Meeting Time: March 27, 2020 at 11:00am PDT
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Agenda Item

OPEN FORUM (Total Time Avaliable: 15 Minutes)

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    Frances Ramos over 4 years ago

    this is necessary, doable, and urgent. can you imagine if we don't do this? as a parent rep on our school site council, I can tell you that rent is the thing people are most scared about.

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    Theresa Nelson over 4 years ago

    What is the City of Oakland doing to support nonprofits in Oakland? I see work being done to help organizations that do immediate direct health care, and food and shelter relief, and that's where the funds from the fund at the East Bay Community Foundation have gone, which is good. But what about the dozens of other organizations that support the arts, education, the environment, and more? Their staff members are being furloughed or laid off, as they are losing huge amounts of revenue, and nonprofits are mostly excluded from federal relief programs being passed right and left. The City needs to put funds into keeping these organizations alive until they can re-open and bring staff back. Nonprofit salaries are lower than for profits and public sector, and these furloughed staff are the ones in danger of being evicted. The fund at East Bay Community Foundation is to date all donations and grants, no City funds are committed. And Oakland will be less Oakland if these organizations fold.

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    Joseph Hornof over 4 years ago

    The City Council - and all of us - should give a huge shout-out to everyone providing essential services to the City of Oakland in this time of crisis. The awesome staff at our hospitals, the clerks at our grocery stores, the crews who haul our garbage, the list goes on.

    And we owe them much, much more. The City must listen to these people. What do they need us to do, so they continue to do their work?

    As citizens, we can help them by observing necessary precautions. We stay at home for them, so they can stay at work for us. We need to wash our hands and respect distance. Non-essential gatherings must be curtailed, to prevent the transmission of this virus. Many people are respectful of this, but we have not done enough.

    The City must also step up. Every worker providing essential services should be provided the necessary equipment to safely do their job. Gloves, masks, sanitization products, etc. Any product or service they ask from us. These people are risking their lives for us.

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    Naomi Schiff over 4 years ago

    I'm unclear on how to participate in open forum, but want to lend my support to the idea of Angela Shannon, that the city should immediately procure hotel/motel rooms and vacant housing units for unsheltered residents, to protect the community from the uncontrolled spread of the Covid19 or any other contagious disease, and to allow these residents to properly protect themselves. I would like to address the council but am not sure how to do this. Please advise.