
and their children's future daily, hourly actually.
And this last election really gave me courage
that people are finally being heard
about what's going on in Gaza and Palestine.
So Oakland has a very proud history
of standing up for human rights.
And this is another way in which you can express that
by supporting the Oakland Divest Investment Policy.
Thank you very much.
Good morning council members.
My name is Justine Wiebold
and I'm an Oakland resident from District 3
speaking in support of scheduling legislation
that will strengthen the divestment section
of this investment policy.
I'm also speaking on behalf of my organization,
Democratic Socialists of America,
who are co-sponsors on this legislation.
I wanna firstly thank Council Member Jenkins
for aiding in this legislation being agendized
for a rules committee on Thursday, November 12th,
and for advising on our use of Rule 24
to introduce legislation for public discussion
by the council.
The city of Oakland, along with other cities
across California, use our public dollars
to make investments that generate revenue for the city.
The city already maintains an investment policy
that prevents investments in fossil fuels,
tobacco, and firearms.
We want to ensure that these funds are not invested
in companies complicit in the ongoing apartheid
and genocide of the Palestinian people
and other peoples around the world
whose human rights are being evaluated
due to their identity and belief systems.
I ask the city to update its existing investment policy
by prohibiting these investments that enable state.
Good morning, my name is Imaan.
I was proudly born and raised here in Oakland.
I'm a product of Oakland Schools,
one of which no longer exists
due to lack of funding, unfortunately.
I've had the privilege of teaching
hundreds of Oakland students,
and for the past 10 years,
I've been a congregate of Lighthouse Mosque in North Oakland.
I cook for our community.
cook for our unhoused brothers and sisters and we cook to fund water
distribution in Gaza for the past three years. Half of our volunteers are in
Oakland and half of our volunteers are in Gaza because we all believe that we
have the collective responsibility to contribute to the lives that our tax
dollars have directly destroyed. Half of our volunteers are here and many
Oaklanders, namely Mr. Huey Newton and our very own Mayor Lee, have been
firsthand to the Palestinian refugee camps and they've understood firsthand
one of our tax dollars have done to destroy.
That's why Lighthouse and Young Palli Collective
are a proud co-sponsor of this ethical investment policy,
and we ask that you guys schedule us on November 12th.
Thank you.
Hello, my name's Jabari Shaw.
I'm a member of the Black Panther Party Legacy Action Network,
a member of the UNIA,
and a member of the Black Organizing Project.
We work on the George Floyd bill
and creating sanctuary spaces for black children.
We understand that black children are not feeling safe.
We understand that Islam is the fastest growing demographic
in the Bay Area, not just immigrants,
but those Muslims like myself who've been born and raised
right here on a quote, Tupac Shakur.
They have money for wars, but they don't feed the poor.
We're looking at the worst homeless crisis in years
right here.
and we want you to invest in genocide and invest in Oakland.
So we ask you for you to put our legislation
on the calendar for November 12th
and thank you for all that you've supported us in this.
Yes, first, I wanna thank President Jenkins
for considering putting us on the November 12th agenda.
I'm Angel, originally from California,
living in Oakland for about half a decade.
And I support divesting our tax dollars from genocide
by amending Oakland's investment policy
to prohibit city investments in companies
and financial institutions that enable state repression
or inhuman and right violations.
I came to speak from the heart
as an echo of bleeding hearts being subjected
to seemingly preventable desiccation
and terror around the world,
but particularly in Palestine, in Gaza.
People of Palestine and oppressed communities deserve relief
and we are counting on you to show
that the city of Oakland will not stand by
while the people of Gaza are being murdered,
ethically cleansed, and terrorized.
We implore you invoke empathy
by supporting immediate ceasefire now and divest.
Good afternoon, my name is Fatima
and I am a resident of District One in Oakland.
I support agendizing and ethical investment policy
on November 12th, divesting our tax dollars from genocide
and prohibiting city investments in companies
and financial institutions
that enable human rights violations.
Thank you for your time.
Good morning, committee members.
I'm Ryan, I'm a Bay Area resident.
And I'm here this morning with Oakland Divest
in speaking in support of my dear neighbors
and community members who have been brutalized,
detained and traumatized by ICE.
Just last month, a community member was tackled
and had six of their ribs fractured by an ICE agent.
ICE later abducted him from Highland Hospital.
We know that ICE's operation is very profitable.
private prison companies have recorded soaring profits,
and we also know that corporations such as Microsoft
remain heavily involved in the continuing genocide
of Palestinians in which more than 74,000 people have died.
These aren't just numbers, they're people who had dreams,
they're loved, and they're the dear family members
of folks living throughout Oakland and the Bay.
By continuing to invest in these companies,
Oakland's giving them financial support
to continue profiting off attacks on the people we know
and love, we don't have to continue on like this.
I ask that we please schedule us on next week's rules committee meeting.
Thank you.
Hello, my name is Michael Vincent and I'm a longtime Oakland resident.
And I just want to make one point, which is back in the day, some of us used to,
there was an expression, progressive except Palestine, people who supported
immigrant rights and anti-imperialism and black rights and black lives matter and
forth but who somehow carved out an exception in the case of Palestine that
position is no longer logically coherent if it ever was and those who stand up as
progressive support progressive causes should also support our ethical
investment policy thank you Madeline Stacy I'll keep it simple
Oaklanders don't want to fund genocide Oaklanders want to divest so please we
need to get this on the agenda on the 12th so the Oaklanders can start hearing
our council address what it is that we want and how we don't want our tax money
spent. Thank you. Thank you to those speakers. Moving to the Zoom speaker Blair
Beekman please unmute yourself and begin your comments. Sorry about that.
Blair Beekman or sorry about that. Interesting public comment today not
agenda public comment thank you yeah I'm interested how we can be working towards
a future of peace and not war and how we create our decisions and policies as a
community that is the basic philosophy of open love life how to not cause harm
in our decision making so good luck what you what we all could be doing to
address such issues and addressing dialogue is how to solve our issues in
in the future, and to not cause harm in the dialogue.
I wanted to comment, yeah, I'm gonna be traveling,
so I'll try to contact yourselves here.
I'll try to continue to attend meetings and say hi.
Good luck, again, I guess, with the strong mayor issues
that you're gonna have to quite possibly be looking
into a coordinating officer in the future of the IBA process.
Thank you Mr. Beekman and to all those who spoke, that was the last speaker.
Thank you, this meeting's adjourned.