City Government

Council Members: OPD Must Recruit Local Residents, Women and People of Color

Published

9 years ago

July 15, 2016

A proposal advocating changes to the Oakland Police Department’s recruiting practices passed unanimously this week at a packed Public Safety Committee meeting.

“We have for many years received concerns about underrepresentation of people of Oakland, underrepresentation of people of color and particularly African Americans, and underrepresentation of LGBT people and women,” said Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, who sponsored the resolution.

“While still being able to fully respect all the difficult work our officers do every day, I think we can recognize that all these under-representations negatively impact our ability to strengthen the bonds of trust and mutual respect with the community,” she said, speaking at Tuesday’s meeting.

Rather than requesting policy adoption, Kaplan explained that the resolution was meant to propose a list of changes in how new police officers are picked and to research and report back on the feasibility of the changes.

The resolution listed 10 proposals for review, including prohibiting the use of marijuana as a grounds for rejecting an application, expanding outreach and strategies to mitigate underrepresentation of women, LGBT people and people of color in the department, and seeking a goal of at least 50 percent new hires to be from or have some connection with Oakland.

“There’s a huge difference between a local officer, meaning from here, and the other officers. They get a different response,” said public speaker Ron Muhammad.

Kaplan told council members that several people “were told they were rejected for past marijuana use” and that two OPD applicants were told they were rejected for having debt, which was addressed in the recommendation as well.

“We take people without a college education, but we don’t take people with a college education and student loan debt?” said Kaplan. “That is a significant problem if that is going on.”

Citing a recent letter from the Oakland Black Officers Association that raised concerns about Black officers being misrepresented in statements made by Mayor Libby Schaaf, Kaplan emphasized new practices must also look at how the department treats people once they are hired.

“As we are trying to recruit a police force that is reflective of Oakland, we don’t want to make the very folks we are having problems recruiting feel like they are being mistreated in a way that might scare applicants away,” she said.

The resolution will return to the Public Safety Committee at their next meeting on Sept. 13 with recommendations from Kaplan and the department as to how to implement the changes.

“Adding these areas to look at won’t fully address all of the issues we have with respect to the treatment and training,” said Councilmember Desley Brooks.

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Teachers’ Union Thanks Supt. Johnson-Trammell for Service to Schools and Community

“I speak for our Oakland community and the families OEA serves in thanking Supt. Johnson-Trammell for her service. With public schools and immigrant families under attack nationally from Trump and with budget challenges affecting many California school districts, these are tough times demanding the best of what we all have to offer,” said OEA President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer in a statement released Thursday.

Published

7 hours ago

April 27, 2025

Oakland Post

OEA President Kampala Taiz-Rancifer. Courtesy photo.

The union calls for a community-involvement in search for new superintendent

By Post Staff

While pointing out that Supt. Kayla Johnson-Trammell has been planning to resign for a while, the Oakland Education Association (OEA) thanked her for years of service to the schools and called for community involvement in the search for a new superintendent.

“While we disagreed strongly on a number of issues,” said Taiz-Rancifer, “Dr. Johnson-Trammell is a daughter of Oakland and a product of our public schools. We thank her for her service and wish her the best moving forward.”

She said the schools’ community was aware that the superintendent had been planning to leave well before this week’s announcement.

“The superintendent has spoken publicly throughout the year about her planned departure. In August 2024, the previous school board approved a renewed contract raising her compensation to over $600,000 per year and allowing her to step back from daily responsibilities beginning in the 2025-2026 school year,” said Taiz-Rancifer.

She said the teachers’ union has been raising concerns about the need for stability and financial transparency in the district. “For three of the last four years, the district projected major deficits, only to end with millions in reserve.” This year, she said, the district added $90 million to central office overhead expenses.

“Just last month, a majority of school board directors took action to cap expensive consultant costs and develop alternative budget proposals that align spending with community priorities to keep funding in classrooms,” she said.

Taiz-Rancifer said the union stands behind the leadership of Board President Jennifer Brouhard and Boardmembers Valarie Bachelor, Rachel Latta, and VanCedric Williams.

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Alameda County

OUSD Supt. Chief Kyla Johnson-Trammell to Step Down on July 1

The district’s progress under Johnson-Trammell’s leadership “provides a strong foundation for the transition and work ahead,” according to the joint statement. “The plan has always prioritized a smooth and thoughtful transition. A formal search for a permanent superintendent was (originally) scheduled to begin in fall 2025,” but now the board is “initiating this process focusing on transparency and deep community involvement.”

Published

7 hours ago

April 27, 2025

Oakland Post

Kyla Johnson-Trammell. File photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland Unified School District announced this week that Supt. Kyla Johnson-Trammell will leave her position on July 1 after serving for eight years.

In closed session on Wednesday evening, the school board approved a voluntary separation agreement by a 4-3 vote, said Board President Jennifer Brouhard.

The board will begin searching immediately for an interim superintendent who will start on July 1. Johnson-Trammell will continue as superintendent emeritus from July 1 to Jan. 15, 2026, to help with the transition, according to a joint statement released by Johnson-Trammell and the Board.

In a personal statement to the community, Johnson-Trammell said:

“As I prepare to step away from my role as your superintendent on June 30, I do so with immense pride in what we’ve accomplished together. The last eight years have brought some of the most challenging — and most defining — moments in our district’s history. Through it all, Oakland has shown what’s possible when we stay grounded in our mission and vision and work in partnership for our students.”

The joint statement from Johnson-Trammell and the Board modifies her existing contract. According to the joint statement: “in August 2024, the OUSD Board of Education approved a three-year transitional contract for Superintendent Johnson-Trammell, with the next school year (2025-2026) allowing for a shift in responsibilities to support the transition to a permanent superintendent at the start of the 2026-2027 school year.”

Praising Johnson-Trammell’s accomplishments, the joint statement said, “(She) has done an extraordinary job over the past eight years, a historic tenure marked by stability, strong fiscal oversight, and improvements in student achievement.”

According to the statement, her achievements include:

increased graduation rates
improved literacy
increased student attendance rates,
“exemplary” COVID pandemic leadership,
“historic” pay raises to educators,
Improvement in OUSD’s facilities bond program,
ensuring strong fiscal systems and budgeting

As Johnson-Trammell’s years of service are coming to an end, there remain significant unresolved challenges facing the district, including a $95 million budget deficit and the threat of school closings and employee layoffs, as well as contract negotiations with the Oakland Education Association (OEA), the teachers’ union.

Another ongoing controversy has been the superintendent’s extremely high salary, which was negotiated less than a year ago under the leadership of Boardmember Mike Hutchinson and former Boardmember Sam Davis.

Johnson-Trammell is one of the highest-paid superintendents in California and the country, earning a total compensation package of $637,036.42 a year.

The contract had granted her a pay raise and a final three-year contract extension through the 2027 school year.

Under that contract, she would only continue as superintendent during the current school year, and then for two additional years she would work on research projects and prepare the district for a new superintendent, at the same rate of pay she now earns, plus raises.

During those two years, a temporary superintendent would be hired to handle the responsibilities of running the school district.