May 13, 2021
Dear Friend,

Vaccine Milestone: As of Wednesday, 50% of all eligible Oaklanders are *fully* vaccinated and 70% have received their first dose! Oaklanders who need a vaccination should visit this site or call 510-208-4VAX.

Welcome to the Mayor’s Weekly Briefing, your weekly Oakland news roundup. Please forward this to a friend. They may subscribe here.

Oakland Love,
—Libby
MAYOR LIBBY SCHAAF
California Starts Roaring Back in Oakland
On Monday, I welcomed Gov. Gavin Newsom to the Unity Council in our Fruitvale neighborhood to announce the historic California Comeback Plan.

The plan uses an unprecedented surplus in the state budget to invest directly in the people of California — including our undocumented residents — and provides $600 in stimulus payments to two-thirds of all Californians, 100% rent relief for low-income families, and billions for utility payments.

Eligibility begins with filing a tax return. If you need help to file, you can call or contact 2-1-1. The California comeback starts in Oakland.
Keeping the A's Rooted in Oakland
On Tuesday, Major League Baseball made it clear that if the Oakland A's have a future in Oakland, it's at a waterfront ballpark. The announcement ends speculation of a new stadium at the Coliseum, and focuses our efforts on a vision for a new, fiscally viable and financially responsible, neighborhood on the waterfront that will enhance our city and region, and keep the A's where they belong — in Oakland.

Now is the moment for our entire community, including our partners at the port, the county, and at the state, to rally around this effort and get a responsible proposal to our City Council this summer.
A New Budget for a Just Recovery
On Friday, we released our Just Recovery Budget proposal, a $3.85 billion plan to address Oakland's most immediate needs and navigate Oakland back toward long-term fiscal health.

Affordable Housing & Homelessness Solutions:
  • Allocates an unprecedented $41 million to prevent homelessness, stabilize our unsheltered residents with hygiene supports and interim housing/shelter, and help move them to permanently affordable housing.
  • Creates Oakland’s first dedicated Encampment Cleaning Crews with new positions, overtime funding, and equipment, which will double the number of encampments we will clean and service compared with pre-pandemic levels.
  • Allocates $32 million to preserve and produce more affordable housing through state and federal funds and anticipated developer impact fees.

Public Safety & Violence Prevention
  • Strategically preserves core OPD services while accurately budgeting expenditures at levels consistent with historical community demand for police response and services. OPD’s budget is 18% of this proposed budget, lower than in the past.
  • Creates a new Trust Unit in OPD, including dedicated Liaison Officers to Chinatown and Fruitvale.
  • As recommended by the City Auditor, corrects the past practice of underbudgeting police overtime by accurately funding expenditures required to maintain services.
  • Creates and ramps up Mobile Assistance Community Responders of Oakland “MACRO” — a non-police response to mental health — in the Oakland Fire Department.
  • Makes other operational changes recommended by the Reimagining Public Safety process: moves Special Activity Permits to the Economic & Workforce Development Department; moves certain vehicle enforcement activities to the Department of Transportation; and begins the analysis to shift officer misconduct investigations to the Police Commission.
  • Expands Department of Violence Prevention coordination and case management, especially for families who are impacted by violence or sexual exploitation.
ICYMI: New Restaurant Revitalization Fund Now Open!
A new fund to support our beloved restaurant owners, food truck operators, brewpub entrepreneurs, taco stand proprietors — and any other small business food-providers, is now open for Oaklanders.
Let's Replace Interstate 980
The Biden-Harris Administration announced a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan that includes funds to "reconnect neighborhoods cut off by historic investments." It lists our Interstate 980 as an example of a little-used freeway that can be filled in and turned into affordable housing and vast public parks to reconnect our residents — and it's a concept I wholeheartedly support.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"We are not going to leave anybody behind during this pandemic."

PHOTO OF THE WEEK
The Oakland Planning Commission voted 5-0 last week to approve what would become Oakland's tallest building, a 38-story office tower at 415 20th St. It would be the tallest Bay Area skyscraper outside of San Francisco. Rise high, Oakland! | East Bay Times