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APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
___________________________
CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
ORDINANCE NO. ________________C.M.S.
ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NOS. 10545 C.M.S., 11461
C.M.S., AND 11869 C.M.S. TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE YOUTH
ADVISORY COMMISSION TO THE OAKLAND YOUTH COMMISSION
AND AMEND THE MEMBERSHIP AND QUORUM REQUIREMENTS
WHEREAS, on February 5, 1985, the Oakland City Council passed Ordinance No. 10545 C.M.S., establishing the Youth Advisory Commission (YAC), create d to advise and make recommendations to the Mayor and City Council on addressing pol icy priorities impacting Oakland youth ages 13-25; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance 10545 C.M.S. was later amended by ordinance Nos 11461 C.MS. and 11869 C.M.S.; and
WHEREAS, the YAC has 25 seats whose members are appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the City Council; and
WHEREAS, the YAC represents approximately 50,000 youth in Oakland and is committed to prioritizing Oakland youth from geographically and culturally diverse backgrounds; and
WHEREAS, the YAC aims to accurately represent and effectively advocate for the diverse needs of Oakland’s youth and to be involved in the public arena, tackling important issues related to public safety, the environment, violence, and mental health and wellness; and WHEREAS, the YAC has been effective and accomplished a great deal to bu ild youth power and transform Oakland; and
WHEREAS, in 2015, the YAC co-convened 75 youth in a forum that led to t he creation of #OYACGivesBack, a five-year mini-grant to support the improved relations between youth, the community, and law enforcement; and
WHEREAS, that convention led to the formation of an Oakland Police and Community Youth Leadership Council (OPC-YLC) in 2019 to vet Oakland Polic e Department policy recommendations through a youth perspective; and
PROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
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2 WHEREAS, in 2020, the YAC held a virtual Youth Candidates Forum and advocated for the right for youth ages 16 and 17 years old to elect the Oakla nd Unified School District Board leaders; and
WHEREAS, the YAC appointed two (2) youth members to the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force, who also chaired the Youth Advisory Board to propose youth-oriented solutions to re- invest in community programs; and
WHEREAS: YAC Commissioners advocated for budget allocations that will enable the YAC to flourish in supporting all youth members in leadership development in 2021-2023; and
WHEREAS, in addition to advising the City on policies, the YAC creates and executes its own community events and policies; and
WHEREAS, the YAC wishes to have an effective and well-functioning Commission body that conducts business on important matters relating to youth; and
WHEREAS, with 25 members and a quorum requirement of 13 members, the Commission is the largest Commission in the city of Oakland as well as the largest among its neighbor cities with youth commissions, such as Berkeley, San Francisco, Marin County, and Fresno; and
WHEREAS, the Commission has been able to consistently fill an average of 17 seats for the past ten years; and
WHEREAS, the quorum of 13 people is difficult to achieve when all 25 seats are not filled and youth have competing priorities such as school, college applications, testing, work, and family obligations; and
WHEREAS, semantics do matter and the legacy of symbolic power for youth has resulted in tokenizing youth-voice. Therefore, youth would like to be tr eated as a commission on equal footing with other adult-led City boards and commissions; and
WHEREAS, the San Francisco and Berkeley Youth Commissions each perform similar functions of representing youth residents, advising on policy, and advocating in their cities, yet their Commissions omit the term advisory; and
WHEREAS, the YAC advises, like other boards and commissions, and will continue to do so for policymakers;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OAKLAND DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The City Council finds and determines that the foregoing recita ls are true and correct and are hereby incorporated herein as findings and determinations of the City Council.
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3 SECTION 2. Based upon all written and oral reports and presentations to Ci ty Council, including the Agenda Report, the City Council finds and determi nes that the name of the YAC should be changed to the Oakland Youth Commission.
SECTION 3. The City Council hereby amends Ordinance Nos. 10545 C.M.S., 114 61 C.M.S., and 11869 C.M.S. to implement a name change of the “Youth Advisory Commission” to the “Oakland Youth Commission”.
SECTION 4 . Subsection d. of Section 3 of Ordinance No. 10545, as amende d by Ordinance Nos. 11461 and 11869, is hereby amended to read:
d. The Commission shall consist of seventeen (17) to twenty-fi ve (25) youth members from the ages of 13 to 21, who shall be appointed pursu ant to Section 601 of the City Charter with one member representing each of the Council districts and the remaining members to be at-large. Three adults shall be appointed by the Mayor to se rve strictly as consultants and advisors to the Commission. Members shall serve on the Commissi on without compensation. A majority (50 percent plus one) of the members seated shall cons titute a quorum, but in no case shall a quorum be fewer than nine (9) members.
SECTION 5. Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of thi s Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutio nal by decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the Chapter. The City Council hereby declares that it would have p assed this Ordinance and each section, subsection, clause or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that one or more other sections, subsections, clauses or phrases may be declared invalid or unconstitutional
SECTION 6. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective immediately on final adoption if it receives six or more affirmative votes; otherwis e it shall become effective upon the seventh day after final adoption.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES – FIFE, GALLO, KALB, KAPLAN, REID, TAYLOR, THAO AND
PRESIDENT FORTUNATO BAS
NOES –
ABSENT –
ABSTENTION –
A T T E S T :
ASHA REED
City Clerk and Clerk of the Council of the
City of Oakland, California
D a t e o f A t t e s t a t i o n :
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NOTICE AND DIGEST
ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NOS. 10545 C.M.S., 11461
C.M.S., AND 11869 C.M.S. TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE YOUTH
ADVISORY COMMISSION TO THE OAKLAND YOUTH COMMISSION
AND AMEND THE MEMBERSHIP AND QUORUM REQUIREMENTS
This ordinance will amend Ordinance Nos. 10545 C.M.S., 11461 C. M.S., and 11869 C.M.S., which created and amended the Youth Advisory Commission, to change the name of the Youth Advisory Commission to the “Oakland Youth Commission ” and to change the number of members on the Commission and the quorum requirement.