I'm proud to share with you that my team and I have been hard at work. Together, with Mayor Schaaf, my Council colleagues, city staff, and the community, we are tackling many important issues including: fighting for fire prevention funding in the budget, investing more dollars for paving our streets, securing funding for restorative justice & foster youth programming in Oakland Unified Schools, fighting to uphold the voters' integrity, and demanding implementation of pedestrian friendly measures around our schools to keep our kids safe.

Current Issues

2 year City of Oakland Budget

Currently, we are working on the City's 2-year budget. The City Council is the legislative branch, and one of the most important responsibility we hold is to pass a balanced budget that represents our values and where we see the City of Oakland moving towards.

The Mayor (executive branch) presented her proposed 2-year (FY 2019-2021) budget on May 7th. From there, the Council will have an opportunity to review and make amendments and pass a balanced budget by June 30th or earlier.

Please click HERE to view video and supplemental documents from the Mayor's City presentation.  

To better track and understand the city's budget process, I've placed a timeline below:

Currently, there are District budget meetings happening throughout Oakland. At these meetings the Finance Department will present the Mayor's proposed 2-year budget and the community can add their input for changes you'd like to see the City Council make to Mayor's proposed budget.

For a list of meetings, please click here.

On May 8th, I hosted the first of these meetings at the Redwood Heights Recreation Center in District 4. The City Administrator's office along with the Finance Department presented the Mayor’s proposed 2 year budget at a Community Meeting. Katano Kasaine, Director of Finance and the budget team was available to answer questions regarding the city's budget. I also discussed the budget priorities for District 4 and was able to answer specific questions from the community and hear all the valuable feedback. Thanks to all of those who attended.

Recent Issues

3 year street paving plan

The Three-Year Paving Plan is a $100M construction investment in pavement rehabilitation and preventative maintenance for Oakland roadways. The Public Works Committee, which I'm a member, approved the staff recommendation that 75% of plan dollars be prioritized for rehabilitating local streets and 25% prioritized for rehabilitation and preventative maintenance on major streets. The framework to prioritize streets for repaving is based on equity, density, street condition, and traffic safety.

The original proposal by staff allocated a 5% set-aside for Councilmembers to pave roads that were left out of the three-year plan at their discretion, each of the 7 districts and 1 At-Large City Council seat, would have had an approximately $470K each. On Tuesday, April 23rd, staff acknowledged that $1 million equates to an approximate 1 mile of newly paved roadway. I fought for an amendment that more than double District Councilmember’s discretionary fund to $1 million for each Council District and $500K for the At-Large Member. I'm happy to announce my amendment was adopted by a unanimous vote.

I appreciate what the Department of Transportation presented, I fully support using an equity framework for developing this and all of Oakland’s investments. However, this plan leaves many Oaklanders out, and I am glad my colleagues agreed that as Councilmember’s we are on the ground in our Districts and better understand the every day needs of our local streets. Therefore, having more dollars for street paving in the District will help tackle some of the streets that did not make it into the 3-year plan.

Measure AA

Last year, Measure "AA" was put forth to Oakland voters. The measure received 62% voter approval and on the official election site of Alameda County, including Oakland's City Attorney, Barbara Parker's ballot statement, stated that it would require a two-thirds vote, which would call for at least 66% voter approval.

In December of 2018, the Oakland City Council, which included three Councilmembers who are no longer on the City Council voted to certify Measure AA as passing with 6 ayes, 1 no (McElhaney) and 1 absent (Brooks).

On April 16th the new City Council took a vote to either collect the tax and escrow the funds or not to collect the tax. I'm a strong supporter of Early Childhood Education and openly supported and voted for Measure AA when it was on the ballot this past November. I'm glad that the majority on the new City Council agreed with me and voted to NOT collect the Measure AA tax for the first year and to have it reviewed again next year. Maintaining the voters' trust, integrity and ensuring transparency with Oakland voters is extremely important to me. This is about the process, and as we await to receive more clarity from the courts, it's important for me to protect my constituents' and Oakland voters' financial resources.

Securing Funds for Oakland Youth

I'm happy that the majority of the City Council took extraordinary action to save critical services that included the restorative justice and foster youth case management programs. These programs were cut or reduced during the adoption of OUSD's recent budget.

A Resolution authored by myself, Councilmembers Bas, Gallo, and President Kaplan allocates one-time funding of $690,000 to fund the Restorative Justice program and $510,000 to restore funding to OUSD foster youth case managers. These programs have shown to help our Oakland students be successful not only academically but have proven to be pillars for their positive personal growth. We need to do more at the State level to ensure that our students have the resources they need to be successful in the classrooms year after year.

Future Events

Join City staff, the Oakland Climate Action Coalition and District 4 Councilmember Sheng Thao at the District 4 Community Workshop to share your vision and solutions for Oakland’s 2030 ECAP.

The City of Oakland is developing its 2030 Equitable Climate Action Plan (ECAP) to identify how the City can equip Oaklanders (businesses and residents) to take critical actions to stop climate change, and adapt to a changing climate.  Oakland has a strong history of bold climate action and community advocacy.  In October 2018, City Council adopted a Climate Emergency and Just Transition Resolution, calling for an urgent climate mobilization effort to reverse global warming, reduce greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible, and accelerate adaptation and resilience strategies in preparation for intensifying climate impacts.  This includes actions that create good green jobs, reduce pollution, and help Oaklanders thrive.  The ECAP is the tool that will make this happen.  Come take part in shaping this important plan, to ensure that it reflects the District 2 communities’ needs and dreams!

When: Tuesday, May 28^th, 6-8:30pm (come early for food!)

Where: Dimond Branch Library - 3565 Fruitvale Ave

Why: Climate change affects all of us. Oakland residents, particularly frontline communities, can be deeply involved in crafting equitable climate actions for our city. Get involved to define the solutions we need to ensure the 2030 ECAP benefits existing Oakland residents with improved health, green jobs, and better neighborhoods!

• Food provided.
• Childcare provided by request. Please fill out this form.
• Spanish and Cantonese interpretation available.
• Wheelchair accessible event.

Visit www.oaklandca.gov/projects/2030ecap for more information and to RSVP.

Save the Date! Councilmember Thao and Assemblymember Buffy Townhall

I will be hosting a Townhall Meeting with Assemblymember Wicks as a co-sponsor to discuss Fire Prevention and what can be done at the State level.

Date: Thursday, June 20, 2019 
Time: 6:00pm 
Location: Joaquin Miller Community Center, 3594 Sanborn Drive

Sincerely,

Past Engagements

Bike to Work Day

On May 9, my son Ben, Amauri on my staff and I all biked from The Laurel Cyclery and met up with Stomper, Councilmember Noel Gallo, Councilmember Loren Taylor, King-Baybe Champ, and The Original Scraper Bike Team where we then headed for pancakes at City Hall! 

Thank you Bike East Bay and all those who participated in the event.