East Bay Today • Mon, Jun 29

• Oakland leaders are locked in a bitter dispute over an interim city administrator appointment—causing a delay which could cost the city $5.5 million.

• Berkeley officials approved a new budget, with potentially 38 layoffs, to stave off a structural deficit.

• Richmond is considering a new bond measure to repair aging fire stations, which could finally bring paramedic service to the city.

• A woman in Livermore accused a top county official of attempting to bribe her after a trash collection fiasco went sideways.

EAST BAY WEATHER

Don’t get too used to today’s glorious sunshine. After today, Oakland’s weather forecast has no high temperatures above 70 until Friday! ❄️

TOP STORIES

1) Oakland leaders are stalling an important interim appointment that could cost taxpayers $5.5 million.

The Oaklandside reports that members of the Oakland City Council are clashing openly with Mayor Barbara Lee over her choice for interim city administrator, Betsy Lake, stalling the appointment at a critical moment for the city’s finances. Council President Kevin Jenkins and Councilmember Janani Ramachandran triggered the standoff by holding up the confirmation of acting administrator Betsy Lake, insisting on more time for due diligence. The delay directly flouts warnings from Finance Director Bradley Johnson, who noted that missing a mid-July deadline to seat a legally confirmed top administrator could tank a vital bond market transaction and cost the city up to $5.5 million. The interim appointment follows the forced resignation of former City Administrator Jestin Johnson over a workplace texting scandal, after public records showed him discussing women in the workplace in demeaning and sexualized language with other male colleagues. While Councilmember Ken Houston defended Johnson’s behavior and objected to his recent firing, other council members were baffled by the holdup given the immense financial risk. Jenkins only said he wanted time to research “other options available” and did not directly address the looming financial deadline. 

I don’t often opine on Oakland politics, but Jenkins’ comments remind me of some of my dad’s sage advice: “do your homework before the deadline.”

Learn more about Jestin Johnson’s resent resignation-in-disgrace after the release of derogatory text messages between him and his male colleagues. (Video: ABC7 News Bay Area via YouTube)

2) Berkeley approved a new budget, facing massive potential layoffs.

The Berkeley Scanner reports that the Berkeley City Council unanimously adopted its new $900 million biennial budget after hammering out a late-night compromise over proposed cuts to housing programs and emergency services. The finalized plan balances the ledger by cutting 138 positions (100 being vacant), while successfully restoring $3.8 million for a small sites housing preservation program and allocating $3.6 million to save nine fire department jobs. The final deal successfully merged competing budget proposals from Mayor Adena Ishii and Councilmember Rashi Kesarwani, which originally split over how to structure the housing preservation funds. (Full disclosure: as a resident of Berkeley, I have supported both of them in past elections.) City officials stated that they would seek other positions in the organization for the 38 employees facing layoffs in this budget. To sustain these services long-term, the city is betting heavily on local voters approving a sales tax increase this November, and the city manager's office and council leaders warned that Berkeley's fiscal future remains highly unstable, with potentially more “devastating” cuts if the sales tax measure fails to pass.

3) Richmond is considering a bond measure to upgrade its fire stations.

Richmondside reports that the Richmond City Council voted to begin preparing ballot language for a general obligation bond this November to repair deteriorating fire stations that would enable its fire department to introduce paramedic-level emergency services. This comes on the heels of a May poll of 800 residents showing nearly 70% support for a potential $120 million bond measure, though pollsters warned that low voter enthusiasm amid competing priorities could jeopardize the measure's required super-majority passage. Richmond remains the only municipality in Contra Costa County lacking certification to provide advanced life support during medical emergencies, and Richmond’s fire chief warned of the significance of such a long-term commitment — “like buying a home” — which previous city councils had failed to finalize four times prior to this attempt.

4) A Livermore resident accused a top Alameda County official of attempting to bribe her.

The Mercury News reports that a bitter billing dispute over garbage collection near Livermore escalated into a corruption scandal, with a resident accusing a top Alameda County supervisor's aide of offering a bribe to silence her public criticisms. Resident Kiersten Skov alleged that Shawn Wilson, chief of staff to Board of Supervisors President David Haubert, offered to steer up to $10,000 in county discretionary funds to a charity of her choice if she stopped complaining on social media about paying for trash collection, which an email from Haubert’s office had inadvertently led some unincorporated area residents to believe they were required to sign up for service. (Skov contacted Haubert’s office after canceling her service when the trash collection company would not reimburse services already billed.) Both Wilson and Haubert strongly denied the bribery allegation, characterizing the discussion as “spit-balling with her” over a “joint donation” as part of a settlement with the county. 

Senator Aisha Wahab, D-Hayward, hosted a press conference with Skov to promote her legislation, Senate Bill 1193, which would require more public disclosure and board approval for supervisors to distribute taxpayer money to nonprofits. Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors unanimously opposed the bill, though so far in vain: it passed the state senate unanimously in May and heads to the lower chamber of the legislature in August.

CLIP OF THE WEEK

Catch a behind-the-scenes look of the Oakland Museum of California’s team as it prepares Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory exhibition. (Video: OMCA via YouTube)

That wraps it up for me this week. Go out and be excellent to each other, and let’s make the East Bay’s history one can we look forward to reading.

— Diego Aguilar-Canabal

About me: I was born and raised in Silver Spring, MD, and have also lived in Mexico City. After coming to the Bay Area in 2010, I have dabbled in fields such as journalism, music technology and social services, but I most recently served as a legislative assistant with the City of Berkeley. I am currently studying accounting at UC Berkeley and provide bookkeeping services for nonprofits, electoral campaigns and small businesses in the Bay Area. You can find a full list of my clients on my website.

Please send any questions, comments, criticisms, tips, cool photos or curry recipes to me by responding to this newsletter.