You Can Help with the City Budget

by Sheila D'Amico

When Councilmember Ignacio De la Fuente said he had never seen a budget so challenging, he pretty much summed up the opinion of the persons attending his public budget meeting in late May. City Administrator Dan Lindheim joined De La Fuente to describe the hard facts of the budget crisis facing Oakland and also mentioned that Mayor Dellums has spent time in Washington working to get federal help. Meanwhile, Lindheim said, of the $1.1 budget, about one-half consists of restricted funds. The remaining $500 million is the General Purpose Fund (GPF), the city's actual operating budget. The budget deficit for the GPF is estimated to be more than $83 million. WIth such a deficit—and possibly more—looming, attendees wanted to know where the city will make the cuts.

Ignacio De la Fuente said he had never seen a budget so challenging. Photo by Alexia Underwood/OaklandNorth.net

De La Fuente said the city is looking for "anything creative we can do." When De La Fuente said that everything is going to be cut, that we are going to have to share the pain, attendee Hannah James asked how can we square cuts to the police in light of Measure Y? De La Fuente explained the possibility of receiving federal stimulus money through what is known as the COPS Grant. Because of the difference in fiscal years between the city and the federal govenment, Oakland would fund the required level of police, but fund 140 of the officers only through September. In October, the city could apply for the COPS Grant funding for the laid-off officers. That would bring the force back up to the authorized level. Sounds convoluted? It is. Link to some of the resources at the end of this article to find out more.

Meanwhile, other attendees offered some solutions such as volunteering to help out during the crisis. Musician and artist Robin Goodfellow who has volunteered over the years in many venues including the libraries, said that the Dimond library said they could no longer use her services because there was not enough staff to administer the program.

Several other persons suggested ideas for business development, from working on public-private partnerships to streamlining permit processes.

Juanita Velasquez raised a concern when she asked if the city could group the mandatory days off for city employees to help them, especially if they needed to find other work.

De La Fuente emphasized the point that Oakland must have a balanced budget by June 30. Both he and Lindheim urged people to get involved. The city officials need, and appear to welcome, citizen input.

Follow the budget process at http://oaklandbudget.blogspot.com. Participate in the budget challenge at www.oakland budget challenge.com. Send your thoughtful budget ideas to budgetsuggestions\@ oaklandnet.com

If you have questions call 238-2130 or email budgetoffice\@oaklandnet.com. Or call your councilmember Quan (D-4) 238-7004, De La Fuente (D-5) 238-7005, Brooks (D-6) 238-7006, or Kaplan (at-large) 238-7008.

The final public budget meeting is scheduled for June 1, from 1 to 7 p.m. at the City Council Chambers. Budget is scheduled for adoption at the regular City Council meetings on June 16 and June 30.