Note: The online Request to Speak window has expired.
The online Comment window has expired
Agenda Item
4 26-0787 Subject: FY 2026-27 Proposed Midcycle Budget
From: Finance Department
Recommendation: Adopt A Resolution (1) Adopting The Midcycle Budget For Fiscal Years 2026-27 And Appropriating Funds And Revenues To Cover Expenditures Approved By Said Budget; And
(2) Authorizing The City Administrator To Transfer Funds Between Departments, Programs And Funds As Necessary To Support Operations As Set Forth In The Adopted Policy Budget For Fiscal Year 2026-27; And
(3) Authorizing All Actions Necessary To Apply For Accept And Appropriate Additional Funds Required To Advance And Complete The Projects Identified In The Capital Improvement Program Provided That Such Acceptance Is Consistent With And Does Not Otherwise Negatively Impact The City's Capital Improvement Program; And
(4) Authorizing The City Administrator To Accept And Appropriate Future Settlement Proceeds Received By The City; And
(5) Authorizing The City Administrator To Accept And Appropriate Future Insurance Recoveries Proceeds Received By The City For The Repair Or Replacement Of Damaged City Assets; And
(6) Authorizing The City Administrator To Appropriate Funds As Necessary To Satisfy Legally Required Payments Or Payments Related To Unfunded Liability; And
(7) Declaring A State Of Extreme Fiscal Necessity And The Existence Of A Severe And Unanticipated Financial Event; And
(8) Suspending For Fiscal Years 2026-2027 The Charter Mandated Minimum Staffing Budget Set Asides For The Public Ethic Commission; And
(9) Suspending The Minimum Budget Set Asides For The Democracy Dollars Fund And For Non-Staff Costs Related To The Public Ethics Commission's Administration Of The Oakland Fair Elections Act's Democracy Dollars Program
I am writing in support the proposed amendment to allocate $500,000 for Lake Merritt in the City budget.
As a resident living near the lake and docent of free, guided nature walks that bring visitors to Lake Merritt, I beg the council to recognize and preserve the nation's first wildlife refuge. It serves thousands of residents and visitors every week, yet it has long lacked dedicated funding to address the growing challenges affecting public safety, accessibility, cleanliness, and environmental health.
We desperately need additional safety measures to improve the experience for everyone who uses the Lake. Dedicated funding can support efforts to improve traffic safety, address illegal activity, manage impacts from large, often unpermitted gatherings, enhance maintenance and trash collection, and protect the Lake's unique environmental resources.
Please take this practical step toward ensuring that the Lake remains safe, welcoming, and accessible for residents, families, businesses, visitors, and wildlife.
I urge the City Council to approve the proposed allocation for Lake Merritt and make this investment a priority in the final budget.
Long known as “The Jewel of Oakland,” Lake Merritt is surrounded by business districts that have dedicated funding and ongoing support. But the Lake itself has no dedicated revenue stream, even though it serves residents, visitors, nearby businesses, and the entire city.
Right now, Lake Merritt is facing serious and visible problems: illegal drug and alcohol sales, unauthorized vending, uncontrolled parking, trash, inoperable bathrooms, ATV and dirt-bike takeovers, large un-permitted gatherings with no bathroom facilities. These conditions strain City infrastructure, affect public safety, and threaten the health of the Lake’s wildlife refuge.
The City must ensure that Lake Merritt remains safe, welcoming, and well cared for — while protecting its unique status as a wildlife refuge. This allocation is a necessary step toward giving the Lake the attention and resources it deserves, and a real chance to shine again.
Re: Item 4 (26-0787), Mid-Cycle Budget. I'm a North Oakland (D1) resident urging Council to adopt a budget that restores civilian police oversight. I support CM Fife's amendments as a first step.
The budget keeps the Police Commission, CPRA, and the Inspector General below Charter staffing minimums. A March 2026 City Auditor report found these agencies met just 26 of 43 Charter requirements. CPRA has 5 investigators against a minimum of 7. The Commission relies on one staffer, and the auditor found cutting its analyst position may violate the Charter. The OIG remains understaffed and, per the Commission's filing to a federal judge, unable to fully perform its duties.
Fife's amendment unfreezes one CPRA investigator at no net cost to the General Purpose Fund. I support it. But one investigator is not the Charter minimum, and it does nothing for the OIG or the Commission.
