Activism

City Debates Priorities for a $3.2 Billion Budget

Published

7 years ago

May 10, 2019

Mayor Libby Schaaf’s administration this week released its proposal for the city’s $3.2 billion, two year-year budget for 2019-2021, which must be approved by the end of June.

Schaaf was scheduled to present the spending plan at a special meeting of the City Council, but she was “under the weather,” according to City Administrator Sabrina Landreth, who explained the proposal along with members of her staff.

While the administration says its proposal is designed to “prevent cuts in current service levels for Oakland residents,” Landreth and her staff emphasized that although the economy may be booming, the city is facing a severe shortfall and has limited ability to fund new expenditures because costs such as employee pensions and fringe benefits are increasing dramatically.

Under the administration proposal, the city would leave hundreds of employee vacancies unfilled and lay off gardeners who maintain city parks. Only $400,000 is recommended to support summer jobs for youth. The administration’s proposal mentions nothing about the amount of the largest budget expenditures, the amount that goes to the Oakland Police Department for annual overspending on police overtime.

A survey conducted by the city in February indicated that residents say the top issues in Oakland are affordable housing and homelessness, the first time in decades that police and public safety are not rated number one, according to city staff.

City Council President Rebecca Kaplan announced at the meeting that she will assemble the spending priorities of council members and the community to amend the mayor’s proposed budget.

“As council president, it is my duty to closely review the Mayor’s budget proposal and to present my amendments,” Kaplan said. “On June 10, I will present the President’s Budget, and the community will be able to review the Council’s priorities.”

Meanwhile, a number of community groups, the Refund Oakland Community and Labor Coalition, rallied outside the council meeting, criticizing the Schaaf administration’s budget proposal and calling for a budget that funds “Oakland’s city services, infrastructure and to hire local residents.”

“The city has annually underestimated an average of $45 million in general fund revenue over the past seven budget cycles. This means there is roughly $315 million in revenue over the past seven years that could have gone to fund public employee salaries, social programs, etc.,” according to the coalition.

Unemployment remains high in Oakland, “city services are deeply lagging, and city workers continue to go underpaid relative to local municipalities,” according to the coalition’s media release.

Some coalition members emphasized that the city can redirect its spending priorities toward the community and city workers rather than utilizing its income as it has in the past, pouring money into runaway spending for the Oakland Police Department and police overtime and programs catering to high-end real estate developers.

District One Councilmember Dan Kalb distributed his expenditure priorities at the council meeting. They included helping homeless residents, affordable housing, public safety and violence prevention, fire prevention and disaster preparedness, environmental services and parks and programs for youth and young adults.

District 5 Councilmember Noel Gallo raised concerns that “Illegal dumping is getting worse and worse and worse. It’s out of control.”

District 2 Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas said, “We spent a lot of time surveying the public. In this particular budget we need to prioritize the things we heard loud and clear from our residents: housing and homelessness.”

Bas continued, “We are booming. We have been booming for at least a decade. And to be talking about not mowing our parks and these other reductions, it just doesn’t sit well.

She said under the Schaaf administration’s budget proposal, “We see that less than 2 percent is allocated toward housing. That’s not enough. When we see less than 1 percent is allocated toward homeless, that’s not enough.”

She also raised questions about whether the administration is underbudgeting.

“I looked at the last budget cycle, 2017-2018, where we predicted a $ 70 million shortfall, but we ended up with $140 million surplus,” she said.

“Two years prior, we predicted a $39 million shortfall and ended up with a $130 surplus,” said Bas.

“I understand being conservative, but the reality is that we’ve been underbudgeting, and now is the time to spend that money on our city, our workers, our services and our residents.”

Ken Epstein

Posts by Ken Epstein

Activism

The Ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Hold Day of Advocacy at the Capitol in Sacramento

A member of the “Divine Nine,” Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., was founded on Jan. 13, 1913, at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The organization was established by 22 women who sought to shift the group’s focus from social activities to public service, academic excellence, and social activism.

Published

1 week ago

May 17, 2026

Oakland Post

Sen. Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro) presents a Senate resolution to the Delta Theta Sigma Sorority Farwest Region at the State Capitol on May 4. Photo courtesy of the Senate Rules Committee.

By Antonio Ray Harvey, California Black Media

On May 4, members of the Farwest Region of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., convened at the California State Capitol for the organization’s 23rd annual Delta Days in Sacramento.

The two-day advocacy event brings together chapters from across California to engage directly in the legislative process, connect with lawmakers, and advocate for policies impacting Black communities.

Members of the sorority were honored on the Senate floor by Sen. Laura Richardson (D-San Pedro), who is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta.

Richardson welcomed the Farwest Region during the presentation of a Senate resolution recognizing outgoing Regional Director Kimberly Usher for her leadership and service.

“In addition to the Far West Region, we are led by a fearless leader, regional director Kimberly Usher. She has now served her full term of what’s allowed,” Richardson said. “We are going to be having our regional conference, but we wanted to give it to her here, officially recognizing her service.”

The resolution was co-authored by Richardson and fellow members of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) and Delta Sigma Theta, Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson (D-San Diego) and Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom (D-Stockton).

Usher has served in the leadership role since 2022.

