Declaring a Fiscal Emergency is Unnecessary, Say City Leaders Council proposes solutions to City’s budget challenges Community urges County to move forward on Coliseum development By Ken Epstein
The Oakland City Council has identified proposals for stronger fiscal solutions and will be able to avoid declaring a fiscal emergency in Oakland, according to ViceMayor and Councilmember-at Large Rebecca Kaplan. “The Oakland City Council is prioritizing community safety, housing security, essential services to keep our city safe, healthy and vibrant, and collecting outstanding revenue that are owed – as well as
transparency in making fiscally sound decisions based on real financial data,” Kaplan said in a written statement to the Oakland Post discussing the City Council budget. With a new report brought to Council at its Dec. 9 special budget meeting, there are now several important improvements. The recommendation for declaring a fiscal emergency has been removed, clarifying that Oakland is NOT at risk of insolvency, she said.
Additionally, extra funds from special fund sources and enterprise funds, have been identified that are available to be used to ensure fiscal solvency. “Yesterday, the City Council discussed a ‘Back to Basics’ approach to our budget and city services,” said Council President Nikki Fortunato-Bas. “While our financial situation requires action, the Council has previously provided direction to the City Administrator through the contingency budget, and we
discussed the City Administrator’s further proposals for how to rebalance our Midcycle Budget to close our current fiscal year projected deficit.” “Importantly, we are ensuring our reserve is at the required level, and we do not need to declare a fiscal emergency under our Consolidated Fiscal Policy,” she said. Kaplan said, “It is vital to protect core public services and the long-term fiscal solvency of our Continued on page 10
Oakland Post
Vice-Mayor and Councilmember-at Large Rebecca Kaplan. File photo.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
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61st Year, No. 50
Weekly Edition December 11 - 17, 2024
City of Oakland Celebrates Reopening of Main Library The Main Library has been closed since May for critical infrastructure upgrades
Photo courtesy of Post News Group
Post News Group Hosts Second Virtual Town Hall on Racism
By Post Staff On hand to celebrate the completion of improvements to Oakland’s Main Library were (L to R)- Jamie Turbak, director of Library Services; LaTonda Simmons, asssitant city administrator; Nikki Bas, president, Oakland City Council; Shen Thao, mayor of Oakland; Carroll Fife, Oakland city councilmember District 3; Harold Duffey, assistant city administrator; Sean Maher, communications director for the City Administrator’s Office. Photo by Kevin Hicks. By Oakland Post Staff
The City of Oakland leadership and community partners gathered to celebrate the reopening of the Main Library, located at 125 14th St., after completion of critical infrastructure upgrades to enhance the library's facilities and provide a better experience for patrons. Renovations include new roof installation, skylight repair, critical electrical system upgrades, new boiler control system installation, auditorium heating and cooling system installation, and improvements to lighting, flooring and ceilings throughout the building. "This is truly something to celebrate, the reopening of our wonderful Main Library! I congratulate the staff and our partners for this important project to make the Main Library a more comfortable place for everyone for years to come, said Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. "Thank you to Oakland voters and the California State Library for making these crucial improvements possible." “Libraries are such critical facilities for all Oaklanders, whether it’s children coming to story-time, adults reading the newspapers or borrowing the latest novels, and people engaging with a range of services and programs that the library hosts,” said Council President and District 2 Councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas. “Such library services and programs are only possible when
Dis
the facility’s electricity, heating, roof, and lighting are fixed and running efficiently. I’m proud to join this re-opening of our Main Public Library.” “Public libraries are a wonderful resource for our residents, offering a safe space for learning and being,” said District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife. “It is critical to improve and modernize our libraries so more members of our community can utilize and enjoy them. I’m excited that the necessary renovations to the Main Library have been completed successfully and thank everyone involved, particularly the City team, who helped secure
the necessary grant funds for this work.” "I am proud of the City staff and project partners who kept this important project on schedule and under budget," said Assistant City Administrator G. Harold Duffey. "The library is an incredibly important resource for our community members, and this project is an investment into the library's future." “Dec. 2nd was a momentous occasion for Oakland Public Library as we proudly reopened the doors of the Main Library following extensive infrastructure repairs,” said Director of Library Continued on page 10
Post News Group Global Features Journalist Carla Thomas recently hosted a second Virtual Town Hall on Racism, with guests including community builders Trevor Parham of Oakstop and Chien Nguyen of Oakland Trybe. Thomas opened the town hall by paying homage to the ancestral losses of the African diaspora, and to the Indigenous tribes, the enslaved, the freed, and the trailblazers of the Civil Rights Movement, Black Lives Matter Movement, and those more recently victimized by police brutality. After thanking Bay Area nonprofits for their work, Thomas led
a thoughtful discussion on the importance of acknowledging racism as the first form of hate that built America. “While our society tends to rebrand over the decades, we find hate as the new word, broadening its arch of issues in society,” she said. “However, the very first form of hate, which is racism, built this country,” she said. “That act of othering, creating a narrative that made African people, indigenous people, and ultimately melanated people, labeled as less than human justified the colonizers act of subjugating our ancestors to inhumane, incomprehensible treatment for over 400
years,” said Thomas. Parham of Oakstop, located at 1721 Broadway, explained that Nazi Germany patterned its mistreatment and extinction of Jews in the Holocaust after chattel slavery in America and the Jim Crow apartheid system that followed it. “Nazi Germany found America’s treatment of Blacks so inhumane and denigrating that they (decided) it would actually be the perfect ingredient to undermine another group of people,” said Parham. “So, they essentially borrowed from what Americans did to Black people.” Thomas pivoted the discussion Continued on page 10
CARE Court, or the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court, is a civil court process that provides a 12-month treatment plan involving clinically prescribed, individualized interventions as well as supportive services, medication, and housing options. Juan Taizan, director of Forensic Diversion and Reentry Servic-
es at ACBHD, said the program is intended to target the county’s most vulnerable communities. It is also designed to divert individuals away from conservatorship or incarceration, he added. To be eligible, individuals must meet the following criteria: • 18 years of age or older • Diagnosed with schizophrenia or other associated psychotic disorders and currently experiencing symptoms • Not clinically stabilized in ongoing treatment • The individual’s mental health is substantially deteriorating, and they are unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision and/or need services and support to prevent relapse and deterioraContinued on page 10
Advocates Concerned After CARE Court Launches in Alameda County
iStock. By Magaly Muñoz Alameda
County
Superior
Court and Alameda County Behavioral
Health
Department
(ACBHD) launched CARE Court last week in an effort to help inJamie Turbak, Director of Library Services, Tarshel Beards Community Relations Manager of Oakland Public Library, Gay Plair Cobb, Commissioner of Oakland Public Libraries, Kimberly Mayfield, Deputy Mayor, City of Oakland. Photo by Kevin Hicks.
California Legislative Black Caucus Celebrates Historic Milestone 2024 IN REVIEW: 7 Questions for Outgoing Black Caucus Vice Chair Sen. Steven Bradford.. see page 6 With Record Number of Women Members ... see page 2
dividuals with particular mental health diagnoses or substance abuse disorders receive a range of support services.
Nikki Giovanni, Iconic Poet and Voice of the Black Arts Movement, Dies at 81.. see page 9
In ‘Affrilachia: Testimonies,’ Puts Blacks in Appalacia on the Map ... see page 8