#city-governance

#city-governance

An advisory group established by Mayor Barbara Lee this summer is working on recommendations for a potential ballot measure that would reform the city charter, changing the roles of the mayor, city manager, and councilmembers in an attempt to better clarify who's responsible for what. Lee's working group is holding a number of community meetings throughout Oakland this fall to share what's being considered and get input from the public.

Erroll Southers confirmed his plans to resign through a spokesperson on Friday, ending a stormy two-year tenure on the influential civilian panel that watches over the LAPD. The spokesperson said that Southers, 68, wanted to spend more time with his family and pursue other professional opportunities - something that wasn't always allowed by the demands of serving as a commissioner.

The City's bicycle safety planning and implementation is primarily handled by the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) and occurs independently of the BAC. The MTA has jurisdiction over most bicycle safety issues-bike lanes, street design, speed limits, traffic signals, etc.-and employs full-time staff to plan for improvements and manage these assets and operations. When the BAC was formed in 1990, the MTA did not yet exist. The Department of Parking and Traffic (DPT) or the Department of Public Works (DPW) may not have planned extensively for bicycle infrastructure.

"It feels like we're only fixing things after the fact instead of discovering things that need fixing ahead of time, which is scary."

The mayor's unwillingness to compromise on budget cuts, despite available funds from the budget, is drastically changing the dynamic of the negotiations.

I'm deeply grateful to the residents and businesses for enduring this unexpected boil water advisory. Residents and businesses expect better, and I am as committed as ever to finding the problems and fixing them.