City Government

Council Members, Community Angry at Mayor Schaaf’s Plan to Divert Soda Tax Money

Published

9 years ago

May 5, 2017

Caption: Authors of the Soda Tax Measure HH were Oakland City Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan, Desley Brooks and Annie Campbell Washington.

In a presentation at this week’s City Council meeting, Mayor Libby Schaaf’ attempted to put a positive slant on her proposals to close a $32.5 million deficit in the new two-year budget that will be adopted in June. But the mayor faced a backlash from council members and community speakers who were furious that she wanted to divert Measure HH soda tax revenues to help close the city’s deficit.

In face of the pressure, she backed away from the plan after a number of speakers, who said they had supported her in the last election, threated to campaign against her reelection.

Mayor Schaaf faced harsh criticism from Annie Campbell Washington, Rebecca Kaplan and Desley Brooks, the co-authors of Measure HH, which was on the November ballot and passed with 61 percent of the vote.

Mayor Libby Schaaf

The authors of the measure, along with community members, including, health professionals and advocates, urged the mayor to keep the faith with the voters and spend soda tax revenue according to community input to improve health and nutrition.

“This sets a bad precedent. We should honor our word (to the community),” said Councilmember Brooks.

“This sets a bad precedent on the national level (and could impact) soda tax measures across this country” she said. “We are talking about a serious health issue, and that´s what we went out to the community in good faith and said.”

“The issue is not whether the diversion of Measure HH money to the general fund is legal, said Campbell Washington. “What is completely unacceptable is to destroy the public trust that we built when we went door to door talking about the (measure), when we talked about health impacts in Black and Brown communities, caused by sodas.”

Kaplan said, “I will continue to fight to ensure that soda tax dollars are used properly, with community input, for programs and education to improve health and nutrition, particularly for our most vulnerable communities that have been disproportionately affected by diseases resulting from sugary drink consumption.”

Thirty-six speakers signed up to talk to the council about the issue.

A doctor who works for La Clinica in the Fruitvale said, “This money grab may be legal. But it´s not right. You know it´s not right. We all know it’s not right. I will work next time to unseat you.”

A public health professional said she worked alongside Mayor Schaaf to support Measure HH, serving as a precinct captain. “I put my credibility on the line. I´m not sure we were exactly campaigning for the same thing,” she said.

“It may well be political suicide. (People) will not forget what happens with this budget.”

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Related Topics:city council government Libby Schaaf Measure HH Oakland Politics Soda Tax

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Oakland Post: Week of December 31, 2025 – January 6, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 31, 2025 – January 6, 2026

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January 2, 2026

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The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

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Alameda County

Oakland Council Expands Citywide Security Cameras Despite Major Opposition

In a 7-1 vote in favor of the contract, with only District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife voting no, the Council agreed to maintain its existing network of 291 cameras and add 40 new “pan-tilt-zoom cameras.”

Published

2 weeks ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Flock Safety introduces new public safety technology – Amplified Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to improve law enforcement investigations. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council this week approved a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety for a mass surveillance network of hundreds of security cameras to track vehicles in the city.

In recent weeks hundreds of local residents have spoken against the camera system, raising concerns that data will be shared with immigration authorities and other federal agencies at a time when mass surveillance is growing across the country with little regard for individual rights.

The Flock network, supported by the Oakland Police Department, has the backing of residents and councilmembers who see it as an important tool to protect public safety.

“This system makes the Department more efficient as it allows for information related to disruptive/violent criminal activities to be captured … and allows for precise and focused enforcement,” OPD wrote in its proposal to City Council.

According to OPD, police made 232 arrests using data from Flock cameras between July 2024 and November of this year.

Based on the data, police say they recovered 68 guns, and utilizing the countywide system, they have found 1,100 stolen vehicles.

However, Flock’s cameras cast a wide net. The company’s cameras in Oakland last month captured license plate numbers and other information from about 1.4 million vehicles.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Council meeting, Fife was critical of her colleagues for signing a contract with a company that has been in the national spotlight for sharing data with federal agencies.

Flock’s cameras – which are automated license plate readers – have been used in tracking people who have had abortions, monitoring protesters, and aiding in deportation roundups.

“I don’t know how we get up and have several press conferences talking about how we are supportive of a sanctuary city status but then use a vendor that has been shown to have a direct relationship with (the U.S.) Border Control,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several councilmembers who voted in favor of the contract said they supported the deal as long as some safeguards were written into the Council’s resolution.

“We’re not aiming for perfection,” said District 1 Councilmember Zac Unger. “This is not Orwellian facial recognition technology — that’s prohibited in Oakland. The road forward here is to add as many amendments as we can.”

Amendments passed by the Council prohibit OPD from sharing camera data with any other agencies for the purpose of “criminalizing reproductive or gender affirming healthcare” or for federal immigration enforcement. California state law also prohibits the sharing of license plate reader data with the federal government, and because Oakland’s sanctuary city status, OPD is not allowed to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A former member of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission has sued OPD, alleging that it has violated its own rules around data sharing.

So far, OPD has shared Flock data with 50 other law enforcement agencies.