Date: December 21, 2021
To: Members of City Council and Members of the Public
From: Vice Mayor Kaplan, Council President Bas, President Pro Tem Thao, and Councilmember Fife
Re: Adopt A Resolution Appreciating City Of Oakland Workers For Their Hard Work And Dedication To The City and Its Residents; And As An Extension Of This Appreciation, The Council Does Not Support Layoffs Of Any City Employees Dear Colleagues on the City Council and Members of the Public, The global COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect California and the City of Oakland in unprecedented ways, threatening the lives of residents and employees, and creating challenges which require quick and innovative responses. During the pandemic, the 5,000+ people employed by the City of Oakland have adjusted quickly and skillfully to protect public health and provide the same level of high quality service to Oakland residents. This resolution is an expression of the Council’s gratitude for City employee’s hard work and dedication to Oakland and the City’s residents.
Across all departments, City of Oakland employees have provided for the care, protection, comfort and safety of Oakland residents during the pandemic. It is clear that the community benefits daily from the knowledge and skills of the highly trained individuals who work for the City. Furthermore, the commitment and perseverance of City employees during the pandemic has allowed many essential public services to continue, mitigated the disruption to Oakland residents' daily lives, and played a critical role in protecting public health and safety.The fear of potential layoffs also hurts retention of our vital public workers, so this resolution is also aimed at improving retention, by communicating our desire to respect and keep our workforce.
Given that the risk of potential layoffs threatens the financial stability and quality of life of City employees now, I strongly encourage all Council to support this resolution which extends our appreciation to City of Oakland workers for their hard work and dedication to the City.
Moreover, as an expression of this appreciation, the Council does not support layoffs of any City employees. The Administration would be directed to share this resolution of support with all City employees.
City Council
December 21, 2021
File # 21-0953
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