Trending Topics

Another police measure for Oakland?

By Kelly Rayburn
Oakland Tribune

OAKLAND, Calif. — Mayor Ron Dellums is dropping hints left and right that he may support another ballot measure to increase police staffing after a proposed parcel tax for additional officers failed at the polls Nov. 4.

Measure NN, as the ballot measure was called, garnered support from 55 percent of Oakland voters but needed a two-thirds majority to pass.

“A majority of Oakland residents agreed with the plan to provide more police officers on the streets while at the same time getting to the root cause of crime and violence,” Dellums spokesman Paul Rose said. “While it’s still very early for bringing anything back, this is something the mayor is considering.”

Rose said the mayor is interested in increasing police staffing but hasn’t decided, at this point, if another parcel tax measure is the right way to proceed. For now, there are no city elections planned until 2010. That could change if the state holds a special election, as some expect, in June 2009.

Other city officials already have floated the idea of placing a different version of Measure OO on the ballot if an election is held. Measure OO was approved by voters Nov. 4 to more than double the funding for certain youth programs, but members of the City Council worry about the effect an increase in youth programs will have on the rest of the city’s troubled budget.

Measure NN, meantime, would have raised parcel taxes on people owning residential and commercial properties to pay for 105 additional police officers, 75 police services technicians and a new crime-data management system.

One day after the election, Dellums hinted he might be interested in trying again.

“Even though Measure NN did not pass, we will pursue all options and do everything we can to maintain the integrity of our comprehensive public safety strategy,” he said in a Nov. 5 statement.

In a letter to council members last week outlining why he canceled the 166th Oakland Police Academy, Dellums was more direct.

“A two-thirds majority vote was necessary to pass Measure NN, and I am confident that this will be accomplished through subsequent ballot measures,” he wrote.

Measure NN was placed on the ballot after a group called the Safe Streets Committee began circulating a petition that would have increased police staffing by 272 officers without identifying a specific way to pay for them.

The group officially stayed neutral during the Measure NN campaign.

Greg McConnell, executive director of the Safe Streets Committee, said he’d be interested in meeting with the mayor’s office to discuss possibilities and said the organization’s concerns about public safety have not diminished.

“If we can come up with something jointly, we’d certainly like to do that,” he said. “The issue has not gone away, as we know.”

Mentors needed
Oakland is looking for a few good mentors.

The city recently announced its partnership with the national Our Kids Mentorship Program aimed at keeping African-American boys on the right track and out of trouble.

Police Officer Nathan Brooks, who will coordinate the program, said the idea is to pair youngsters with mentors to lower incarceration rates and gang activity, boost academic success and encourage healthy life choices.

Brooks is looking for men in good standing in their communities to spend time with the youngsters who participate in the program. Those interested can contact him at 510-750-4541 or krayburn@bayareanewsgroup.com

Copyright 2008 Contra Costa Newspapers