The Skinny: Oakland City Council Meeting, Jan. 7, 2014

LATHAM SQUARE (Item 14) The City Council will hear both side of a slowly-building and contentious issue over the future of Latham Square, a small plaza near City Hall and tucked near Broadway and Telegraph Avenue. Business owners in the area have derided the “pilot project” that currently includes one southbound lane from Telegraph to Broadway as bad for business. Community members want the plaza to stay and hopefully flourish with cultural events.

WHAT IT MEANS At a committee hearing last month, a possible middle ground was sought that would greatly expand Latham Square from 2,500 sq. ft to 9,500 sq. ft., but also shrink the number of lanes from three to two—one northbound, one southbound. This is an issue revolving around the look and feel of the downtown area and how it can be used to create strong community bounds. Passionate voices will be heard Tuesday night.

HELP WITH CRIME SOLVING (Item 7.21) A memorandum of understanding for use by the Oakland PD with the U.S. Department of Justice for use of CODIS, an index system used to catalog DNA from known offenders and unknown crime scenes. According to a city staff report, “Loss of the ability to search CODIS would be devastating to the laboratory’s ability to solve crime with DNA.”

WHAT IT MEANS The OPD’s crime lab already has enough difficulty solving crime as it is. Any additional road block would only make it worse. A report earlier this year, found other areas of investigation were seriously backlogged. As a whole, the odds of getting away Scot-free after committing crimes in Oakland are relatively good. 

BE AWARE Final passage of the council ordinance raising animal humane standards at circuses performing in Oakland expected (Item 7.7). Also, expect approval for installation of four new electronic bike lockers at the 12th Street BART station and space for 500 bikes throughout the city (Item 7.14). In addition, the council will finalize the whopping $645,000 settlement with Keyvan Sabeghi for excessive force during a November 2011 Occupy Oakland protest. Lastly, Councilmember Dan Kalb’s resolution supporting a kill-switch for smartphone will be heard (Item 7.22).

The council honors the memory of Elsie Giani; Councilmember Noel Gallo honors Blueskies for Children for 30 years of service; Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney offers resolution proclaiming January National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in Oakland.

Dec. 10, the council approved a progress report on benchmarks for Coliseum City. During the discussion, Councilmember Larry Reid suggested the A’s owners had finally approached the city about potentially staying in Oakland. City Council and school board redistricting was approved, as was new council censure policy. >>> READ THE MINUTES  >>> SEE IT FOR YOURSELF