AGENDA NOTES: Oakland’s DAC Privacy Policy comes to Public Safety Committee

Oakland City Council Committee Meetings
1 Frank Ogawa Plaza, City Hall, first floor
Tuesday, May 12, 2015, start at 9:30 a.m.
[FULL AGENDA HERE]
Twitter hashtag: #oakmtg

FINANCE & MANAGEMENT Oakland plans to borrow $170 million with Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes to create cash flow over the next year. The Finance Committee will discuss the proposal to allocate $85 million of the proceeds to cover “timing differential of expected monthly cash receipts and disbursements throughout the fiscal year,” said the city staff report, primarily property tax receipts. Another $85 million is to be applied to prepayment and regular payment of the city’s CalPERS obligation. A prepayment discount of 3.55 percent will also save the city $3.4 million, said the report…A Capital Improvement Plan to appropriate $71 million for Oakland’s infrastructure is before the finance committee Tuesday morning. More than $34 million is allocated for several street improvement projects and another $36 million for sewers and storm drains. Much of the funding for Oakland’s CIP comes from countywide transportation tax sources such as Measure B and Measure BB. (Starts at 9:30 a.m. Committee members: Annie Campbell Washington, Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Abel Guillén; Dan Kalb (chair).

PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE Lake Merritt is listed by the Environmental Protection Agency as an “impaired water body” due to large amounts of trash and low-dissolved oxygen levels. A $350,000 a year personal service contract is set for clean up of Lake Merritt, according to a staff report. In addition to picking up litter and basic maintenance, the contract calls for Lake Merritt Institute to maintain the lake’s aeration fountains and inspect algae and petroleum blooms…Councilmembers Dan Kalb, Desley Brooks and Rebecca Kaplan have authored a resolution registering support for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors plan to potentially launch a Community Choice Aggregation program (CCA) which would allow residents to purchase energy outside of the current provider, Pacific Gas & Electric. (Starts at 11:30 a.m. Committee members: Noel Gallo, Dan Kalb, Larry Reid, Rebecca Kaplan (chair)

COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Sunfield Development, LLC, the group developing the 27,000 square foot Seminary Point shopping center in economically-struggling East Oakland, is set to receive an additional $8 million in tax breaks on top the previously approved $6 million for a total of $14 million in credits. Because of the subsidy, all future tenants are required to pay the city’s living wage, including the anchor tenant, Walgreens, said a city staff report. The resolution before the committee Tuesday also changes the disposition of the property from a sale to a long-term ground lease with the option to buy after 21 years…A professional service contract for $1 million for the Downtown Oakland Specific Plan is on the agenda. (Starts at 1:30 p.m. Committee members: Annie Campbell Washington, Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Rebecca Kaplan, Larry Reid (chair).

LIFE ENRICHMENT A resolution allowing the city administrator to apply and accept an estimated $18.5 million in federal Head Start funding makes its way toward the full council. More than 1,700 children in Oakland benefit from the federal early education program. Another resolution would bring $959,000 state grant for the expansion of preschool and family literacy programs to help 304 3-4 year olds in Oakland. (Committee members: Desley Brooks, Noel Gallo, Abel Guillén, Annie Campbell Washington (chair.)

PUBLIC SAFETY The long-awaited Domain Awareness Center Privacy Policy comes before the Public Safety Committee. The policy seeks to protect citizen’s right to privacy, civil liberties and freedom of speech. The policy lays out rules for data capture and retention of information from the surveillance center located at the city’s Emergency Operations Center. Other provisions in the policy include a prohibition against any future changes to the policy without City Council approval, no data sharing with outside agencies without a council-approved Memorandum of Understanding, and no new systems can be added to the DAC, such as facial-recognition software without council approval…An annual report on the Oakland Police Department’s investigative capacity will be accepted showing staffing levels, percentage of crimes investigated in Oakland and crime lab issues. (Starts at 6 p.m. Committee members: Noel Gallo, Abel Guillén, Dan Kalb, Desley Brooks (chair)