Meanwhile OPD takes 42 to 44% of the General Purpose Fund and has overspent overtime for over a decade, topping $55M in FY2023-24, over $31M above budget. One officer logged 3,304 overtime hours in 2024 with records missing for nearly half. Cutting the watchdogs while this runs unchecked is not fiscal responsibility.
I ask Council to: fully fund the Inspector General; restore CPRA to at least 7 investigators; unfreeze Police Commission staffing; restore oversight attorney funding. Adopt Fife's amendment, then finish the job. Honor the voters.
I support the proposed amendment to allocate $500,000 for Lake Merritt in the City budget.
Lake Merritt is one of Oakland's most iconic public spaces, a regional destination, and the nation's first wildlife refuge. It serves thousands of residents and visitors every week, yet it has long lacked dedicated funding to address the growing challenges affecting public safety, accessibility, cleanliness, and environmental health.
This investment will help advance important safety measures and improve the experience for everyone who uses the Lake. Dedicated funding can support efforts to improve traffic safety, address illegal activity, manage impacts from large, often unpermitted gatherings, enhance maintenance and trash collection, and protect the Lake's unique environmental resources.
For too long, Lake Merritt has been expected to serve as a premier destination without the resources to meet the demands placed on it. This amendment is a practical step toward ensuring that the Lake remains safe, welcoming, and accessible for residents, families, businesses, visitors, and wildlife.
I urge the City Council to approve the proposed allocation for Lake Merritt and make this investment a priority in the final budget.
I support the proposed amendment to allocate $500,000 for Lake Merritt in the City budget.
Lake Merritt is one of Oakland's most iconic public spaces, a regional destination, and the nation's first wildlife refuge. It serves thousands of residents and visitors every week, yet it has long lacked dedicated funding to address the growing challenges affecting public safety, accessibility, cleanliness, and environmental health.
This investment will help advance important safety measures and improve the experience for everyone who uses the Lake. Dedicated funding can support efforts to improve traffic safety, address illegal activity, manage impacts from large, often unpermitted gatherings, enhance maintenance and trash collection, and protect the Lake's unique environmental resources.
For too long, Lake Merritt has been expected to serve as a premier destination without the resources to meet the demands placed on it. This amendment is a practical step toward ensuring that the Lake remains safe, welcoming, and accessible for residents, families, businesses, visitors, and wildlife.
I strongly support CM Fife's amendments to fund affordable housing, community garden pilot program, and police oversight. As a homeless outreach provider I see that police misconduct intersects with the lack of housing. Marginalized people are displaced and dispossessed by forced evictions, and there are extensively documented constitutional violations entailed in encampment abatement. We need oversight and accountability to ensure constitutional policing. And we need to provide affordable housing, or else more people will be subject to criminalization on the basis of their race and class.
We also need to promote food access by activating vacant and blighted lots for food production.
My name is Kathryn Sterbenc. I'm a director on the Friends of the Oakland Public Library board, and former chair of the City’s Library Commission.
This year, for the first time in several years, the Mayor's proposed budget would fully fund the Oakland Public Library, including the $14.5 million "Maintenance of Effort" written into the most recent library measure, Measure C.
Fully funding OPL would provide:
- More library staff to deliver services to the public
- $150,000 more for the library materials budget
- A new safety pilot for the Main Library and the Martin Luther King Jr. Branch
Library advocates urge all Council members to support full OPL funding in this year’s budget.
We are grateful to all of you for supporting robust library services for all Oakland residents. Thank you.
I strongly support the proposed $500,000 budget allocation for Lake Merritt.
As a 27-year resident of Lake Merritt and Chair of the Lake Merritt Community Alliance for the past six years, I have worked closely with residents, businesses, community organizations, and City staff to address the growing challenges facing the Lake.
Lake Merritt is Oakland's most recognizable landmark, a regional destination, and the nation's first wildlife refuge. It attracts thousands of visitors every week, yet there is no dedicated funding source to address the public safety, maintenance, accessibility, and environmental challenges that come with being one of the most heavily used public spaces in Oakland.
In March, community leaders met with Mayor Lee, her staff, and City departments to discuss conditions at the Lake. There was broad agreement that Lake Merritt needs dedicated resources to address issues such as illegal vending, unpermitted events, traffic safety, trash, and public safety.
