CITY HALL ▪1 FRANK H. OGAWA PLAZA, 2 nd Floor
OAKLAND , CALIFORNIA 94612
Honorable Kevin Jenkins
Councilmember, District 6
[email protected]
Date: March 15, 2023
To: Mayor Sheng Thao, City Administrator Steven Falk, and Oakland Residents CC: Oakland City Council
From: Councilmember Kevin Jenkins
Re: District 6 Budget Priorities FY 2023-2025
Budget Priority Memo
Dear Oaklanders,
Becoming the councilmember for District 6 has been the pleasure of a lifetime. My entire life has been spent in and around the City of Oakland. Oakland is a strong city with warm, friendly, and welcoming residents. Oakland is a truly world-class metropolis with a ton of unrealized potential. Significant structural problems are also present in Oakland, which have an impact on the quality of life for residents. Last summer and fall, I had the opportunity to spend time with and speak to thousands of District 6 residents including young and elderly; Oakland natives and newcomers; that reside in both the hills and flatlands. I rapidly discovered many everyday struggles facing constituents including racial, social, and economic issues.
As a newly elected official, I am thrilled to have the chance to now involve the public in our budgeting process. Not just those who live in more affluent areas of our city, but all Oaklanders, must be represented in a budget that promotes equity for our communities and aligns resources accordingly. We must create and craft a budget that reflects all of us. To obtain the many diverse voices in my district, and to ensure a more participatory and interactive budget process, my office also conducted an electronic survey in multiple languages for the community to weigh in on matters.
With that here are the budget priorities that we are uplifting:
1. Public Safety
o Fully staff The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) o Continue to invest in Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (MACRO) and evaluate this program to see if we are reaching the results upon which the program was crafted to deliver upon.
o Reduce 911 call wait times
o Increase law enforcement patrolling in residential neighborhoods Allowing for tracking and tracing of crime for statistical data collection and analysis.
2. Housing our Unsheltered Residents
o Fund community-based organizations that have demonstrated their work in providing permanent deeply supportive housing.
o Invest in rapid rehousing that connects clients with long-term housing retention programs including job training and employment counseling.
3. Traffic Safety
o Enforce existing traffic laws by having law enforcement present to deter unsafe driving practices.
o Utilize traffic engineering to slow the speed of traffic around the city. o Create safe and legal alternatives to sideshows, and fund efforts to crack down on illegal sideshows.
4. Infrastructure
o Prioritize filling potholes and repaving crumbling roads. o Promote the five-year pavement plan to residents.
5. Neighborhood Beautification, Abandoned Vehicles, 311, o Increase the amount of Environmental Enforcement Officers to patrol illegal dumping hot spots, widen our ability to cite illegal dumpers, and collect data to make illegal dumping efforts more efficient.
o Fully staff the Department of Transportation (DOT) vehicle enforcement unit to expedite the removal of abandoned vehicles in the city. o Increase access to proper dumping sites for residents regularly. o Fund graffiti abatement efforts
o Adequately staff the DOT and Public Works (OPW) to alleviate the stress placed on the 311 system.
6. HR, ITD
o Provide HR with the resources needed to address the city staffing shortage.
o Upgrade and update city IT infrastructure to prevent future ransomware attacks.
In community,
Kevin Jenkins
Councilmember District 6