Greg McConnell: Is Oakland Worth It?
This guest post was written by Gregory McConnell, President and CEO of the Jobs and Housing Coalition, which represents major businesses in Oakland. Many Oakland...
Jean Quan releases “budget” proposal
The wait is over! Well, sort of. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan promised late last year that we’d see a proposed budget in March. And one day before the end of the...
Bruce Nye: What does budget reform look like?
Bruce Nye is a board member of Make Oakland Better Now!. Budget reform will be on the agenda at the joint Make Oakland Better Now! and East Bay Young Democrats...
Good on paper, maybe not so much in practice
So. Last weekend, relieved that the elections are finally over, I spent a bunch of time catching up on meetings I hadn’t had time to watch during campaign...
Ignacio De La Fuente: Balancing the City Budget and My Position on Police Layoffs
Last night, at the first of Oakland’s two scheduled budget readings, the City Council voted to approve a range of recommendations with the goal of balancing the...
Free employee parking will be around a little longer
Do you guys remember that whole issue where it turned out that the City was giving up like $400,000 a year in potential revenue by giving free parking at the garage...
Another “special” budget meeting tomorrow night
Tomorrow, the Oakland City Council will hold yet another one of everyone’s favorite events — a special budget meeting. You may recall the proposals for...
Lake Merritt Station Area Plan community meeting tonight
Apologies for the short notice, but I wanted to bring your attention to a community meeting tonight on the Lake Merritt Station Area Plan. What is the Lake Merritt...
Oakland: “Transit-first” only on paper
But not the kind of paper they use to print bus passes. Do you guys remember a couple months ago when the City Council was talking about how they could bring in...
Bruce Nye: CitiStat is The Best Thing That Could Happen to Government Accountability in Oakland. But Not Now.
Bruce Nye is Board Chair of Make Oakland Better Now! The opinions in this post, however, are his, and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the organization....
How should Oakland decide where to underground utilities?
I don’t suppose you guys have been following this whole undergrounding controversy in Piedmont? I have more than enough on my plate trying to keep up with...
What should Oakland do about pensions?
Here’s one I know you guys are going to love. On Tuesday, the Oakland City Council’s Finance and Management Committee will receive an informational report...





