Save City Youth Programs and Facilities! Repeal OO!

The city council faced a choice at its March 17 meeting: repeal Measure OO in order to save City youth sports, music and other programs, or "compromise" with the private agency raiders who want tens of millions of new dollars while City operations fall apart.

In 1996 voters agreed to a Kids First fund and a guaranteed percentage of the City budget for it. The City makes grants to private programs through its Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFCY). At last November's election under the phony banner of "Kids First" the private agencies sold Measure OO. Offered only token opposition by the city council, the agencies passed their reckless measure for an additional allocation of tens of millions of dollars.

The agencies did not tell voters that their greedy grab at the City budget directly threatens City programs and facilities for youth and the rest of us. At stake are:

• Closure of sports, educational, and cultural programs in neighborhood recreation centers, even closure of centers themselves

• No maintenance for ball fields and swimming pools, forcing their closure

• Cancellation of the tiny tot programs at the recreation centers

• and more

A "compromise" increase for the private agencies while basic City facilities and services are being cut is not acceptable. The only sensible option is to roll back Measure OO completely. Voters established the Kids First fund in 1996. No one proposes to cancel it. We must, however, repeal the doubled set-aside that Measure OO takes out of the City budget.

Long hot summer? Measure OO threatens closure of DeFremery pool and other City facilities.

The time has come to tell the poverty pimps with their sprawling kingdoms of too-often fragmented, uncoordinated, and poorly supervised programs, "You've taken enough!"

City councilmembers in Oakland pose as progressives. They have a choice whether to go along with privatization or stop it, whether to hand more money to fiscal thugs or give priority to keeping City pools, recreation centers, sports centers, and music programs open.

The council proved unwilling to confront the greedy private program operators. After failing to mount a real campaign against Measure OO last Fall, councilmember Quan and others now assert the alleged political clout of the poverty pimps. Councilmember Quan's real worry is that a fight over repealing OO will endanger her scheme to push through another bait-and-switch parcel tax on the July 21, 2009 mail ballot. The parliamentary result was a 4-4 vote on a motion by vice-mayor De La Fuente rolling back much of Measure OO. Mayor Ron Dellums will have an opportunity to break the tie vote at the next council meeting.

Measure OO Can Be Defeated

At the March 17 council meeting one resident reported that with a little campaigning, her neighborhood defeated Measure OO last November.

Citywide, OO passed 53 to 47 percent. Although city councilmembers opposed it on paper, they did almost nothing to campaign against it. Two years ago councilmember Quan raised $150,000 trying to pass her palace library bond scheme, half of it from business interests holding or seeking contracts with the City, but at the March 17 council meeting, she spoke like a helpless child about the alleged political clout of the poverty pimps.

Valerie Winemiller told the council that a few people of the Piedmont Avenue area did basic work against OO, pointing out to neighbors that it would take more money for favored private agencies while the City was cutting back services in the face of a budget crisis. Talking to ORPN, Winemiller said, "It was the first time I had ever voted against a measure purporting to benefit youth, but even this art major could see that the numbers were not going to work out so well."

Winemiller's neighborhood (which voted 91 percent for Obama) defeated OO 53.3 to 47.7 percent.

Liberal neighborhood defeated OO money grab.