From: Tony Daysog
To: Lara Weisiger; Yibin Shen; Jennifer Ott
Subject: Please include this email communication and attachments as part of posted materials for Agenda item 7-D Date: Tuesday, July 2, 2024 12:12:41 PM
Attachments: Oak_Trib_1936_03_11_Page_07--RECALL-TO-END-DICTATORSHIP.pdf Oak_Trib_1936_09_17_Page_12--BOSSHARD--DISCUSSES-CHANGES.pdf Oak_Trib_1936_11_24_Page_11--PRELIMINARY-REPORT.pdf
Oak_Trib_1937_03_17_Page_08--SWEEPING-CHANGES.pdf
Oak_Trib_1937_04_30_Page_25--ALAMEDA-VOTERS-ADOPT-CHARTER-CHANGES.pdf Attached please find a series of newspaper articles from the Oakland Tribune describing changes that were made to Alameda's City Charter in 1937, which came about because of the City Hall tumult in mid-1936 that eventually led to the arrest of Mayor Roebke, who served time in San Quentin, as well as the recall of several Councilmembers.
While the provision of the chapter under discussion tonight was adopted in the early 1900s and reaffirmed by Alameda voters in 1943, the charter reforms adopted in 1937 serve as a backdrop for understanding that re-affirmation of the 4-vote provision under discussion tonight.
In a nutshell: as the newspaper articles show, the 1937 charter reform efforts were aimed at undoing a spoils system that a mayor and certain councilmembers had put into place at the time, which was abetted by the weakening of the City Manager form of governance obtained by a 1934 charter change that the 1937 reform was meant to reverse.
The spirit of 1937 is helpful in understanding why voters would reaffirm in 1943 a requirement for a fourth vote when it comes to sales or lease of city assets, i.e. to guard against the possibility of city-owned assets from ever becoming a kind of spoils. /s/ Tony Daysog, Alameda City Councilmember
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Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Wed, Mar 11, 1936 · Page 7 Downloaded on Jul 2, 2024
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Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Thu, Sep 17, 1936 · Page 12 Downloaded on Jul 2, 2024
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Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Tue, Nov 24, 1936 · Page 11 Downloaded on Jul 2, 2024
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Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Wed, Mar 17, 1937 · Page 8 Downloaded on Jul 2, 2024
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Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Fri, Apr 30, 1937 · Page 25 Downloaded on Jul 2, 2024
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