Back in 2016 Oakland voters approved Measure KK, a $600 million funding mechanism that promised, among other things, to fix Oakland’s horrendous street potholes. That was a lot of money; in fact, if I’m not mistaken, it was the most expensive ballot measure in Oakland’s history.
Potholes were a constant complaint of Oakland drivers in 2016. KK sought to address that: its ballot statement
promised, in this order, to “remove potholes, rebuilding cracked and deteriorating sidewalks, [and] funding bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements.” It also promised “funding affordable housing for Oaklanders.” The breakdown of the $600 million was Streets and Roads ($350 million), Facilities Projects (such as parks, libraries and senior centers) $150 million, and affordable housing ($100 million).
In early January, 2022, the City released a “Status of Measure KK Projects” that essentially said, Trust us! Everything’s on track. The status report emphasized that specific repairs, including their scheduling, would be determined by “race and equity” parameters. So where are we today, eight years after Measure KK was drafted?
Potholes are as bad as ever, and by some measures worse. The winter rains resulted in many more; it’s not clear if the repairs had been substandard, but they may well have been if they couldn’t survive a rainy winter. At any rate, most of the $600 million has been spent; on what, we don’t really know.
As early as March, 2022, when $100 million had already been dropped on repairs, complaints were filtering in from all parts of the city about “buses and cars careening out of control” and “potholes growing in size.” The Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT) offered a litany of excuses, most of which added up to bureaucratic confusion. A year later, in April 2023, newly elected Mayor Sheng Thao announced she was “excited” that Oakland was finally “starting [on] fixing our roads.” She apologized for OakDOT’s “backlog,” while the agency’s director, Fred Kelley, boasted that its primary program of the year, Pothole Blitz, was “focused on clearing the backlog of 311 road repair requests.”
Fast forward another year, to February 2024, and another round of delays and apologies. “Oakland has fallen behind schedule repaving dangerous roads,” the media reported, because “Oakland doesn’t have enough staff whose job it is to set up contracts with private companies that do most of the paving work. Equipment has also broken down, adding to delays.” And OakDOT, once again on defense, had to explain that it “will not meet” its goals for the fiscal year. The agency “is still clearing the backlog of contracts that developed in 2022” said director Kelley. Things had gotten so bad that NBC News asked, “How long can a city and its people put up with this nuisance?”
Good question.
Amidst all the accusations of incompetence against Sheng Thao must be added the utter confusion and mismanagement at OakDOT, whose conduct as Mayor she is responsible for. ABC News last month tried to report on the situation and scheduled an appointment with Warren Logan, who’s running for City Council in November in District 3, against Carroll Fife. But Logan had to miss his appointment with the news crew. “I'm unfortunately not available,” he texted them, “because I'm... and the irony isn't lost on me -- just arriving at the ER having flipped my bike over hitting a pothole."
We can do better. Please help us recall Pothole Sheng and replace her with someone who’s competent to rescue our flailing city.
Steve Heimoff