For too long, Lake Merritt has been expected to function as a premier destination without the resources needed to keep it safe, clean, and welcoming. This allocation is a practical investment in one of Oakland's most valuable public assets.
I urge the Council to approve this funding and make Lake Merritt a budget priority.
I support the proposed amendment to allocate $500,000 for Lake Merritt in the City budget. As a long time Oaklander I have always appreciated this magnificent jewel. Improvements over the last 10 years have significantly enhanced the experience at the Lake, but more investment is needed.
For too long, Lake Merritt has been expected to serve as a premier destination without the resources to meet the demands placed on it. This amendment is a practical step toward ensuring that the Lake remains safe, welcoming, and accessible for residents, families, businesses, visitors, and wildlife.
Lake Merritt is a special iconic public space, a regional destination, and incredibly the nation's first wildlife refuge. Thousands of residents and visitors come every week to enjoy the lake, yet it has long lacked dedicated funding to address the growing challenges affecting public safety, accessibility, cleanliness, and environmental health.
This investment helps everyone by addressing important safety measures, (e.g., improve traffic safety, address illegal activity), improving the experience, (e.g., enhance maintenance, trash collection), managing impacts from large, often unpermitted gatherings, and protecting the Lake's unique environmental resources.
I urge the City Council to approve the proposed allocation for Lake Merritt and make this investment a priority in the final budget.
I support the proposed amendment to allocate $500,000 specifically for Lake Merritt in the City budget.
You have a photo of our beautiful Lake Merritt on this web page. You use "The Jewel of Oakland" to make our lake and park look peaceful, clean and beautiful, as it should be. Yet you put no funding to support the lake.
There is so much trash in the lake that it kills the birds and fish who eat the plastic and get stuck with needles.
While everyone in Oakland loves to come to Lake Merritt, there are public safety issues, traffic issues, cleanliness and health issues as well as environmental concerns that keep many people from all over the city from spending peaceful, pleasurable time there.
If you love Oakland, vote for this $500,000 to take care of this asset.
This investment will help advance important safety measures and improve the experience for everyone who uses the Lake. Dedicated funding can address illegal activity, manage impacts from large, often unpermitted gatherings, pay for trash collection, and protect the Lake's unique environment..
For too long, Lake Merritt has been expected to serve as a premier destination without resources to meet the demands placed on it. This amendment is a practical step toward ensuring that the Lake is safe, welcoming, and accessible for residents, families, businesses, visitors, and wildlife.
I urge the City Council to approve the proposed allocation for Lake Merritt. Make this investment a priority in the final budget.
Jeff Levin, Senior Director of Policy, East Bay Housing Organizations
23 days ago
EBHO strongly supports the proposed amendments to include $50 million in Measure U funding for affordable housing. These funds are necessary to ensure that projects already in the pipeline can move forward, and will make projects more competitive for tax credits, State housing funds, and Alameda County Measure W funding.
I am writing in support the proposed amendment to allocate $500,000 for Lake Merritt in the City budget.
As a resident living near the lake and docent of free, guided nature walks that bring visitors to Lake Merritt, I beg the council to recognize and preserve the nation's first wildlife refuge. It serves thousands of residents and visitors every week, yet it has long lacked dedicated funding to address the growing challenges affecting public safety, accessibility, cleanliness, and environmental health.
We desperately need additional safety measures to improve the experience for everyone who uses the Lake. Dedicated funding can support efforts to improve traffic safety, address illegal activity, manage impacts from large, often unpermitted gatherings, enhance maintenance and trash collection, and protect the Lake's unique environmental resources.
Please take this practical step toward ensuring that the Lake remains safe, welcoming, and accessible for residents, families, businesses, visitors, and wildlife.
I urge the City Council to approve the proposed allocation for Lake Merritt and make this investment a priority in the final budget.
Long known as “The Jewel of Oakland,” Lake Merritt is surrounded by business districts that have dedicated funding and ongoing support. But the Lake itself has no dedicated revenue stream, even though it serves residents, visitors, nearby businesses, and the entire city.
