Budget Priorities
March 15, 2023
MEMORANDUM
TO: Honorable Mayor Sheng Thao &
Interim City Administrator Steven Falk
FROM: Councilmember Rebecca
Kaplan, Member At Large
SUBJECT: At-Large Budget Priorities for the
FY ‘23-‘25 Biennial Budget
DATE: March 15, 2023
RECOMMENDATION
Councilmember Kaplan Recommends the Following Budget Priorities for Inclusion in the FY ‘23- ’25 Biennial Budget:
A. PUBLIC SAFETY
1. MACRO: Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (MACRO) provides civilian responders to help in a variety of crisis needs that do not require a sworn officer.
However, consistent financial investment is required to stabilize and increase MACRO.
In order to expand the hours of operations, as well as expand the reach of MACRO citywide, funding is needed for MACRO.
i. Dispatch is available to connect to MACRO.
ii. There is a non-911 number to call for MACRO, and an outreach campaign to ensure the people are aware of it.
2. VIOLENCE PREVENTION
a. Invest in “trauma responders” to respond to homicides and prevent cycles of retaliation.
b. Free up police resources to focus on fighting gun violence, illegal gun dealing, and other serious crimes, by civilianizing positions within OPD that have been previously identified for civilianization, and conduct new review to determine other civilianization opportunities.
3. SPEED SAFETY AND PROTECTIVE BARRICADES: Vehicular violence continues to be an issue of great concern for the city with vehicles traveling at high speed be the source of traffic fatalities, serious injury, and property damage. The City of Oakland should invest in more protective barricades at intersections and crosswalks. Traffic calming measures should also be installed in the High-Injury Network and other areas vulnerable to traffic violence. And we should make K-rail and other protective barriers available to local businesses and other entities that need them (at cost as appropriate).
B. CITY JOBS
1. PIPELINE FOR CITY JOBS: Due to the ongoing problems with understaffing across city agencies and the issues this situation creates with the provision of city services, the
Honorable Mayor & City Council
Subject: At Large Budget Priorities for FY ‘23-’25 Biennial Budget Date: March 15, 2023 Page 2
Budget Priorities
March 15, 2023
budget should fund the creation of city jobs. Good paying city jobs aren’t just good for city government, they are good for the city. The creation of a school to city job pipeline, where students are trained during internship, would assure a pool of qualified candidates who are familiar with the city. Expand opportunities for people to apply for city jobs other than just through online methods.
C. HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS
1. TENANT PROTECTIONS AND ANTI-DISPLACEMENT: Protect tenants and prevent individuals and families from falling into homelessness through the following tactic:
a. Protect tenants from wrongful evictions, displacement, and excess rent increases, provide legal services/eviction defense, tenant counseling, and flexible financial assistance to prevent displacement, including available in multiple languages.
D. CITY SERVICES
1. PROACTIVE SIDEWALK REPAIR: Oakland pays large sums of money every year in settlements due to disrepair to city sidewalks. Rather than wait for accidents to happen, the city should seek out sidewalks that are cracked, broken or otherwise problematic in a proactive manner and repair them. The city could also repair large stretches of sidewalk at one time in order to maximize efficiency and minimize cost, rather than paying for a crew to repair one section of sidewalk at a time. (Was budgeted by Council in prior round, but never implemented). Can hire sidewalk repair crew, and bill property owners for the actual cost of having them repair sidewalks for the property owner. This will save money for the city, reduce liability, reduce harm to the public, increase accessibility, and will save property owners money too, since the actual cost of repairing each property owner’s sidewalk segment under a comprehensive effort with our crew will be cheaper and easier than each one hiring a different company to come repair just a few squares of sidewalk.
2. MAINTAINING HEAD START: Lack of access to affordable childcare has been clearly identified as a major barrier to effective labor force participation, harming community economic recovery, and undermining the lives and livelihood of parents – disproportionately impacting women of color. Providing Head Start services is good for children, families, parents, employers, and the economy. Ensuring Head Start/ Early Head Start are adequately funded now and in the future is also an important equity issue.
The backbone of Early Head Start and Head Start membership is overwhelmingly Black women and people of color, who have historically and disproportionately borne the brunt of the economic difficulties our society experiences. Furthermore, these communities are also disparately impacted when childcare is not available.
Respectfully submitted,
Councilmember Kaplan
At-Large