Please restore as much of violence prevention funds as you can. What could be more important than preventing violence?

There should be no action to this budget or its amendments to reduce City staffing or basic services for the citizens including those paid with pass-through tax measures and public safety (OPD) staffing or resources that re-engineers or re-imagines. Lives are being lost and/or damaged. The effect on property theft and damage is at an unacceptable level.

Non-profits serving regionally that operations depend on funding from the city, should have their funding reduced which will result in a budget reduction reduce and the dependencies created.

On behalf of Friends of Lincoln Square Park, I support CP Bas' budget team's proposed budget and amendments, including the proposed Capital Improvement Program budget.

Now's the time to move forward without delay, we have waited nearly 3 decades since the City first recommended upgrading the center through the Open Space (OSCAR) Element 27 years ago). Very little has been done to upgrade the center building or expand its capacity since it was built, despite the thousands of new downtown residents and increased density planned in the immediate area. Lincoln Rec Center will be one of three flagship resiliency hubs (the others in East and West Oakland) that serve the whole city, in good times and bad. Lincoln Park and Recreation Center and Lincoln Elementary serves people from across the City. It is one of the busiest parks in the City and is a safe, trusted, welcoming and inclusive space where many positive memories are made.

We also support the addition of a grantwriter. Pls consider adding Oakland Public Works to depts listed so Capital Improvement Program projects can also be assisted to secure grants. Investments in parks does lead to revenue generation because of increased capacity and opportunities for facility rentals, summer camp enrollment, after school programming, event fees etc. I also hope the grant writer can assist with grant coordination and tracking reporting requirements.

Thank you all for working together to make Oakland better for all.

I am the former Aging & Adult Services Division Manager (2002-2011), a current Governor's appointee to the State Commission on Aging, and a proud 72 yr.-old elder. For the past 21 years lived in District 7. I want to address the Aging Services Proposed Budget and its impact on services that affect on of the most vulnerable populations in Oakland. I strongly oppose the proposal to merge the Aging & Adult Services Division into a new Dept. of Children, Youth, & Families. This merger threatens to undermine progress made by Oakland's Age Friendly Initiative. This merger appears ageist as seniors are relegated to family members in a youth department.
This reorganization would put aging services on the back burner reducing visibility. It is essential to embrace the valuable contributions that seniors make and to publicly recognize that seniors and people with disabilities are integral parts of the fabric of Oakland. Oakland senior population, 65+, is entering a period of rapid growth.
During my years with DHS, this reorganization proposal was submitted twice as a cost savings strategy. After thorough research, listening to aging experts and the senior community, merging Aging with Parks/Rec did not occur.
Aging & Adults with Disabilities Services needs to be a distinct Department serving these communities with services - targeted to their needs, with a clear mission, mandate, funding, and implementation plan.
Thank you for listening,
Brendalynn

I am the former Aging & Adult Services Division Manager (2002-2011), a current Governor's appointee to the State Commission on Aging, and a proud 72 yr.-old elder. For the past 21 years lived in District 7. I want to address the Aging Services Proposed Budget and its impact on services that affect on of the most vulnerable populations in Oakland. I strongly oppose the proposal to merge the Aging & Adult Services Division into a new Dept. of Children, Youth, & Families. This merger threatens to undermine progress made by Oakland's Age Friendly Initiative. This merger appears ageist as seniors are relegated to family members in a youth department.
This reorganization would put aging services on the back burner reducing visibility. It is essential to embrace the valuable contributions that seniors make and to publicly recognize that seniors and people with disabilities are integral parts of the fabric of Oakland. Oakland senior population, 65+, is entering a period of rapid growth.
During my years with DHS, this reorganization proposal was submitted twice as a cost savings strategy. After thorough research, listening to aging experts and the senior community, merging Aging with Parks/Rec did not occur.
Aging & Adults with Disabilities Services needs to be a distinct Department serving these communities with services - targeted to their needs, with a clear mission, mandate, funding, and implementation plan.
Thank you for listening,
Brendalynn

I appreciate and support the work that CP Bas and the budget team have done to fashion a proposal to amend Mayor Thao's budget. We can and must find funds to save violence prevention programs, provide shelter and services for the unhoused, and fill vacancies for frontline staffing instead of freezing positions. I understand it is terribly challenging to balance a budget during tough times, and yet we must approach the horrible crimes being committed by balancing police work with other city services that support Oakland's people. I am not anti-police, but I also understand that if programs aren't available that address root causes of violence, as well as the fear or reality of homelessness, we will never have enough police to address the problems in our communities.

