Dude, where’s my police cars?

Nobody knows when Oakland is going to pay for a fleet of Fords sitting in San Leandro; Wahab and Wiener joust over housing bills; Castro Valley MAC member are sick of illegal food vendors

☕️MORNING BUZZ

—Thirty-seven vehicles remain parked at the Ford Store in San Leandro awaiting purchase by the city of Oakland more than six months after the allocation for new police vehicles was approved by the city council.

A double whammy of bureaucratic road blocks and obfuscation by Oakland’s city administration again clouded the reasons why the vehicles have not been procured.

Oakland Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan, Janani Ramachandran, and Zac Unger harangued the administration about the status of the pending purchase amid continued public concerns about public safety.

The give-and-take was essentially a rehashing of a committee meeting held in late March. The only new information is blame rests with the city’s public works department.

“So, how do we get those police cars out of San Leandro?” Unger asked. “Do we have the money to pay for them? We got the authorization.”

Public works needs to initiate a purchase order, Oakland Finance Director Erin Roseman told the Finance and Management Committee on Tuesday morning.

When pressed about the funding source. Roseman deferred to City Administrator Jestin Johnson, who deferred back to Roseman and public works.

A purchase order needs to be made, Johnson reiterated. “It’s pretty straightforward. Just the identification of the funding source is the only thing that is outstanding to my knowledge.”

There is no timeline for when the city will receive the keys to the police cars.

Peering through the fog, the reason for the administration's recalcitrance may lie in the city’s upcoming budget process and gargantuan task of balancing an $89 million deficit.

“I think the restriction of this fund has to do with one thing and one thing only: Taking money to balance the general fund,” said Brooke Levin, a former Oakland public works director, referring to the fund typically used for fleet vehicle purchases.

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—More inside:

• Castro Valley officials are growing impatient with illegal food vendors, along with the county’s torpid pace for an ordinance to regulate the activity.

• In-home caregivers, currently in negotiations with the county, want a raise.

• Roommate drama between two of the Legislature’s most powerful housing advocates ends in a draw at Tuesday’s State Senate Housing Committee.

• Oakland, San Francisco have postponed return-to-work policies at the behest of labor unions. Is Hayward next?