Oakland Council increases Measure M, N parcel taxes despite surpluses (Analysis)
Article by Ruth Miller.
Last updated at Tue, 19 Jul at 1:36am.

Oakland residents often are asked to vote for new taxes to fund specific needs.

And over time, the City Council often is allowed to consider increasing the tax to keep up with inflation. The underlying promise is that the new taxes will only be high as necessary.

For two measures, a new audit proves that not to be the case.

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Oakland Public Ethics Commission to consider whether to investigate possible contribution violations
Article by Jennifer Inez Ward.
Last updated at Sat, 26 Mar at 5:00pm.

The Oakland Public Ethics Commission announced Wednesday that it will consider initiating an investigation into whether campaign contributions to Oakland City Council members wrongly influenced a recommendation to award a City Hall contract to a local security firm.

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Oakland City staffers squabbling over report of $14 MM in improperly accounted-for loans
Article by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Thu, 18 Nov at 2:30pm.

One day after outgoing Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums issued a report about all the great things that happened during his term, City Auditor Courtney Ruby has issued a report that says the City of Oakland improperly accounted for $14MM that appeared to be owed for loans--but wasn't actual due the city.

Ruby's audit of the Community and Economic Redevelopment Agency shows that City government basically lost track of $14 million dollars in loan receivables and deferred revenues and  failed to properly record loans that had been authorized to be converted to grants more than 10 years ago. At the same time, says Ruby, the City operated a system to record homebuyer loans that was also broken.

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Nov 2: Who is running for what? A reference list for Oakland and Alameda County
Article by Oakland Local edi....
Last updated at Mon, 1 Nov at 9:40pm.

Mayoral Race

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Merritt Bakery Loan Approved With Conditions; Nic Nak Postponed Again

Article by Rena Ragimova.
Last updated at Wed, 19 May at 3:23pm.

The $150,000 loan for Merritt Bakery discussed in Tuesday's City Council meeting was first recommended by the Mayor and has now been approved by City Council 5-1, but with conditions.

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City Translator: Oakland's Fraud, Waste and Abuse Prevention Program

Blog entry by Rena Ragimova.
Last updated at Tue, 6 Apr at 3:28pm.

What's the Fraud, Waste & Abuse Prevention Program all about? Given the legacy of mismangement in Oakland, can a city program make a difference? How?

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What if the release of the City Auditors report was actually a scene in Star Wars?
Article by Susan Mernit.
Last updated at Thu, 29 Oct at 6:22pm.

Editor's note: The Oakland City Auditor's report on mismangement in hiring and retention practices was released on Oct 22nd.  At 123 pages long, it offered 85 recommendations for ways that the city's HR, finance and police departments could function better, with less vulnerability to the nepotism and corruption the Edgerly case de

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