Right now, Lake Merritt is facing serious and visible problems: illegal drug and alcohol sales, unauthorized vending, uncontrolled parking, trash, inoperable bathrooms, ATV and dirt-bike takeovers, large un-permitted gatherings with no bathroom facilities. These conditions strain City infrastructure, affect public safety, and threaten the health of the Lake’s wildlife refuge.
The City must ensure that Lake Merritt remains safe, welcoming, and well cared for — while protecting its unique status as a wildlife refuge. This allocation is a necessary step toward giving the Lake the attention and resources it deserves, and a real chance to shine again.
Re: Item 4 (26-0787), Mid-Cycle Budget. I'm a North Oakland (D1) resident urging Council to adopt a budget that restores civilian police oversight. I support CM Fife's amendments as a first step.
The budget keeps the Police Commission, CPRA, and the Inspector General below Charter staffing minimums. A March 2026 City Auditor report found these agencies met just 26 of 43 Charter requirements. CPRA has 5 investigators against a minimum of 7. The Commission relies on one staffer, and the auditor found cutting its analyst position may violate the Charter. The OIG remains understaffed and, per the Commission's filing to a federal judge, unable to fully perform its duties.
Fife's amendment unfreezes one CPRA investigator at no net cost to the General Purpose Fund. I support it. But one investigator is not the Charter minimum, and it does nothing for the OIG or the Commission.
Meanwhile OPD takes 42 to 44% of the General Purpose Fund and has overspent overtime for over a decade, topping $55M in FY2023-24, over $31M above budget. One officer logged 3,304 overtime hours in 2024 with records missing for nearly half. Cutting the watchdogs while this runs unchecked is not fiscal responsibility.
I ask Council to: fully fund the Inspector General; restore CPRA to at least 7 investigators; unfreeze Police Commission staffing; restore oversight attorney funding. Adopt Fife's amendment, then finish the job. Honor the voters.
Agenda item 4:
I support the proposed amendment to allocate $500,000 for Lake Merritt in the City budget.
Lake Merritt is one of Oakland's most iconic public spaces, a regional destination, and the nation's first wildlife refuge. It serves thousands of residents and visitors every week, yet it has long lacked dedicated funding to address the growing challenges affecting public safety, accessibility, cleanliness, and environmental health.
This investment will help advance important safety measures and improve the experience for everyone who uses the Lake. Dedicated funding can support efforts to improve traffic safety, address illegal activity, manage impacts from large, often unpermitted gatherings, enhance maintenance and trash collection, and protect the Lake's unique environmental resources.
For too long, Lake Merritt has been expected to serve as a premier destination without the resources to meet the demands placed on it. This amendment is a practical step toward ensuring that the Lake remains safe, welcoming, and accessible for residents, families, businesses, visitors, and wildlife.
I urge the City Council to approve the proposed allocation for Lake Merritt and make this investment a priority in the final budget.
Dora Chow
2316 Lakeshore Ave #3
I support the proposed amendment to allocate $500,000 for Lake Merritt in the City budget.
Lake Merritt is one of Oakland's most iconic public spaces, a regional destination, and the nation's first wildlife refuge. It serves thousands of residents and visitors every week, yet it has long lacked dedicated funding to address the growing challenges affecting public safety, accessibility, cleanliness, and environmental health.
This investment will help advance important safety measures and improve the experience for everyone who uses the Lake. Dedicated funding can support efforts to improve traffic safety, address illegal activity, manage impacts from large, often unpermitted gatherings, enhance maintenance and trash collection, and protect the Lake's unique environmental resources.
For too long, Lake Merritt has been expected to serve as a premier destination without the resources to meet the demands placed on it. This amendment is a practical step toward ensuring that the Lake remains safe, welcoming, and accessible for residents, families, businesses, visitors, and wildlife.
I strongly support CM Fife's amendments to fund affordable housing, community garden pilot program, and police oversight. As a homeless outreach provider I see that police misconduct intersects with the lack of housing. Marginalized people are displaced and dispossessed by forced evictions, and there are extensively documented constitutional violations entailed in encampment abatement. We need oversight and accountability to ensure constitutional policing. And we need to provide affordable housing, or else more people will be subject to criminalization on the basis of their race and class.
We also need to promote food access by activating vacant and blighted lots for food production.