My name is Mae Chan, I am a District One resident and Business owner. On behalf of the REAL People’s Fund and Oakland’s BIPOC businesses and co-ops, I support the Council President’s amendments for Good Jobs & Vibrant Economy. We also ask the city to consider the following:
1. Prioritize funding for community and grassroots-led safety ambassadors in areas that are not already represented by BIDs or associations
2. Implement holistic strategies for small business public safety that do not over rely on security cameras, which we know lead to increased criminalization and surveillance of us and our neighbors. Oakland’s businesses desperately need more funding for Facade improvements like roll-up doors, window repairs, storefronts gates and lighting that would revitalize our economic corridors — not more police or tech-backed surveillance.
3. Please consider earmarking and reinvesting 5-10% of revenue generated from the Progressive Business Tax into funding for BIPOC businesses and co-ops.
Lastly, we ask council members to support a People’s Budget that works for ALL of Oakland, and invests violence prevention programs, support for unhoused, essential city services, democracy dollars and protecting arts and culture in Oakland. Thank you.

I am adding my voice to that of the supporters of the budget amendment made by City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and the Budget Committee. The budget must reject cuts to programs critical to our public safety. We will not be safe until every tenant is protected from abusive landlords, every resident is housed, and the arts and other proven violence prevention initiatives are supported.

We also need a budget that empowers regular Oaklanders by investing in our democracy. Measure W, specifically the democracy dollars program, passed last November with 74% support, but without consistent funding for Democracy Dollars, public funding for fair elections in Oakland will be completely erased. With Democracy Dollars, working Oaklanders will have more power over decisions that impact our communities—things such as affordable housing, community safety, and quality schools. I urge the City to work with these various community liaisons to ensure this program is given adequate funding to be successful

Lastly, we ask the city to earmark and reinvest 5-10% of revenue generated from the Progressive Business Tax into programming and funding for BIPOC businesses. I ask that you center the needs of the People by funding these programs. Thank you for your time.

This message was sent as part of a public election reform campaign by Oakland Rising on behalf of BayPEC. I am not affiliated or employed with this organization, simply participating as an individual advocate.

Hello Oakland City Council. My name is Priya and I'm a District 3 resident. I want to urge you to vote in favor of funding Democracy Dollars. This is program will be revolutionary in leveling the playing field during campaigning and ensuring fair elections. Democracy Dollars would be a pioneering method to mitigate wealthy and corporate influence over elections. Doing so would help put the people of Oakland and their needs first. Measure W in favor of Democracy Dollars has already passed in Oakland. As the city council, I hope you will listen to what the people of Oakland have already voiced we want.

Thank you President Bas and staff for proposing a budget amendments that achieve a balanced budget while preserving legal services for tenants, fire and emergency services and funding for violence prevention including MACRO. Moving forward with transferring OPD duties to civilian positions is a great way to save money and to bring those services closer to people who use them. I also strongly support of the Rapid Response Homeless Acquisition Fund.

Please pass the Bas budget without any amendments that reduce community resources.
Thank you for your service.
Jean Moses

Hello, my name is Ronnie Boyd and I’m with EBHO and a member of Oakland Peoples Budget Coalition.
I am urging our councilmembers to support a People’s Budget that works for ALL of Oakland. It addresses root causes of violence, homelessness, and housing insecurity.
We’re asking our Councilmembers to stand with our coalition and reject any amendments to the current Budget proposal that:
1. Cut existing city staff;
2. Redirect funds away from vital services and programs towards OPD’s already bloated, sworn officer budget;
3. Increases funds for overtime for sworn officers WITHOUT accountability and transparency;
4. Establishes an OPD Grant Writer position.
The Oakland Police Department receives over $350m per year. We should not commit any additional resources to this department at the expense of our communities.
We’re asking you to stand with us in support of violence prevention programs, support for the unhoused, affordable housing, city services—like proactive trash pickup and parks and rec–, arts and culture, and protecting frontline workers.

