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Agenda Item

3 20-0757 Subject: FY 2019-20 Q4 & FY 2020-21 Q1 R&E Report From: Finance Department Recommendation: Receive An Informational Report On Fiscal Year (FY) 2019-20 Unaudited Fourth Quarter And FY 2020-21 First Quarter Revenue And Expenditure Results And Year-End Summaries For The General Purpose Fund (GPF, 1010) And Selected Funds

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    Liana Molina almost 4 years ago

    The East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy urges this committee and the council not to proceed with any cuts to critical public and community services to our most vulnerable residents.

    We are in the midst of a public health and economic calamity. Budget cuts that will reduce critical services for our at risk neighbors would be disastrous. Our homeless and unhoused neighbors, workers, the disabled community, renters and struggling seniors all need assistance and support.

    Don’t balance the budget on the backs of poor and working people, especially when the police department has been grossly irresponsible in overspending by tens of millions of dollars.

    We are asking the city to report back to the full committee on what progress has been made by the City Administrator and Mayor to track, hold accountable and stop, overspending at the Oakland Police Department that continues to come at the expense of badly needed city services and public sector jobs.

    We implore this committee to take no action on the recommended cuts until the community can get a full and transparent account of these efforts, and we demand the city not make any cuts that will reduce critical services for homeless and unhoused people, workers, disabled residents, renters and low-income seniors.

    We must develop alternative revenue generating strategies to avoid austerity measures. Tax wealthy corporations. Don’t short change workers and the community.

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    Helen Bloch almost 4 years ago

    Dear Committee Members,
    At this truly demanding time in history where Oakland is facing unprecedented challenges supporting and funding services, the library continues to use its resources effectively and enthusiastically to meet the most urgent needs of Oakland’s communities. Even with its buildings closed, the library is nonetheless reaching out with its physical and virtual resources to provide needed assistance.
    Since the pandemic began OPL has served the community by:
    • Meeting Oaklanders information and recreation needs - providing more than 550,000 digital checkouts, more than 200,000 holds on print resources and giving away almost 5,000 children’s books.
    • Lessening the digital divide - providing hundreds hot spots to the public and OUSD, mobile printing services and approximately 10,000 free Wi-Fi sessions
    • Feeding the hungry - providing more than 150,000 free meals and more than 7,000 free produce boxes.
    And it has done much much more.
    During the last midcycle budget adjustments, the City declared a fiscal emergency and the library’s general fund allocation under Measure D was slashed under the “maintenance of effort” provision. The library is the glue that holds this city together and has proven its value even during the toughest of times. I ask that the library’s general fund budget under Measure D be fully funded during the next budget cycle.
    Thank you.
    Helen Bloch
    Wilbur St.

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    Kathryn Sterbenc almost 4 years ago

    Since the pandemic struck in March, the Oakland Public Library has provided crucial resources and services to all Oaklanders, regardless of age, race, gender, ethnicity, income level and housing status. It has, as always, distributed books, online and print information, movies, music, magazines, toys and tools. However, even though its doors have been closed to the public, the library has also innovated and expanded its services, responding to the new and greater needs of the community.

    The library has distributed thousands of meals and produce bags to the hungry, collected masks to keep people healthy, created online resources for families and young children to prepare them for the start of school, offered free virtual legal consultations, distributed Wi-Fi hot spots to OUSD, and offered free Wi-Fi and mobile printing services outside its buildings, all to lessen the digital divide. On the horizon, the library plans to further expand and innovate, for example, enriching Oakland’s children by providing art and science kits and remotely visiting classrooms. The impact the library has had during this crisis is profound.

    During the midcycle budget process this year, the library lost substantial Measure D funding. Given the crucial role that the library continues to play in the community, I ask that full 1010 funding be restored during the next budget cycle.

    Kathryn Sterbenc, President
    Friends of the Oakland Public Library

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    Yuri Cardenas almost 4 years ago

    I am a district 1 voter. The Oakland police department must not be paid for unapproved overspending from the general fund. Thousands of voters asked for this, this year alone. Please listen to us.

    ‘..overspending, not lost revenue, accounts for most of the city’s current budget gap, and the Oakland Police Department is “primarily driving this overspending,” according to O’Brien’s report.. In the last fiscal year, the police department overspent its budget by $32 million. This included $19 million in unbudgeted overtime..

    Historically, OPD has overspent millions each year on overtime..Over the past five years, OPD has averaged $30 million annually in overtime while the council approved about half this amount each year.’