Oakland Budget Crisis Adds to City's Turmoil, With a Deadline Around the Corner

After a turbulent week at Oakland City Hall, council members expressed frustration ahead of a special budget hearing on Friday in the face of a massive deficit, a fast-approaching deadline to pass a balanced budget and questions over a windfall the city was counting on from the pending sale of the Oakland Coliseum.

Facing a July 1 deadline, the City Council is being asked to adopt one of two budget proposals. The proposal introduced by Mayor Sheng Thao’s office includes $63 million in one-time funds that could come from the Coliseum sale and a contingency plan in the event those funds aren’t available by September. A second proposal, requested by some council members, cuts those funds from the outset.

Ahead of the meeting on Friday, Councilmember Janani Ramachandran said the budget that counts on proceeds from the Coliseum sale is a “nonstarter” because the city is “nowhere near having a deal signed.”

“The other budget that’s presented as an alternative is really the only option that we have to work with,” she told KQED. “To be presented with a drastically new budget three days before the day we have to vote is outrageous and unheard of.”

Both the contingency and the budget that forgoes Coliseum revenue completely would include significant public safety funding reductions. In addition to hiring freezes on fire and police department positions already included in the main budget proposal, the building of a new fire station would be deferred. This comes as Oakland has experienced multiple fires in the past week, and experts anticipate a busy fire season this summer.

The tighter budget would also freeze 78 sworn police officer positions and additional civilian positions.

Councilmember Dan Kalb said before the meeting that he planned to support the budget that includes Coliseum sale funds, saying that the alternative budget includes “horribly draconian cuts” to public safety positions.

“We are making some tough decisions,” he told KQED. “The $63 million allows us to spread that out instead of having to do all of those things now, which would be a huge impact, a huge punch in the gut to the city.”

The July 1 budget deadline comes quickly after Oakland was plunged deep into turmoil — on June 19, 14 people were shot near Lake Merritt after a Juneteenth celebration, and the next morning, FBI agents raided the mayor’s home along with the homes of two members of a politically connected family and the offices of their recycling company. Earlier in the week, an effort to recall Thao qualified for the November ballot.

Both the contingency and alternative budget that the council will consider were introduced in recent days, amid the upheaval.

Since the FBI raids, council members’ responses have centered largely on their focus on the budget process. Kalb said he feels confident the council will be able to approve a budget in the coming days, but Ramachandran said that she doesn’t believe they’ve had enough time to examine and propose amendments to the plan.

“I just know, personally, in good conscience, I can’t make a vote today on either of these budget scenarios,” she said.

June 28: The original version of this report incorrectly said an effort to recall District Attorney Pamela Price qualified last week for the November ballot. That happened earlier; it was the recall effort against Mayor Sheng Thao that qualified last week. The story has been edited to correct the inaccuracy.