Every ten years, after the conclusion of the U.S. Census, new boundaries for congressional, state and local districts are drawn in a process, called Redistricting. Have you ever wondered why…
July 21, 2021 On June 14, 2021 the City Auditor Courtney Ruby issued a report entitled "City of Oakland's Financial Condition for Fiscal Years 2012-13 through 2019-20". This audit, City…
"Can Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention succeed?" By: Amalya Dubrovsky https://oaklandside.org/2021/04/13/caoakland-department-violence-prevention-guillermo-cespedes-gun-violence/
Oakland’s court-appointed Monitor and Compliance Director Robert Warshaw issued an addendum to OPD’s Executive Force Review Board’s report on the police killing of Joshua Pawlik. Make Oakland Better Now! responds.
(Photo:Jeremy Brooks)
On Tuesday, June 19, Oakland’s City Council will be considering the usual mid-cycle adjustment to Oakland’s budget. The administration’s initial proposal is here. (Its supplemental reports are here and here.) We’ve spent much time evaluating all of the current possibilities, and considering them in light of our priorities: public safety, public works, transparency and accountability, homelessness reduction and budget responsibility. Our recommendations to the Mayor, City Administrator and City Council are shared below: (more…)
As we analyze Mayor Libby Schaaf's proposed 2017-2019 budget, we see there are many important issues, some long-term and some short-term. Make Oakland Better Now! briefly looks at long-term budget issues involving the Oakland Police Department.
Oakland City Council will debate a ballot measure creating a citizen police commission.
In our last post we analyzed Mayor Libby Schaaf’s strategy for “holistic community safety” outlined in her State of the City address. Today, we’ll continue our discussion, looking at her other three stated top priorities: responsive, trustworthy government, sustainable infrastructure, and equitable jobs and housing.
Responsive, trustworthy government
The Mayor’s total policy discussion on accountability was as follows:
“I could tell you about our transparency and ‘gov 2.0’ projects—like our Digital Front Door website redesign, our employee civic lab or plans for a 3-1-1 call center, but it really starts with the people.”
She then praised top staff members, the City Administrator, and other recent additions to her team.
Our take:
We don’t criticize the Mayor for publicly and openly supporting her people—that’s an important part of leadership. But we call for more emphasis on policy. A starting point might be these initiatives from her campaign white paper on how to “bring Oakland government into the 21st Century”:
What I Will Do
Implement 311 System for better service delivery:
Do you know what number to call to report illegal dumping or a pothole? Most big cities use a 3-1-1 system to make it easy for residents to request help from their government. As Mayor I will implement a world-class 311 customer service center that transitions the City to a new generation of technology that centralizes citizen requests and makes the process and resolution of each request accessible to the public 24/7 on our website.CityStat and the Office of Strategic Performance:
I will link the 311 service request system with a CityStat performance accountability system led by a newly established Office of Strategic Performance (see Louisville, Kentucky for a good model). I will work with department heads to establish clear performance measures and nurture a culture of continuous improvement within City Hall. In pursuit of this goal, OSP will help City departments and agencies deliver high quality services to citizens in a cost-efficient and transparent manner. Three core efforts include strategic planning, performance management, continuous improvement consulting and training. We can save on technology procurement dollars by conducting internal and external user research to scope projects more efficiently, determine what the needs are and design a scope of work to fulfill those needs. Too often contracts are signed without a clear understanding of the pain points, and key opportunities to solve actual problems are missed.
Sometime soon, Oaklanders should hear about where we stand on these efforts.
More after the break. (more…)
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf gave her first State of the City address and outlined her plan for "holistic community safety." Make Oakland Better Now! weighs in on strengthening OPD, the city's Comprehensive Public Safety Plan, and more.
At her inauguration in January, City Auditor Brenda Roberts promised to be an “auditor for all of Oakland,” Make Oakland Better Now! recently met with Roberts to talk about her progress and how her office is making a greater impact on Oakland’s ethics, integrity, and productivity.
