City Government
Council Members Must Pass Strong Local Jobs Policy, Say Residents
Oaklanders are being asked to vote in November for a $600-million infrastructure bond to enhance streets, sidewalks, lighting and sewers.
But is the City Council willing step up to guarantee before November that the jobs created by this local tax money will go to hire Oakland residents, especially unemployed and underemployed Black workers?
That was the question asked this week by residents who attended the Thursday meeting of City Council’s Rules and Legislation Committee to ask councilmembers to place a resolution on the council agenda for an ordinance that requires city money to be spent to hire Oakland residents.
Such a resolution was approved by the council in 2008 but was never implemented. A provision of this policy would require the hiring of workers in zip codes with the highest levels of joblessness.
The city’s present local hiring rules are ineffective in producing jobs for Oakland workers and in particular for Black workers, according to community members.
Currently, African Americans make up 28 percent of the city’s population but obtain only 5 percent of the employment hours on most city-funded projects.
“In 2008, there was a resolution that was proposed to create a citywide jobs policy that would mitigate the negative impact of the lack of a local hire for Oakland residents and particularly for African American residents” who have an extraordinarily high rate of unemployment, said Carroll Fife, a leader of the Post Salon Community Assembly, the Oakland Alliance and the Oakland Justice Coalition.
“We are asking you with urgency” to put the resolution on the City Council agenda “so we will know whether or not to support an infrastructure bond,” she said, emphasizing that the council must act before the November election.
Noni Session, District 3 City Council candidate, called on council members to understand the urgency of the need to put Oaklanders to work.
“Good government en- tails more than just profit seeking,” she said. “Profit- making alone as a municipality has led to where we find ourselves today – with insecure housing, a general feeling of scarcity and the disintegration of our social fabric in Oakland.”
“As a City Council, you have a charge to incorporate social responsibility into our city principles, particularly into our business principles,” she said.
Agreeing with the words of Noni Session, Post publisher Paul Cobb also thanked Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan and Desley Brooks for supporting the community request for the City Council to pass a strong jobs ordinance.
People in Oakland are talking about “whether or not they should vote for ballot measures that cause them to pay more taxes while the jobs that flow from those (tax monies) go to residents outside the city,” said Cobb.
At a meeting last Sunday, the Oakland Post Salon Community Assembly agreed unanimously to urge the City Council to resurrect and implement the city’s 2008 jobs policy.
The resolution to put the jobs policy on the City Council agenda will come up again at the council’s Rules and Legislation Committee, next Thursday, Sep. 22, at 10:45 a.m. in City Council Chambers.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
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Alameda County
DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland
Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.
Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.
City Government
Vallejo Welcomes Interim City Manager Beverli Marshall
At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10. Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.
Special to The Post
At Tuesday night’s Council meeting, the Vallejo City Council appointed Beverli Marshall as the interim city manager. Her tenure in the City Manager’s Office began today, Wednesday, April 10.
Mayor Robert McConnell praised Marshall’s extensive background, noting her “wide breadth of experience in many areas that will assist the City and its citizens in understanding the complexity of the many issues that must be solved” in Vallejo.
Current City Manager Michael Malone, whose official departure is slated for April 18, expressed his well wishes. “I wish the City of Vallejo and Interim City Manager Marshall all the best in moving forward on the progress we’ve made to improve service to residents.” Malone expressed his hope that the staff and Council will work closely with ICM Marshall to “ensure success and prosperity for the City.”
According to the Vallejo Sun, Malone stepped into the role of interim city manager in 2021 and became permanent in 2022. Previously, Malone served as the city’s water director and decided to retire from city service e at the end of his contract which is April 18.
“I hope the excellent work of City staff will continue for years to come in Vallejo,” he said. “However, recent developments have led me to this decision to announce my retirement.”
When Malone was appointed, Vallejo was awash in scandals involving the housing division and the police department. A third of the city’s jobs went unfilled during most of his tenure, making for a rocky road for getting things done, the Vallejo Sun reported.
At last night’s council meeting, McConnell explained the selection process, highlighting the council’s confidence in achieving positive outcomes through a collaborative effort, and said this afternoon, “The Council is confident that by working closely together, positive results will be obtained.”
While the search for a permanent city manager is ongoing, an announcement is expected in the coming months.
On behalf of the City Council, Mayor McConnell extended gratitude to the staff, citizen groups, and recruitment firm.
“The Council wishes to thank the staff, the citizens’ group, and the recruitment firm for their diligent work and careful consideration for the selection of what is possibly the most important decision a Council can make on behalf of the betterment of our City,” McConnell said.
The Vallejo Sun contributed to this report.
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