Successes of the Year Part 1 - The Reimagining Resolution and People’s Budget

While the Oakland City Council took recess over August, my office reflected on what we have accomplished so far and how we’re going to continue moving forward. There has been a lot to reflect on and I’ve decided to share these successes over two articles. Thank you D3 for your support over this time, everything I am able to do within the city council is made possible with an external movement of constituents, activists and community members also fighting for a more just and equitable city.

The Reimagining Resolution

This resolution was the first piece of legislation my office authored since my inauguration in January 2021 and was co-sponsored by Council President and Task Force Chair Nikki Fortunado Bas. The resolution seeks to create proactive crime reduction measures that get to the heart of why crime occurs. As a result, it is intended to free up the Oakland Police Department (OPD) so officers can focus on addressing violent incidents in the city. The resolution passed unanimously on May 3rd 2021, setting the tone for the budget negotiations that occurred in June 2021. 

This resolution was informed by the understanding that public safety is much more than policing. We can ensure healthy communities by investing first on the front end to minimize the need for police on the back end. The crime we see reported in the news is generally the outcome of decade after decade of resource-lack due to an unsustainable investment of taxpayer dollars into punitive policing. We listened to the community and voted to change course.

The How

The prioritized recommendations under this resolution include:

• Increasing support for restorative justice and violence prevention efforts;

• Investing in the Oakland Youth Commission;

• Prioritizing affordable housing and homeless programs; and

• Long-term investment in the Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland (MACRO) program which is an alternative to 911;

• Increasing gender-based violence services;

• Moving most traffic enforcement from OPD to Oakland’s Department of Transportation;

• Efforts to end OPD’s use of militarized equipment;

• Supporting a Phase II process for the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force

A People’s Budget

The People’s Budget was informed by calls for reinvestment into working class and marginalized communities by reevaluating our city's spending priorities. Part of this involved reevaluating the scope of work policing conducts in our communities. 

Our officers are often tasked to thousands of non-violent, non-criminal service calls that don’t require the skill-set of an officer. Furthermore, addressing these non-violent, non-criminal calls has hindered the OPD’s focus and effectiveness to solve serious and violent crime. The solve/clearance rates in Oakland are unacceptably low; in 2019, only 53% of homicides were solved or cleared, 16% for rape, 11% for aggravated assault, 6% for robbery, and 2.2% for burglary (FBI Crime Data Explorer).

In Oakland, only 53% of homicide cases are solved and 2.2% of burglary cases.

And yet the police have to respond to, for example, numerous low-level vehicle-related 911 calls that include issues like blocked driveways, auto tows, improper parking, and abandoned cars. 

Part of re-evaluating the scope of work policing conducts in our communities involves simply redirecting these fairly benign activities to other departments within the city. In this example, our budget now tasks the Department of Transportation to address these calls beginning on July 1, 2022. This date aligned well with the budgetary amendments that freeze OPD officer positions on July 1, 2022, resulting in there not needing to be any layoffs or staff reductions to OPD.

MACRO and Department of Violence Prevention

Budget allocations that will result in more systemic changes in our communities' understanding and relationship with crime include funding the pilot and expansion of MACRO (Mobile Assistance Crisis Response Oakland) as well as tripling the funding that the Department of Violence Prevention receives.

MACRO is a civilian crisis response program for non-criminal, non-violent police calls for service. MACRO will dispatch EMTs and social workers to respond to 911 calls for mental health crises and will be housed in the Oakland Fire Department.

An increased budget will enable the Dept. of Violence Prevention to increase and employ more violence interrupters and community ambassadors to be out in neighborhoods most impacted by violence. You can view this livestream from June 29, 2021 to hear what was funded.

Both these programs were made possible by simply maintaining the police department's current four police academies instead of building two additional academies. Police academies are actually quite ineffective at recruiting officers; for each academy, only 17 out of 38 individuals complete field training and join OPD. We feel confident that these investments into the Dept. of Violence Prevention and MACRO will lead to increased overall public safety more so than having additional academies.

Other Investments: Housing, Parks and the Arts

Additionally, we believe a more just, equitable and vibrant city requires supporting small businesses, increasing access to shared spaces such as parks, infusing artistic expression on the streets and providing services for all our residents, not just those who are housed. 

These funding priorities support:

• Affordable Housing and Homelessness Solutions

  • The budget will provide sanitation to over 100 encampments while expediting affordable housing solutions for the unhoused.

  • Add staffing to the city’s Homelessness Division to improve interdepartmental coordination of encampment management and case management for unhoused Oaklanders.

• Good Jobs & A Vibrant Economy 

  • The budget will provide $300K to small and disadvantaged businesses for facade improvements, repairs, flex street supports, and parklets.

  • $1.5 million in cultural affairs programming and staffing to support artists and festivals, particularly in a post-COVID recovery environment. 

  • $1.5 million in workforce development, training and placement targeted to serve flatland neighborhoods, youth, unhoused, and formerly incarcerated individuals.

• Clean, Healthy & Sustainable Neighborhoods

  • Restoring the Mayor’s elimination of 13.5 FTE crossing guards at Oakland schools to ensure student and family safety.

  • Restoring the Mayor’s cuts of 4 environmental enforcement officers who address illegal dumping.

  • Piloting a 25-member Parks Ambassadors program to serve parks citywide; making improvements to parks, basketball courts, and skate parks citywide from East Oakland to San Antonio, Lake Merritt to Montclair.

  • Investing $500K through Measure HH in community food cards at corner stores in the flatlands to support families in accessing nutritious food.