Hiring Season Starts for Oakland Parks and Rec
Blog entry by Jennifer Inez Ward.
Last updated at Thu, 4 Mar at 8:56am.

The Oakland Parks and Recreation Department is currently taking job applications and putting the final touch on its annual Summer Hiring Fair set for Saturday, March 20 at 150 Frank Ogawa Plaza, 2nd Floor.

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Oakland city budget: Why is public participation so hard?
Article by Amy Gahran.
Last updated at Wed, 17 Feb at 8:22am.

Tonight, Oakland City Council is meeting discuss the controversial proposed 2010 municipal budget. At Oakland Local, we've been trying to understand Oakland's budget process -- especially how public participation really fits in. Unfortunately, Oakland's budget process is daunting, convoluted, cryptic, and frankly seems engineered to discourage meaningful public participation...

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AC Transit to stream Board meetings
Blog entry by AC Transit.
Last updated at Mon, 8 Feb at 10:12am.

Have you ever been to an AC Transit Board of Directors meeting? 

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The Jerry Brown Record On Public Records
Article by Jesse Douglas All....
Last updated at Wed, 3 Feb at 10:39am.

 

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

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How Oakland social justice groups convinced feds to yank Airport Connector stimulus funds (City Translator)
Article by The City Translator.
Last updated at Tue, 2 Feb at 12:48pm.

The controversial Oakland Airport Connector project may be delayed, and possibly derailed, by a civil rights complaint filed by three Oakland social justice groups.

In a Jan. 15 letter, the head of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) said the agency would withdraw $70 million in crucial stimulus funding for this project unless BART and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) can -- by March 5 -- prove that the Connector would benefit poor people, too. This came in response to a federal complaint filed by Urban Habitat, TransForm, and the interfaith group Genesis.

In this City Translator article, Oakland Local shows how this happened, and considers what might happen from here. Could that $70 million go to fund other local transit needs?...

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Drastic AC Transit Bus Service Cuts Unlikely
Article by Amy Gahran.
Last updated at Fri, 27 Nov at 3:02pm.

Yesterday Oakland Local reported that the AC Transit Board of Directors has begun considering a much less drastic plan of bus service reductions than had been proposed earlier this year.

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Instant Runoff Voting in Oakland Faces Resistance; State Hints at Approval
Article by Cathy Bussewitz.
Last updated at Fri, 27 Nov at 2:59pm.

Three years ago, Oakland residents voted overwhelmingly to approve a new election system called "Instant Runoff Voting," which could increase the political influence of local minority groups. Oakland expects state approval of IRV in January -- but meanwhile, some politicians contend that the city is not ready.

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