The road to 'cleaner' electoral campaigns is reaching its final stretch.  Advocates of getting private money out of political campaigns met at Oakland City Hall Saturday afternoon for one of many planned kick-offs in support of the California Fair Elections Act.

By Ryan Van Lenning, Last updated Sun, 7 Feb at 10:55pm.

We're a week away from a big budget discussion in Oakland, so Ol has numbers on the brain.Here are some numbers that made us pay attention:

The AC Transit BRT project is going to get $15MM in federal funding

The city of Oakland spent more than $48 MM to help renovate the Fox Theatre, $50MM if you count the recent loan request.

Game security at Oakland high school sporting events costs the city about $175,000 a year, including $65,000 to have police officers at basketball and football games, according to estimates from Sarna and the Oakland Athletic League commissioner.

By Susan Mernit, Last updated Mon, 8 Feb at 9:35am.