City Government

Council Rules Committee Decides Fate of Measures for November Ballot

Published

8 years ago

July 19, 2018

The City Council’s Rules and Legislation Committee has been granted the authority, announced this week by the City Attorney’s office, to decide which measures authored by councilmembers would be permitted to be sent to the full council for approval to be placed on the November ballot.

Formerly, many ballot proposals were scheduled by Rules to be discussed at various council committees where they were discussed, and decisions were reached on whether or not to send the proposals to the council.

On Thursday, members of the Rules Committee—Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Abel Guillén, Annie Campbell Washington and Larry Reid—decided the fate of the following five proposed ballot measures:

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan’s one percent rental property revenue tax to “Fund Solutions for Homelessness, Illegal Dumping Remediation, And Related Programs.”

Councilmember Desley Brooks’ Oakland Charter Amendment “Career Jobs Now!,” which would establish a fund to support job-training services in the amount of seven percent of the unrestricted money received by the city from new construction of market-rate housing and commercial developments completed on or after Jan 1, 2019.

Councilmembers Noel Gallo’s and Dan Kalb’s “Just Cause Amendment” that would remove the exemption for owner occupied duplexes and triplexes; and allow the City Council, without returning to the voters, to add limitations on a landlord’s right to evict.

A “Children’s Initiative of 2018” charter amendment, proposed by Mayor Libby Schaaf, which would approve a parcel tax to fund early childhood education and college readiness programs.

An initiative petition for a proposed ordinance creating workplace protections and a minimum wage for hotel employees, modifying how Oakland’s local employment standards are enforced, and creating a department of workplace and employment standards.

By the newspaper’s deadline, the Oakland Post had learned that Rules Committee had voted to approve several measures to be sent to the full council to decide what items will appear on the November ballot: Career Jobs Now!, the rental property tax to fund homelessness and illegal dumping solutions and expansion of the Just Cause Amendment that would limit landlords’ right to evict tenants.