Last Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, the Oakland City Council held its first meeting of the new year. Here are the minutes, as provided by Secretary to the Council Steve Heimoff.
For their initial vote, the Council elected Nikki Defundo Bas as President. For their second vote, they went into adjournment for 30 minutes because the two new council members needed to be shown where the bathrooms were in City Hall.
The two newcomers—Ramachandran and Jenkins—then complained about a lack of free coffee and food in City Hall. Council member Fife reminded them that there are plenty of cafes in the vicinity, to which Ramachandran replied, “Yes, but they charge money. I thought that City Council members were entitled to free food and coffee.” Council member Jenkins said he thought the same, although he, himself, preferred tea, and specifically chamomile, which he felt helps him sleep. There followed a generalized discussion about the merits of coffee vs. tea, until President Bas told them they were getting off-topic; she suggested that the following question be put up for discussion: “Should the City Council devote a portion of the General Fund to the creation and maintenance of free food and drink kiosks in City Hall for the exclusive use of Council members?” Council member-at-large Kaplan observed that the language should bar vending machines, and instead call for live chefs and baristas.
A formal vote followed, with seven Council members voting “Aye” and one, Council member Gallo, voting against. Gallo explained, “As the moral center of this Council, I don’t think it would look right if we spent taxpayer funds on ourselves.” Council member Kalb suggested that, instead of the money coming from the General Fund, perhaps it could be allocated from remaining COVID dollars given to Oakland through the American Rescue Act. That generated a discussion about whether such diversion would be legal. Council member Reid moved that the Council summon City Attorney Barbara J. Parker to the session, in order to ask her. Attorney Parker was then having a lunch of vegan tacos at Oakland Street Food, on 13th Street; her intern called her and said that the City Council wanted to see her.
Parker rushed to the meeting with her uneaten tacos in a doggie bag and, apprised of the situation, asked the City Council if she could be reimbursed the cost of her tacos, $8.57, which, with a tip, would amount to $10. Council member Fife suggested the Council put this to a vote; it passed unanimously. A discussion then ensued concerning how much, if any, to cap the cost of a lunch. Attorney Parker reminded her colleagues that current state law places a maximum of $20 per diem for lunches for State employees, although, as city employees, the Council was not covered. Council member Ramachandran replied that that amount seems awfully low, considering inflation, and she suggested raising it to $40. There followed three hours of intense debate; a limit of $38.50 finally was agreed upon. President Bas then pointed out that, since Council members frequently work nights too, they needed to determine how much money could be spent on dinners. Another debate ensued, this time lasting two hours; a final amount of $60 was agreed on by a 7-1 vote, the sole dissenter being Council member Fife, who observed that it is difficult to find a good steak and decent bottle of red wine, with dessert, for $60. Attorney Parker, the vegan who was still in the room, told Council member Fife that she shouldn’t be eating meat anyway, to which Council member Fife replied that Attorney Parker “should mind her own d****d business,” a remark Attorney Parker found offensive. The two engaged in a brief scuffle, which Council member Kalb broke up with manly courage.
At this point, it was 11:30 at night, and Council member Jenkins suggested he was getting tired and perhaps they might adjourn until tomorrow. President Bas pointed out that they still had many items to consider, including imposing a new parcel tax of $1,000 a year on homeowners in order to fund an anti-violence program run by Tur-Ha Ak, a well-known local provider of security services. At-large Council member Kaplan said she was entirely in favor, but Council member Jenkins asked whether it was true that Mr. Ak was the husband of Council member Fife, who admitted he was. Council member Gallo, the self-described “Conscience of the Council,” then enquired if it was proper to award a multi-million dollar no-bid contract to the spouse of a City Council member. At-large Council member Kaplan suggested the Council need not disclose this information to the public. Council member Reid asked At-large Council member Kaplan if her suggestion was not a little contemptuous of the voters, to which At-large Council member Kaplan replied, “The voters proved they’re schmucks when they failed to elect me to the Board of Supervisors.” The Council asked Attorney Parker if it was legal to not disclose the information. Attorney Parker replied that it was “probably legal, but not ethical” to withhold the information. At this point, Council member Ramachandran announced that she, too, was tired, and that the Council could certainly deliberate the question more fully at a future session.
President Bas then moved to adjourn. As the Council members were collecting their coats, President Bas asked if anyone wanted to have a late dinner at Duende, on 19th Street. Council member Jenkins asked if the members would be safe walking from City Hall to Duende, given the police defunding that the Council already had approved and the resulting murder spree in Oakland. But Council member Fife replied that they could discuss this the next day, when they considered additional ways to address the root causes of crime. Council member Ramachandran said that she was interested in getting to the root causes of the root causes of crime, and that she had, in fact, run and been elected on that. Council member Gallo inquired how many levels of root causes there were, and at this point, the discussion paused.
Whereupon Council member Kalb pointed out that Duende is really expensive. Fife replied that it was, “but keep your receipt. You’ll be able to write it off once we pass the Oakland Fairness and Equity Food Provision for Elected Officials Act of 2023, which I will introduce tomorrow.” All Council members agreed to proceed to Duende and order platters of the Paella de Verduras. “And don’t forget the Negronis,” added Council member Gallo, with a wink. At this point, Council member Ramachandran inquired whether alcoholic beverages were included in the per-diem allowance for dinner, but at that point, Attorney Parker had left, so they were unable to ask her. The eight Council members decided to vote the following day to include alcoholic beverages in the new food allowances. Then they agreed that, over dinner, they would informally discuss other new parcel taxes they could impose on homeowners, in order to pay for the cost of alcoholic beverages with their meals. Council member Ramachandran inquired if they might also chat about a parcel tax to pay for their new clothes, since it was unseemly for Council members to look like they dressed from Goodwill. Council member Fife said that they should also be able to have free massage, “due to the stress of this job,” and that the money for that could also come from a new parcel tax. President Bas replied that, while she had no personal objection to either of these proposals, this was something they should probably ask Attorney Parker, and that she hoped Parker would approve since she, President Bas, had worn out her Manolos during the campaign and could use a new pair, or two; and she could always use a Reiki massage. Council member Reid said that she, too, had worn out her shoes on the campaign trail, and that if President Bas was allowed to spend taxpayer dollars on new shoes, then she, Council member Reid, should be allowed to, as well; she added, pointedly, that she preferred Thai massage, which led to the beginning of a debate as to the relative differences of Reiki versus Thai. Council member-at-large Kaplan chimed in that she would love to shop at Macy’s if someone else paid for it. Council President Bas asked Council member-at-large Kaplan what she wanted to buy at Macy’s. At that point, Secretary to the Council Heimoff, who was still taking minutes, suggested that, since official business appeared to be finished, he might be allowed to go home. After a roll-call vote, this was approved unanimously.
Steve Heimoff