Do We Have a City Hall or an Insane Asylum?

The city council's finance committee met Tuesday, and you gotta wonder.

There was councilmember Jean Quan complaining again about overtime in the police department. She whines about an alleged "slush fund for emergencies and departments that went over budget." (Oakland Tribune, Jan. 11, 2006)

Nothing new here. Quan supported an expensive, outsourced audit of police overtime a year ago, saying it would "give us a chance to stop the bleeding." Hey, when a city has half a police department, is overtime any surprise?

Quan's talk of a slush fund is unseemly. Although the City has a budget surplus, top administrator Deborah Edgerly suggested it be saved in a reserve. Quan would have none of that. She immediately pushed to spend $400,000 of City money on a sports program for middle schools.

Sounds to us like a slush fund for councilmembers' pet projects.

A councilmember's shameless attitude of they-have-a-slush-fund-but-my-slush-is-more-important signals to Oakland residents that budget games at City Hall are just that, games. Not a good signal to send right now. Councilmembers are trying to soften up homeowners up for a big jump in the Landscape and Lighting District assessment on their tax bills. The City recently printed a fancy brochure promoting itself as a careful steward of LLAD funds. Ha!

The entire newspaper account of the farce at the finance committee had not one mention of Measure Y. Its parcel and parking taxes bring in $20 million a year, but police staffing has gone down not up. The 802 officers required by Measure Y are nowhere in sight.

Anyone who votes more tax money for Oakland City Hall might just as well send it to Atascadero State Hospital. Come to think of it, councilmembers need professional help. Let's send them there, too.