The reckoning

Thao's State of the City address could be her last; San Leandro CM wants to supplement police with unarmed security guards; IE appears set on unseating Alameda CM Spencer. Plus, campaign finance data

CITY NEWS

OAKLAND

—STATE OF SHENG—Just three weeks from potentially being removed from office, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao will deliver her State of the City address at Oakland City Hall this afternoon.

—But the speech could very well be upstaged at a special meeting of the Oakland City Council Finance and Management committee this morning at 9 a.m.

—Similar to last week, Councilmembers Treva Reid, Janani Ramachandran, and Noel Gallo want to learn more about the new Coliseum deal, its impact on the city’s budget, and whether a potentially devastating contingency budget has been triggered.

—To the consternation of the council trio, the special meeting on Oct. 1 was canceled after failing to achieve a quorum of councilmembers present..

—On Friday, the city administration acknowledged the contingency budget was in effect, but without specifics.

—Expect Reid, Ramachandran, and Gallo to again raise great concerns this morning about the budget and whether the administration hid details about the true state of the budget.

—The original Coliseum deal with the African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG) was crafted to plug a $63 million budget shortfall leftover from June 30.

—If the city’s deal with AASEG did not go as planned, a contingency budget would go into effect that includes the reduction of the Oakland police force to 600 officers, down from 684, and the closing of some fire stations, among other cuts.

—Oakland City Hall insiders, however, believe the news this morning will focus more on cuts to the police, and not fire.

—If so, the cuts may be viewed as punitive to the Oakland Police Officer’s Association, which has unmercifully criticized Thao’s handling of the budget and the Coliseum deal.

—The current budget woes and cuts, though, may ultimately be a side note. A city finance report to be presented to the council’s finance committee on Oct. 22, estimates a $120 million structural budget shortfall for the Fiscal Year 2025-27 two-year budget.

[Tuesday morning’s Oakland City Council Finance Committee special meeting was canceled by its chair]

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