“We are founded on sisterhood that is deeply rooted in scholarship, service, and social action,” said Weber Pierson, a member of the Gamma Alpha chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

“Today, we continue a legacy of empowering communities and upholding the high cultural, intellectual, and moral standards established by our founders over a century ago,” she added.

Oakland Post

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Rep. Kamlager-Dove Introduces Bill to Protect Women in Custody After Reports Detailing Miscarriages and Neglect

The Pregnant Women in Custody Act would expand safeguards beyond the federal prison system to include women detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The proposal follows reports of pregnant women being shackled, denied medical care and suffering miscarriages while in immigration detention.

Published

1 week ago

May 17, 2026

Oakland Post

iStock

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37) on May 7, reintroduced updated legislation aimed at strengthening protections and healthcare standards for pregnant and postpartum women held in federal custody, including in immigration detention facilities.

The Pregnant Women in Custody Act would expand safeguards beyond the federal prison system to include women detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The proposal follows reports of pregnant women being shackled, denied medical care and suffering miscarriages while in immigration detention.

The legislation builds on a bipartisan version previously passed by the House during the 117th Congress. The updated bill includes new standards for healthcare access, mental health and substance use treatment, high-risk pregnancy care, family unity protections and increased federal oversight.

“Proper pregnancy care is a human right, regardless of your immigration or incarceration status,” Kamlager-Dove said in a statement. “It’s unacceptable that there are virtually no legal safeguards for pregnant women in federal custody.”

The bill would also limit the use of restraints and restrictive housing for pregnant women, improve data collection on maternal health in custody and require additional staff training and enforcement measures.

Supporters of the measure said the legislation is intended to address long-standing concerns about maternal healthcare and safety in detention settings, particularly for Black women and low-income women who are disproportionately impacted by incarceration and health disparities.

“Pregnant women in custody should never be subjected to dangerous and inhumane treatment that threatens their health, dignity, or the well-being of their babies,” said Patrice Willoughby, chief of policy and legislative affairs for the NAACP and a longtime public policy and government affairs strategist, in a statement.

A 2021 report estimated there are about 58,000 admissions of pregnant women into U.S. jails and prisons each year. Kamlager’s statement also cited a recent investigation by NBC News and Bloomberg Law that identified allegations of severe mistreatment or medical neglect involving at least 54 pregnant women or families in county jails between 2017 and 2024.

Federal policy under the Department of Homeland Security restricts the detention of pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants except in extreme cases. However, the agency reported that ICE deported 363 pregnant, postpartum or nursing women between January 2025 and February 2026, including 16 recorded miscarriages during that period.

The bill is cosponsored by several House Democrats and backed by organizations including the NAACP and the Vera Institute of Justice.

Oakland Post

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OPINION: The Fire of Oakland’s Justin Jones

Jones made headlines three years ago when he was one of a pair of Justins. Along with fellow State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), he fought their removal from the state house in Tennessee and won reinstatement. Now, Pearson is running for Congress and Jones is still fighting for all of us.

Published

1 week ago

May 17, 2026

Oakland Post

Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville). File photo.

By Emil Amok Guillermo

You may know Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville).

He grew up in Oakland and the East Bay. His mother is Filipino. You can tell by his full name Justin Shea Bautista Jones.

His father is African American.

He is fighting for all of us.

Now, Pearson is running for Congress and Jones is still fighting for all of us.

The recent 6-3 Supreme Court decision barring the use of race in drawing congressional districts marks a major turning point in U.S. history.

The decision took away the Voting Rights Act’s power to assure minority voices were both heard and represented.

“What we’re seeing now is this new Jim Crow system in which Black and Brown communities are without voice in our political process,” he told Fredricka Whitfield on CNN last weekend.

“That’s a canary in the coal mine for the rest of the nation. If they come for one of us, they’re coming for all of us, and some of my message to America is that the South is the front line of democracy,” Jones said. “They are dismantling multi-racial democracy here in the South, in states like Tennessee and Louisiana. But they aren’t going to stop here.”

That’s why Jones said we have to start paying attention to the South, and start helping them fight back there,” he said.

“I want to be clear that this terror, this type of system they’re enacting, are the same systems my grandparents told me about who grew up in Tennessee, a system where people like me couldn’t even be in political office. That’s the time they’re bringing us back to and I’m not sounding the alarm to be alarmist. But I am sounding it because we’ve seen this before in our history.”

Jones talked about Reconstruction and about what happened between the end of the 1800s and the beginning of the 1960s, when there was no Black political representation.

It’s a rebellion to keep our democracy going forward, he said.

“Stand with us and help us fight back against this extremist power grab — this racist power grab against our vision of a multi-racial democracy,” Jones added.

“While there is a litigation strategy, it’s important to maintain what he called a “movement strategy” that leads to the largest voter mobilization and registration that has ever been seen in the South,” he encouraged.

In 2026.

“Tennessee is an oppressed state,” Jones said. “It’s a state where one in five Black voters can’t vote because of felony disenfranchisement. It is where you can use a gun permit to vote, but you can’t use a student ID card to vote.

That’s the Asian American African American voice of Justin Jones.

Read his words for inspiration.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a veteran journalist, commentator, and comic stage monologist. His new show “69, Emil Amok: Anchorman—The News Made Me Do It,” is at the San Diego Fringe at New Destiny/Lincoln Park, 4931 Logan Ave. Ste. 102. May 14-23, at various times. Get tickets here.