Tonight's City Council meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. on the third floor of City Hall at 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. You can also watch the meetings on KTOP (local channel 10) and streaming online.

Here are our top five to watch tonight.

7.5-7.9: Resolutions supporting California DREAM Act, others

Councilman De La Fuente recommended five resolutions for this week's meeting, urging the city to lend its support to five bills currently working their ways through Sacramento.

• Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful (FAIR) Education Act (SB 48): Amend the education code to include the contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in social sciences curriculum, and prohibit the adopted of discriminatory materials by the State Board of Education.
• TRUST Act (AB 1081): Authorize local governments to opt-out of immigration and customs enforcement's Secure Communities Program.
• Fair Treatment of Farm Workers Act (SB 104): Authorize agricultural employees to select representatives through petitions showing majority support, or "majority sign ups."
• California Dream Act of 2011 (AB 130 and 131): Extend financial aid from the state of California to eligible undocumented students.
• Domestic Work Bill of Rights (AB 889): Introduce regulation to the wages, hours and working conditions of the currently unregulated domestic service industry.

Four of these resolution give the weight of "very important," the second highest of four options, but the TRUST Act is marked with the highest degree of importance - "critically important." As the report explains:

The City of Oakland has been on record since July 8 1986 as a City of Refuge and we have a strong tradition of embracing and valuing diversity and respecting the civil and human rights of all residents regardless of their immigration status. The Secure Communities Program forces local law enforcement agencies to become an arm of the federal government's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division by requiring the sharing of information. Participation in the Secure Communities Program is in direct contrast to our city policy that states that all departments and employees of the City of Oakland shall refrain from assisting or cooperating in their official capacity with any INS investigation, detention, or arrest procedures."

If passed, these resolutions will signal the city's support for these bills. The city of Oakland's state lobbyist will add this to their agenda. Coincidentally, the renewal of the city's contract with its Federal Legislative Lobbyist is renewed in Item 13 - $72,000 for the next year, with an option to renew for the same amount for another year.

11: Vacancy in the office of the City Attorney

After disputing rumors of his intent to resign for months, Oakland's City Attorney John Russo finally resigned in May. Tonight, the City Council formally announces the vacancy in its City Attorney position.

What does a city attorney do and how will Oakland get a new one?

The City Attorney is the legal advisor for the city and the representative of the city in legal proceedings. In less controversial cities, this might be a straightforward job description, but not in Oakland. Russo warned the city about the fed's concerns of Oakland's growing (and questionably legal) pot industry. Russo also led the prosecution of the gang injunctions.

Oakland's charter requires Oakland to get a new City Attorney within 60 days. The easiest way to get a new City Attorney is for Council to elect one. That is looking less and less likely. Without a decision, the selection of the City Attorney would go to city-wide vote in a special election. A special election would cost the city between $812,000 and a million dollars, but would clear the way for proposed $80 parcel tax to go up for a vote, as well.

Given Oakland's tendency to encounter complex legal situations, consider the difference between an elected and an appointed City Attorney. Selected by the City Council, the attorney is held to uphold the city's decisions and represent the city's point of view. A popularly elected attorney would be held to represent the will of the people. If those are different is open to interpretation, but imagine an attorney refusing to defend a decision of the Council. Stranger things have happened, and would it necessarily be a bad thing?

7.21-7.24 Settlements

The City Council must authorize settlements to residents that sue the city of Oakland for damage incurred on or by public property. There are four this week, and three of them are pricey.

• $630,000 - a collision with an Oakland Police Department vehicle
• $510,000 - the conclusion of several cases against the city when a section of the road at E. 29th and McKilop "failed."
• $550,000 - for injuries related to a gunshot fired by an Oakland Police Department employee
• $18,000 - for injuries incurred when tripping on a sidewalk on Oakland Avenue

9.1-9.4: Special taxes

Items 9.1 through 9.4 authorize small increases to four referendum-authorized taxes. These actions adjust the taxes for inflation.

• Measure M - Emergency Medical Services Retention Act of 1997
• Measure N - Paramedic Services Act of 1997
• Measure Q - Library Services Retention and Enhancement Act of 2004
• Measure Y - Violence Prevention and Public Safety Act of 2004

If passed, each tax will be increased 1.4 percent. That number comes from the San Francisco Bay Area Consumer Price Index for 2010. In total, these council items would raise the parcel taxes on a single family residential parcel by $2.72 per year.

10: Oakland Redevelopment Agency Budget

You might have heard that Gov. Brown wants to eliminate Redevelopment Agencies. You also might have heard that the city of Oakland is opposed to this idea. If you've ever wondered why Oakland feels strongly about redevelopment agencies, turn to page 30 of this budget and see how many city staff positions are paid with redevelopment agency funds.

Redevelopment in California is supposed to work like this: a city gives an area money for improvements. When the land values go up, the difference in property values pays off the original improvements.

In Oakland, these redevelopment funds also pay for four council member salaries, half of the mayor's salary and almost 100 staff in the Community and Economic Development Agency.

No one is saying redevelopment agencies in California are perfect, but this budget highlights some of the unintentional consequences of having tried to make redevelopment work for so long. Now, with redevelopment perhaps going away, the situation doesn't seem to be improving. The report's legislative introduction acknowledges the extraordinary effort to quickly obligate (in order to protect) redevelopment funding.

How will the city's budget look without redevelopment agencies? Will something quickly replace the funds, or will cities all over California see a tremendous shortfall? Time will tell, but until then, the city's finances aren't getting any clearer.