Oakland, CA – The City of Oakland is currently working on the 2-year City Budget (FY 2019 – 2021). In early May, Mayor Schaaf released her proposed City budget, the City Council is currently considering amendments to the proposal and intends to adopt a balanced budget on-time. Under the Consolidated Fiscal Policy, the Council President Rebecca Kaplan can offer amendments to the Mayor’s budget, last week Council President Kaplan released her proposed amendments.
District 4 Councilmember Sheng Thao applauds Council President Rebecca Kaplan (At Large) for restoring the 8.5 Full Time Employees in the Parks & Rec Department that were frozen under Mayor Schaaf’s proposed budget. The Administration acknowledged that if these positions remain frozen, it would mostly affect parks that do not generate revenue by reducing critical services to those parks.
“Our parks and open spaces are incredibly important to the community city-wide, that is why I am pleased to see President Kaplan unfreezing those park positions” said Thao in a statement. “Our parks are already not being serviced at an adequate level and freezing these positions would only worsen the current reality. Moving forward, we need to work together to create an on-going and dedicated source of revenue that will adequately fund the necessary maintenance to ensure all Oaklanders can enjoy the city’s parks and open spaces.” continued Thao.
In Council President Rebecca Kaplan’s proposed amendments to the Mayor’s proposed budget, she merged the Oakland Department of Transportation back into the Public Works Department.
“I strongly disagree with Council President Kaplan’s proposal to eliminate the Department of Transportation. District 4 and the entire City of Oakland is continuing to feel the effects of our worsening streets and roads, we need a department with a single mission to focus on improving our infrastructure, including repaving our streets and filling in the potholes.” said Thao. “There is still a lot of work to be done within the Department of Transportation to improve service delivery, but I hope that my colleagues will join me and continue to fund this critical position.”
Sheng Thao represents District 4 which includes the neighborhoods of Allendale, Fairfax, Crestmont, Dimond, Laurel, Joaquin Miller, Montclair, Piedmont Pines, and Redwood Heights. She is the Chair of the Rules and Legislation Committee, and is a member of Finance and Management, Public Works, Education Partnership and City & Port Liaison Committees. Councilmember Thao is also one of the City of Oakland’s representative at the Alameda County of Transportation Commission.