Greetings! My name is Dr. Frankie Free Ramos, and I work at CURYJ with youth from all over Oakland. Council President Bas and her budget team have put forward a proposal that takes steps to provide some level of funding to save violence prevention programs, provide shelter and services for the unhoused and fill vacancies in frontline staffing.

We appreciate that this budget provides some resources for the housing & homelessness crisis, and for parks and city services like maintaining our streets. These are all important for our communities to be safe. The money for DVP is a good start, but we believe more can still be cut from police to invest more into prevention and resources for the community. We oppose any amendments that continue to invest in policing.

Thank you,
Frankie

Hi My name is Kenneth Tang with APEN and member of the Oakland People's Budget Coalition. I strongly support Council President Bas and her budget team proposal. The majority of APEN members are District 2 and 3 resudebts. As a monolingual immigrant community, they deeply appreciate the services provided by non-profit legal organizations. Thy offer crucial legal support to monolingual tenants. It is imperative that our city leaders prioritize and invest in tenant legal services.

Significant number of APEN members have experienced crime first hand. Many of them have felt that the police were not as helpful as we had hoped when reporting incidents. As a community, we want the city focus on addressing root causes of violence. We need to continue in investing DVP!

Many Chinatown residents rely on local business in their daily lives. APEN strongly urge the city to consider earmarking and reinvesting 5-10% of revenue generated from the Progressive Business Tax into funding for BIPOC businesses and co-ops.

Finally, ALincoln Recreation Square holds immense cultural significance for immigrant families in the Bay Area. The renovation to this vital community center has been long-awaited. We have a unique opportunity to make sure that this trusted community space can be a resource for working class immigrants and refugees in times of climate disaster. We request passing our budget with Lincoln Recreation Square as a top priority within the Capital Improvement Program. Thank you

Hi our names are Lin Sang Leung/梁连星, Bing Ying Li /李冰影, Shao Yu Li/李少瑜, Hui Yan Li/ 李慧賢, Guo Yi Li/李帼仪, Yu Yan Lin/林玉顏, Mei Tu Zhu/朱美图, Li Xia Pang/彭丽霞, Tam Ming /譚明, Janet Wong/黃玉英，Song Xin Wu/吳松新, Lin Xi/席琳, Feng Ying Zhou/ 周鳳英, Xian Li Zhu/朱賢莉, Li Zhong Fang/方立中, Yong Hong Deng/ 邓永红，Xiao Mei Chen/陈肖梅，Kong Tao/ 孔桃， Yu Hua Guan / 关玉华，Yun Long Fang/ 方云龙，Miao Zhen Xing/ 邢苗珍，Su Jiao Huang/ 黄素娇, Yu Ying Chen/ 陈玉英，Ruo Lan Meng/ 孟若岚，Yu Zhen Huo/霍玉珍 From APEN (Asian Pacific Environmental Network).

As community leaders and are part of the Oakland People's Budget Coalition, we fully support Council President Bas and her budget team's proposal. As immigrant tenants in Districts 2 and 3, we appreciate organizations like Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach and Centro Legal de la Raza that provide crucial legal services. Investing in tenant legal services is essnetail for our community.

We have personally experienced situations where the police were not as helpful as we hoped when we reported crimes. This has inspired us to collectively reimagine public safety, focusing on addressing the root causes of violence. We urge the council to expand DVP every budget cycle rather than reducing funding.

Lastly, we request passing a budget with the renovation of Lincoln Recreation Square in the Capital Improvement Program. It's a cultural landmark and a resource for working-class immigrants and refugees during climate disasters.

Hello, my name is Vernetta Woods and I am a renter/parent and a resident in District 7. May I speak with Councilmember Dan Kalb?

We’re calling on Councilmember Dan Kalb to support a People’s Budget that works for ALL of Oakland that addresses root causes of violence, homelessness and housing insecurity.