My name is Kathryn Sterbenc. I'm a director on the Friends of the Oakland Public Library board, and former chair of the City’s Library Commission.
This year, for the first time in several years, the Mayor's proposed budget would fully fund the Oakland Public Library, including the $14.5 million "Maintenance of Effort" written into the most recent library measure, Measure C.
Fully funding OPL would provide:
- More library staff to deliver services to the public
- $150,000 more for the library materials budget
- A new safety pilot for the Main Library and the Martin Luther King Jr. Branch
Library advocates urge all Council members to support full OPL funding in this year’s budget.
We are grateful to all of you for supporting robust library services for all Oakland residents. Thank you.
I strongly support the proposed $500,000 budget allocation for Lake Merritt.
As a 27-year resident of Lake Merritt and Chair of the Lake Merritt Community Alliance for the past six years, I have worked closely with residents, businesses, community organizations, and City staff to address the growing challenges facing the Lake.
Lake Merritt is Oakland's most recognizable landmark, a regional destination, and the nation's first wildlife refuge. It attracts thousands of visitors every week, yet there is no dedicated funding source to address the public safety, maintenance, accessibility, and environmental challenges that come with being one of the most heavily used public spaces in Oakland.
In March, community leaders met with Mayor Lee, her staff, and City departments to discuss conditions at the Lake. There was broad agreement that Lake Merritt needs dedicated resources to address issues such as illegal vending, unpermitted events, traffic safety, trash, and public safety.
For too long, Lake Merritt has been expected to function as a premier destination without the resources needed to keep it safe, clean, and welcoming. This allocation is a practical investment in one of Oakland's most valuable public assets.
I urge the Council to approve this funding and make Lake Merritt a budget priority.
Agenda item 4:
I support the proposed amendment to allocate $500,000 for Lake Merritt in the City budget. As a long time Oaklander I have always appreciated this magnificent jewel. Improvements over the last 10 years have significantly enhanced the experience at the Lake, but more investment is needed.
For too long, Lake Merritt has been expected to serve as a premier destination without the resources to meet the demands placed on it. This amendment is a practical step toward ensuring that the Lake remains safe, welcoming, and accessible for residents, families, businesses, visitors, and wildlife.
Lake Merritt is a special iconic public space, a regional destination, and incredibly the nation's first wildlife refuge. Thousands of residents and visitors come every week to enjoy the lake, yet it has long lacked dedicated funding to address the growing challenges affecting public safety, accessibility, cleanliness, and environmental health.
This investment helps everyone by addressing important safety measures, (e.g., improve traffic safety, address illegal activity), improving the experience, (e.g., enhance maintenance, trash collection), managing impacts from large, often unpermitted gatherings, and protecting the Lake's unique environmental resources.
I urge the City Council to approve the proposed allocation for Lake Merritt and make this investment a priority in the final budget.
Rachel Broadwin
District 2
I support the proposed amendment to allocate $500,000 specifically for Lake Merritt in the City budget.
You have a photo of our beautiful Lake Merritt on this web page. You use "The Jewel of Oakland" to make our lake and park look peaceful, clean and beautiful, as it should be. Yet you put no funding to support the lake.
There is so much trash in the lake that it kills the birds and fish who eat the plastic and get stuck with needles.
While everyone in Oakland loves to come to Lake Merritt, there are public safety issues, traffic issues, cleanliness and health issues as well as environmental concerns that keep many people from all over the city from spending peaceful, pleasurable time there.
If you love Oakland, vote for this $500,000 to take care of this asset.
This investment will help advance important safety measures and improve the experience for everyone who uses the Lake. Dedicated funding can address illegal activity, manage impacts from large, often unpermitted gatherings, pay for trash collection, and protect the Lake's unique environment..
For too long, Lake Merritt has been expected to serve as a premier destination without resources to meet the demands placed on it. This amendment is a practical step toward ensuring that the Lake is safe, welcoming, and accessible for residents, families, businesses, visitors, and wildlife.
I urge the City Council to approve the proposed allocation for Lake Merritt. Make this investment a priority in the final budget.
EBHO strongly supports the proposed amendments to include $50 million in Measure U funding for affordable housing. These funds are necessary to ensure that projects already in the pipeline can move forward, and will make projects more competitive for tax credits, State housing funds, and Alameda County Measure W funding.