OaklandPowerGrab.com

Measure EE will raise Oakland City Councilmembers’ total pay to as high as $256,500 a year. That is $108,000 more than they make now, and there is no upper limit. Oakland already pays its council more per resident than San Francisco, Sacramento, San Diego, and Los Angeles. Former Councilmember Loren Taylor signed the official argument against Measure EE, calling these “massive pay raises while asking the council to do less.” Vote NO on Measure EE by November 3. – at Oakland, CA

East Bay Insiders just published the Alameda County Ballot Watchdog Committee’s review of November measures, and Oakland’s Measure EE got the worst score of the entire county: 1.8 out of 5. The committee does not take sides on policy. It only grades whether the ballot summary is accurate, impartial, and informative. EE failed. They said it crams too many changes into one question, uses vague language about “additional provisions,” and never explains the financial consequences. That is not an accident. Measure EE rewrites the city charter so the mayor becomes CEO with a veto over laws and a line-item veto over the budget. It also hands the Public Ethics Commission power to reset elected pay. The City Auditor’s impartial analysis puts the annual cost at $2 million to $2.6 million, with council raises estimated at $36,000 to $108,000 each. None of that is clear on the ballot. Barbara Lee broke a 4-4 council tie to put this on the ballot for the office she holds. The official argument against it, signed by Loren Taylor and others, already called it a power grab. Now the neutral ballot watchdogs are saying the language itself hides what voters are actually approving. When City Hall writes a ballot question that scores a 1.8, the safest vote is no. Do not hand Barbara Lee more power. Vote NO on Measure EE. Ballots are already out. OaklandPowerGrab.com – at Oakland, CA

NBC Bay Area just ran a 36-second explainer on Oakland’s Measure EE. Here is what they did not have time to say. On November 3 a simple majority can lock a new system into the city charter. The mayor becomes CEO, gets a veto over laws, and gets a line-item veto over the budget. One person can zero out a park, a street, or a neighborhood project. It takes six of eight council votes to undo it. The City Auditor’s impartial analysis says the package costs $2 million to $2.6 million a year, mostly because the Public Ethics Commission would reset elected pay, with council raises estimated at $36,000 to $108,000 each. Barbara Lee is the one selling this. She convened the working group, she and Council President Kevin Jenkins wrote the plan, and she broke a 4-4 council tie to put it on the ballot for the office she holds and is running to keep. Councilmembers Zac Unger, Janani Ramachandran, Noel Gallo, and Ken Houston voted no. The official argument against it, signed by Loren Taylor, Budget Advisory Commission member Ben Gould, Pam Drake, and Naomi Schiff, calls it a power grab. Their words: it makes government less transparent, increases the risk of corruption, and drives gridlock. A future mayor could appoint unqualified friends to department jobs. And it hands councilmembers massive pay raises while asking them to do less. Nate Miley, Nancy Nadel, and former Ethics Commission chair Ralph Kanz are on the no side too. – at Oakland, CA