Clean and Safe City Q&A - Miscellaneous

We are working with several groups to create field and field renovation proposals together. Last week, we met with the Bay Area Host Committee and shared our plans. With the Super Bowl and World Cup coming to the Bay Area, they are looking for parks and fields to renovate and refurbish. We are also working with local groups to adopt and fix up playing surfaces like the Ballers did at Raimondi Park.

The map was published in 2022 following the new districting adopted by the Oakland Redistricting Commission: 

https://oakgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=da589a352c8641459af8a0f890398d44  

Leaders can be held accountable in elections, or by elected officials. They are also held accountable during these Town Halls by interacting and answering your questions. 

The Town Hall is a fair question and answer forum. We take questions in written form to keep the flow of the event going and to maximize everyone’s time. We are also following up the Town Halls with this detailed list answering each and every question we received. We truly appreciate your participation. Because of the high attendance, we can’t pass a microphone around to everyone and maintain a good experience for the participants. 

Alameda County holds the department of public health. They also provide health care, social services, public protection and general public programs.  There’s more info here: https://www.acgov.org/government

Sideshows are definitely a part of our culture. Unfortunately, they have turned into something more reckless than in the past. Currently they are leading to disruptions for residents and sometimes crimes which hurt our local businesses. Maybe someday community organizers could coordinate a sanctioned sideshow event.  

Following Measure U’s passage, the City of Oakland’s Housing & Community Development Department (HCD) conducted a seven-month citywide community engagement project. This led to the creation a four-year strategic action plan. The plan is rooted in racial equity to determine how to spend the dollars.  
 
According to HCD’s 2023-2027 Strategic Action Plan, the top racial equity imperative in the City of Oakland for housing is addressing homelessness. Affordable housing dollars first focus on supporting the development of permanent supportive housing (PSH), or housing for people exiting homelessness. 
 
Only about 30% of funds will go to this, however, so the next priority area is the development of housing affordable to people and families earning 30-80% of Area Median Income (AMI). This could mean households earning up to $120,000 per year.  
 
Almost all new housing developments have a mix of both PSH and other low-income units. Because of this, each project will likely be available to a variety of low-income residents.

The Rent Adjustment Program (RAP) at the City of Oakland Department of Housing and Community Development (Oakland HCD) administers local tenant protection and anti-displacement policies, such as rent control, just cause for eviction, and rent registry.   

RAP offers a variety of services for small property owners, including: 

• Housing Counseling – available by telephone, email, and in person by appointment (starting in late 2024) to answer questions about RAP policies and the petition process to resolve certain tenant-landlord issues, such as rent increases, additional occupant in the unit, subleasing issues, etc.  Housing counselors also provide extensive in-language and multimedia outreach to promote RAP services and educate tenants and property owners on their rights and obligations.  For help, contact RAP at 510-238-3721, option 1 or RAP@oaklandca.gov.  
• Petitions and Hearings – hearing officers hold administrative hearings and adjudicate and resolve disputes between tenants and property owners as part of the petition process.  They are assisted by case analysts who work directly with tenants and property owners on their pending hearings. 
• Partnership with East Bay Rental Housing Association (EBRHA) – RAP funds a partnership with EBRHA to provide in-language outreach, education, counseling, compliance assistance, mediation, and legal representation to small property owners in both RAP hearings and Rent Board appeals.  To learn more of the Small Property Owners Representation Services (SPORS) Program, contact EBRHA at 510-347-8505, ERAP@ebrha.com, or visit their website www.ebrha.com/rap-owner-assistance. 

Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) has been used in Oakland since 2010. Oakland elects its Mayor, City Council members, City Attorney, City Auditor, and School Directors using Ranked-Choice Voting. RCV was approved by Oakland voters in 2006 with the adoption of Measure O.  

Ranked-Choice Voting (also known as instant runoff voting) allows voters to rank a first, second, third, fourth, and fifth choice candidate for a single office. This makes it possible to elect local officials by majority vote without the need for a separate run-off election. Voters in Albany, Berkeley, Oakland and San Leandro use Ranked-Choice Voting to elect most local officials. 

You can learn more about at https://acvote.alamedacountyca.gov/voting/rcv