Note: The online Request to Speak window has expired.
The online Comment window has expired
Agenda Item
5.8 25-0561 Subject: Measure U Funding For Transportation And Housing
From: Transportation Department
Recommendation: Receive An Informational Report On Measure U Funding For Transportation And Housing
Hi Council! I’m writing to support the resuming of Measure U bond sales. Funding from these sales are needed to support projects that create safer streets. Oakland streets need to be modernized in line with safety standards for all road users. Thank you for resuming the sale of these voter approved bonds.
Please schedule the Measure U bond sales as soon as possible. Measure U was supported by over 75% of voters. Oakland property owners are paying our taxes, and we want to see the Measure U funds put to use without delay. Oakland has a severe street safety crisis, with around 30 deaths a year due to traffic violence. Delaying Measure U funded street safety improvements will directly cause more deaths, and lead to increased costs due to cash settlements and rising construction costs. Additionally, Oakland desperately needs more affordable housing, and Measure U fund should be available ASAP for both housing and street safety purposes. Use these funds to invest in a better future for Oakland! Thank you.
We need to issue these bonds ASAP. It's not the city's job to time the bond market and withhold hundreds of millions of taxpayer-approved dollars just because interest rates are historically high. These funds are urgently needed for OakDOT to carry out the important work of making our roads safe.
This is a classic example of city government getting in the way of itself. Please unlock the funds that taxpayers are already paying for, because right now we have nothing to show for it.
Issue bonds NOW! Oaklanders have been paying for them by way of property taxes for the past 2+ years. Without these funds, OakDOT recently informed city leaders that it cannot move forward on new paving projects. This means the city will pave a mere 8 miles this year, far short of the 40-50 miles per year afforded by Measure U.
Even if the city waited for interest rates to come down, any marginal savings would be outweighed by the cost of continued delay.
In the meantime projects get more expensive due to inflation, matching grant dollars sit unused, people get injured and killed on unsafe roads, and TRUST IN OAKLAND CITY GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO EROD (along with our streets).
It is critically important that the City of Oakland sell a large tranche of Measure U bonds as early as possible this year, as we face dire infrastructure needs, and we have already faced an unnecessary delay of 6 months, and public works projects, and repaving and affordable housing projects should all be moving at all possible speed, improving safety, providing housing, improving our shared public amenities, and putting Oaklanders to work. Remember that 75% of Oakland voters approved these bond sales, and expect the City to deliver on its commitments, just as Oakland property owners are paying their parcel taxes, including for Measure U. The plan should be announced today, and that plan should move with all possible speed to a sale. Minor concerns about optimal interest rates pale as against the countervailing costs of delay, which has already gone on too long. Thanks you.
Hi Council! I’m writing to support the resuming of Measure U bond sales. Funding from these sales are needed to support projects that create safer streets. Oakland streets need to be modernized in line with safety standards for all road users. Thank you for resuming the sale of these voter approved bonds.
Please schedule the Measure U bond sales as soon as possible. Measure U was supported by over 75% of voters. Oakland property owners are paying our taxes, and we want to see the Measure U funds put to use without delay. Oakland has a severe street safety crisis, with around 30 deaths a year due to traffic violence. Delaying Measure U funded street safety improvements will directly cause more deaths, and lead to increased costs due to cash settlements and rising construction costs. Additionally, Oakland desperately needs more affordable housing, and Measure U fund should be available ASAP for both housing and street safety purposes. Use these funds to invest in a better future for Oakland! Thank you.
We need the money to fix at least some of the streets in Oakland.
We need to issue these bonds ASAP. It's not the city's job to time the bond market and withhold hundreds of millions of taxpayer-approved dollars just because interest rates are historically high. These funds are urgently needed for OakDOT to carry out the important work of making our roads safe.
This is a classic example of city government getting in the way of itself. Please unlock the funds that taxpayers are already paying for, because right now we have nothing to show for it.
Issue bonds NOW! Oaklanders have been paying for them by way of property taxes for the past 2+ years. Without these funds, OakDOT recently informed city leaders that it cannot move forward on new paving projects. This means the city will pave a mere 8 miles this year, far short of the 40-50 miles per year afforded by Measure U.
Even if the city waited for interest rates to come down, any marginal savings would be outweighed by the cost of continued delay.
In the meantime projects get more expensive due to inflation, matching grant dollars sit unused, people get injured and killed on unsafe roads, and TRUST IN OAKLAND CITY GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO EROD (along with our streets).
It is critically important that the City of Oakland sell a large tranche of Measure U bonds as early as possible this year, as we face dire infrastructure needs, and we have already faced an unnecessary delay of 6 months, and public works projects, and repaving and affordable housing projects should all be moving at all possible speed, improving safety, providing housing, improving our shared public amenities, and putting Oaklanders to work. Remember that 75% of Oakland voters approved these bond sales, and expect the City to deliver on its commitments, just as Oakland property owners are paying their parcel taxes, including for Measure U. The plan should be announced today, and that plan should move with all possible speed to a sale. Minor concerns about optimal interest rates pale as against the countervailing costs of delay, which has already gone on too long. Thanks you.