We’re asking the Councilmember to stand with our coalition and reject any amendments to the current Budget proposal that:

1. Cut existing city staff;

2. Redirect funds away from vital services and programs towards OPD’s already bloated, sworn officer budget;

3. Increases funds for overtime for sworn officers WITHOUT accountability and transparency;

4. Establishes an OPD Grant Writer position.

The Oakland Police Department receives over $350m per year. We should not commit any additional resources to this department at the expense of our communities.

We’re asking the Councilmember to stand with us in support of violence prevention programs, support for the unhoused, affordable housing, city services—like proactive trash pickup and parks and rec–, arts and culture, and protecting frontline workers.

Can we count on you to support us? Thank You.

Hello, my name is Deanne, I am the Oakland Political Coordinator at the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) and a D3 renter.

APEN is calling on councilmembers to support a People’s Budget that works for ALL of Oakland that addresses root causes of violence, homelessness, and housing insecurity. We urge you all to consider the following:
- Expand MACRO and DVP
- Fund API language tenant counseling
- Fund the Lincoln Resilency Hub

We are at a crisis point and we must not respond to this moment of crisis by defunding violence prevention, critical services for the unhoused, renter protections, and other city services in order to divert funding into police overspending and departments that do not keep our communities safe.

i support Council President Bas' proposed budget amendments, as well as East Bay Housing Organizations' funding priorities:

- Fast track spending Measure U funds to build affordable housing as quickly as possible
- Ensure that all money raised from the disposition of public land should go towards affordable housing, including proceeds from the East 12th St. and Barcelona St.
- Allocate money raised through the transient occupancy tax (TOT) paid by short-term rentals towards affordable housing
- Finish the Impact Fee study to ensure we are maximizing affordable housing contributions from private developers
- Ensure that the city’s Housing and Community Development Department is fully staffed as quickly as possible

I am also grateful to see Council President Nikki Bas' proposal to allocate $1M per year in funding for tenant legal services, and I strongly urge you to support this amendment.

I stand with the People's Budget Coalition in saying that increasing the police budget isn't the solution to Oakland's problems; we need real investment in community services. A safe city is a city where everyone has an affordable home.

On the whole, I support the President's budget and thank the Mayor and Administration for making the best of a bad situation, while balancing the core needs of our community with the financial realities on the ground. I would like to support Councilmember Kalb's amendment to maintain the current level of funding for Cultural and Arts Division and Councilmember Ramachandran's Amendment to maintain the current level of Cultural Commission grants. These grants are critical to the growth and safety of Oakland's youngest citizens, and are a key part of our ongoing efforts to make our communities safer.

In the name of public safety, I also wish to support Councilmember Ramachandran's amendments to restore DVP contracts, Councilmember Reid's allocation of moneys for traffic safety infrastructure, and Councilmember Kalb's proposal to move all year 2 expenditures on OPD IA to the CPRA.

Shawn Lee D1

We stand as community, housing, arts, youth, family and labor groups in urging the Council to reject ANY amendments that pump funds back into OPD’s bloated and unaccountable overtime budget at the expense of violence prevention, housing and critical city services. These services are essential for our community, and trusted organizations that the community seeks should be adequately funded. Thank you. - Flavio Martinez D7

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on our city budget. In general, I support Council President Bas and her budget team’s proposed amendments. The city is facing a historic financial deficit and a myriad of difficult social problems that aren’t easily remedied, especially with dwindling resources. The Administration and Council President have put forward a solid proposal to pass a balanced budget that reflects many of the priorities identified by Oakland residents, and advocated by the People’s Budget Coalition.

Notably, the Bas budget maintains a baseline of legal services for tenants, restores fire and emergency services, funding for violence prevention and community ambassadors, staffing up MACRO, and takes steps toward civilianizing positions within OPD. I’m hopeful that the proposed Rapid Response Homeless Acquisition Fund will actualize much needed transitional and permanent housing for the unhoused, though we need a much more comprehensive regional and statewide strategy to truly address the homelessness crisis.

I urge the council to adopt the Bas budget and reject any further amendments that would grow the OPD budget or redirect resources from community serving programs and departments. If additional revenue sources are identified, the council should restore more funding to community led violence prevention and interruption programs. The safest communities don’t have the most cops, they have the most resources.

Liana Molina
District 7 voter & homeowner