Uncategorized

Independent Monitor Says Police Department is Backsliding

Published

13 years ago

February 7, 2013

Oakland Post

Robert Warshaw

Mayor Jean Quan

Police Chief Howard Jordan

Judge Thelton Henderson

By Ken A. Epstein

The Oakland Police Department’s performance is “unacceptable” and shifting “from stagnation to decline” on several key federal court-ordered reforms – especially failing to remedy commanders’ insufficient oversight of officers’ use of force, according to a new quarterly report issued by independent police monitor Robert Warshaw.
“A common thread that again runs through many of the (reforms) that have not yet achieved compliance levels deals with critical supervisory and investigative tasks,” said Warshaw in the Jan. 30 report, the 12th quarterly update he has produced.
The failures are related to the responsibility of officers “to report misconduct by other officers” and the ability of supervisors “to critically evaluate the use of force by the officers they supervise,” Warshaw wrote.
The monitor’s oversight is part of the legal resolution of the Riders Scandal, an ongoing civil rights lawsuit in Federal District Court regarding police misconduct in Oakland, overseen by Judge Thelton Henderson. In 2003, the city entered into a settlement requiring OPD to comply with a series of reforms, which remain uncompleted.
“While we respectfully disagree or hold concerns with some of the methodologies and findings of the monitor’s report, we have already made progress discussing them with Monitor Warshaw,” said Police Chief Howard Jordan. “We plan to continue working through our concerns with his team in February, and we look forward to doing that work together.”
Looking at the failure of commanders to properly supervise during the Occupy Oakland protests and arrests, the monitor found that none of seven cases included “an analysis of the accountability of any supervisor above the rank of sergeant, leading us to question where the other officers, supervisor, or commanders were while the sustained misconduct occurred,” he said.
“The investigation did not include any review of the demonstration response planning by OPD command,” Warshaw wrote.
The report also cited four other investigations that did not “sufficiently or completely analyze the role of the supervisor involved – the improper detention of a subject and (sustained) allegation of racial profiling; a vehicle pursuit where the officer intentionally struck the subject; the use of a canine where improper commands were given; and the use of a force in striking a mental patient.”
“In each of these cases, OPD did not sufficiently analyze the role of the supervisor in the misconduct. It was not until each of the four cases made it to the Force Review Board that the Chief of Police identified the supervisors’ misconduct.”
The reforms, “which are not now in compliance … address issues at the very core of Constitutional policing…. One thing should be clear from the long history of this agreement: stagnation – and, now, decline – will not diminish the court’s expectation, or the monitor’s resolve that the department live up to the terms of the agreement,” Warshaw wrote.
Mayor Jean Quan in a statement Thursday pointed to disciplinary action against a number of officers in Occupy-related cases as a sign of progress.
She said those actions proved the city was serious about curbing police misconduct. “That’s a much stronger story,” said Quan, who added that her goal was to have the department emerge from court oversight within a year.
City officials also say they look forward to the appointment of a court-appointed compliance director who will have wide authority over OPD.
“The compliance director is not yet in place, but we expect that to happen soon,” said Chief Jordan. “The administration and the plaintiffs’ attorneys submitted nominations for candidates to that role on January 11, as directed by the court. We await Judge Henderson’s decision and are pleased to be moving forward.”

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Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

6 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

10 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

11 months ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.