Activism

City Debates Priorities for a $3.2 Billion Budget

Published

5 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

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

Published

7 days ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

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Oakland Schools Honor Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice. His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.

Published

1 week ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

Fred Korematsu. Courtesy of OUSD.

By Post Staff

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice.

His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.
One OUSD school is named in his honor: Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy (KDA) elementary in East Oakland.

Several years ago, founding KDA Principal Charles Wilson, in a video interview with anti-hate organization “Not In Our Town,” said, “We chose the name Fred Korematsu because we really felt like the attributes that he showed in his work are things that the children need to learn … that common people can stand up and make differences in a large number of people’s lives.”

Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland on Jan. 30, 1919. His parents ran a floral nursery business, and his upbringing in Oakland shaped his worldview. His belief in the importance of standing up for your rights and the rights of others, regardless of race or background, was the foundation for his activism against racial prejudice and for the rights of Japanese Americans during World War II.

At the start of the war, Korematsu was turned away from enlisting in the National Guard and the Coast Guard because of his race. He trained as a welder, working at the docks in Oakland, but was fired after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Fear and prejudice led to federal Executive Order 9066, which forced more than 120,000 Japanese Americans out of their homes and neighborhoods and into remote internment camps.

The 23-year-old Korematsu resisted the order. He underwent cosmetic surgery and assumed a false identity, choosing freedom over unjust imprisonment. His later arrest and conviction sparked a legal battle that would challenge the foundation of civil liberties in America.

Korematsu’s fight culminated in the Supreme Court’s initial ruling against him in 1944. He spent years in a Utah internment camp with his family, followed by time living in Salt Lake City where he was dogged by racism.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford overturned Executive Order 9066. Seven years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco vacated Korematsu’s conviction. He said in court, “I would like to see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will never happen again to any American citizen of any race, creed, or color.”

Korematsu’s dedication and determination established him as a national icon of civil rights and social justice. He advocated for justice with Rosa Parks. In 1998, President Bill Clinton gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom saying, “In the long history of our country’s constant search for justice, some names of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls … To that distinguished list, today we add the name of Fred Korematsu.”

After Sept. 11, 2001, Korematsu spoke out against hatred and discrimination, saying what happened to Japanese Americans should not happen to people of Middle Eastern descent.
Korematsu’s roots in Oakland and his education in OUSD are a source of great pride for the city, according to the school district. His most famous quote, which is on the Korematsu elementary school mural, is as relevant now as ever, “If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.”

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WOMEN IMPACTING THE CHURCH AND COMMUNITY

Published

1 week ago

April 17, 2024

Oakland Post

Juanita Matthews

Sister Juanita Matthews

55 Years with Oakland Public School District

The Teacher, Mother, Community Outreach Champion, And Child of God

Juanita Matthews, better known as “Sister Teacher,” is a walking Bible scholar. She moved to California from the great state of Arkansas in 1971. Sister Teacher has a passion for teaching. She has been a member of Bible Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church since 1971. She followed her passion for teaching, and in 1977 became the lead teacher for Adult Class #6. Her motto still today is “Once My Student, Always My Student”.

Beyond her remarkable love for the Lord, Sister Teacher has showcased her love for teaching by working for the Oakland Unified School District for 55 years, all but four of those years spent at Emerson Elementary and Child Development School. She truly cares about her students, making sure they have the tools/supplies needed to learn either at OUSD or Bible Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church.

She’s also had a “Clothes Closet Ministry” for 51 years, making sure her students have sufficient clothing for school. The Clothes Closet Ministry extends past her students, she has been clothing the community for over 50 years as well. She loves the Lord and is a servant on a mission. She is a loving mother to two beautiful children, Sandra and Andre. This is the impact this woman of God has on her church and the community.