Alameda is balling
Alameda mayor called out councilmember for being late; Oakland teachers strike, Hayward nurses avert strike; Jesse Arreguin gets a big SD7 talking point
CITY NEWS
ALAMEDA
—GOOD PROBLEM TO HAVE—While neighboring Oakland is looking for spare change under every sofa cushion at City Hall to address a staggering budget shortfall, Alameda is about to go on a spending spree.
—Alameda’s general fund surplus balance is a robust $90 million. About $64 million is unrestricted extra cash just waiting to be spent on things like capital improvements. deferred maintenance, and road safety projects.
—Whereas other East Bay cities are fretting about how to pay for these types of expenditures, Alameda elected officials are worried about why the money hasn’t already been spent.
—Councilmember Tony Daysog asked about the residual fund on Tuesday night and why it has not been expended on, for example, bolstering city staff, among other things. The fund has grown from $54 million in 2020 to $90 million.
—Daysog, shrugged, happily noting, “It’s better to have a lot more of money than not.”
—Alameda is just coming out of a fiscal “dip” following the pandemic, Alameda City Manager Jennifer Ott said. “We should be spending down our fund balance.”
—Tonight, the Alameda City Council’s special budget work session will focus, in part, on how to draw down $25 million from the residual fund to pay for a number of projects.
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