Monday night, I attended the Town Hall meeting with Oakland’s new Police Chief, Anthony Batts, at Prescott Elementary in West Oakland. It was okay.

I did enjoy listening to Batts speak, but everything else about the night was annoying. Before the Chief started talking, we had to listen to a long series of speeches about how great the Mayor is and a bunch of self-congratulatory nonsense about the Mayor’s task forces and how amazing they are. Personally, I think it’s kind of pathetic if three years into your term, the best accomplishment you can point to is something that nobody ever really cared about and that happened before you even started, but that’s just me.

The Mayor promised to give Batts a brief introduction, and then talked for like half an hour about how great he is, and how he’s been such a great Mayor, and great Oakland is doing, and so on and so on, to the point I made myself dizzy trying to get my head around how it is even possible for someone to be so completely disconnected with reality. Anyway. Eventually he got around to letting the Chief talk, but only after forcing everyone to sit through a stunningly boring litany of all the ways Oakland and Long Beach are similar (highlight: we both have an airport).

The Chief promised to keep his remarks short so there would be plenty of time for questions, and he totally did not do that at all, but nobody minded (well, some people probably did, but not me), because he is just such an engaging speaker. He didn’t say much about his plans for Oakland – it was all pretty general, stuff about his background and why he decided to come to Oakland. Apparently his remarks last night at the OPOA/UNCO event were a little more interesting, but since I wasn’t there, I’ll leave it for readers who were to share their impressions in the comments.

At the end of the Town Hall meeting on Monday, there was time for questions, but the whole thing was just impossibly poorly coordinated, and instead of hearing the Chief answer people’s questions, we listened to a series of people ramble at length about whatever their pet project is. In a few cases, the diatribes were punctuated with a half-hearted question (”Blah blah blah, me, blah blah blah, I’m so great, blah blah blah, this organization I work with is so great and everyone should come to their event next week, blah blah blah blah. And so, do you think we should have more police officers on the street?”), but mostly it was just people babbling at the room in general and the Chief didn’t really have an opportunity to say much in response. It was kind of disappointing. I ended up leaving early cause I was just so irritated.

Anyway, there will be two more Town Halls where you can hear the Chief talk – one on Monday from 6:30 to 8 at Cesar Chavez Educational Center (2825 International Boulevard) and another on Wednesday, November 18th, again from 6:30 to 8, at the Tassafaronga Recreation Center (975 85th Avenue). I’d advise showing up a little late so you don’t have to endure the Dellums campaign rally, and unless they restructure the way they do the Q&A, it’s probably not worth sitting through that part either, but I do recommend going just to watch Batts, who is extremely impressive.

But if you can’t make it to either of those (or if you can, but are still left curious afterwards), I have another opportunity for you.

The Oakland Tribune Editorial Board will be sitting down to talk to the Chief in a couple weeks. Naturally, we’re all bubbling over with our own questions, but what we really want is to make sure that our interview reflects what readers want to know. So we’re soliciting questions from the community.

Big picture stuff is welcome, but we’re also looking for questions based on your experiences in your own neighborhood. Just anything you want to know, basically. We’ll collect all the questions we receive, pick out the best ones, and ask as many as we have time for. You can send in your question via the contact form here, or just leave a comment on this post.

We’re really interested in what you want to know. So please, start firing away.

Do you guys remember back in June when the Council was putting together the budget? And they kept talking about how this is just a temporary solution, and that they would be back constantly making more cuts, and adjusting this and that. Council President Jane Brunner, a couple of times, called it a “rolling budget” and at one point suggested it just be a standing item at every meeting.

That probably would have been overkill. Still, it would be nice to see the Council take the City’s ongoing budget problem a little more seriously instead of just pretending like it doesn’t exist until they all of a sudden have to scramble to cut enormous sums of money. There’s a lot of room in the City for long-term efficiencies and money-saving measures, but getting there takes time and planning. It’s impossible to be surgical about cuts if you’re only thinking about the budget when you absolutely have to.

Anyway, to everyone’s great delight, I’m sure, they have to start looking at it again. The first quarter revenue and expenditure figures are now in (PDF), and will be presented to the Council’s Finance and Management Committee (PDF) next Tuesday. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you, but the news isn’t good:

In the General Purpose Fund (1010), a deficit of $18.9 million is projected by year end. The deficit is comprised of a revenue shortfall of $10.08 million, projected overspending of $4.29 million plus $4.5 million in projected Coliseum ticket surcharge revenue that may not be realized.

The majority of the overspending comes from the Police Department, on track to go $3 million over budget due to greater than planned for overtime costs, and the revenue shortfalls come from, well, pretty much everywhere. Property tax is looking to come in $0.36 million lower than anticipated, sales tax receipts are projected to be short $6.74 million, and then we’ve got expected shortfalls of $1.66 million in hotel tax, $0.96 million in parking tax and $0.36 in interest income. That sales tax shortfall, BTW, is based on January-March receipts, in case anyone was planning on using parking tickets as the culprit here.

The report includes updates on the status (PDF) of the budget balancing measures adopted by the Council this summer. Most have been implemented, although there are of course a few notable exceptions – nearly $300,000 was scored as savings by moving 4 Neighborhood Service Coordinators out of the General Fund so they could be paid by a grant instead, but then we didn’t end up getting the grant funding after all. And of course there’s the $800,000 of parking tax revenue at the Coliseum and aforementioned $4.5 million from the 10% Coliseum/Arena ticket fee that we haven’t been able to collect so far, and may not be able to collect at all.

A sheet illustrating projected spending by department (PDF) shows pretty much everyone except for the Police Department and, of course, the Mayor’s Office, on track to meet their currently assigned budget.

But with almost $19 million in projected shortfall already, it looks like it’s going to be another grim year in Oakland. Where are they going to find the money? We’ll get a sense of that on November 17th, when the Council meets to discuss potential budget balancing measures.

I have this friend who’s always making fun of my affinity for what he calls “19th century entertainment.” For him, parades, fireworks, and festivals are a relic of a time when people didn’t have the internet, cable TV, or Wiis to entertain them. I think that’s sad.

I love parades. I love fireworks. And, OMG, do I love festivals. A family friendly good time isn’t always the easiest thing to find in Oakland, and a festival offers that. And particularly in a city like Oakland, which often feels incredibly fragmented, so full of all these huge, wildly different groups of people whose lives somehow never manage to intersect, events that draw a citywide audience are just so refreshing. And in years like this, where so many people are struggling so deeply, and the torrent of bad, then worse, then even worse news often seems just endless, the totally free good time offered by these sorts of community celebrations becomes even more essential. Plus, how can you not love it any time major streets are blocked off from cars?

Anyway, Oakland has a fair number of festivals. But the Dia De Los Muertos festival in Fruitvale is easily one of my favorites all year. It’s so heartwarming to see so many children and families all over the place, having such a wonderful time. They’ve got rides for the kids, and they’re got all this music, and of course great food everywhere, and while I’m personally not all that big on crafts, well, they’ve got tons of those too.

But what sets this one apart from like every other festival in Oakland for me (besides the size, of course) is the color. I just love being surrounded by all these bright, cheery, vibrant colors, just everywhere you turn. The sounds, the smells, and, the colors, oh, the colors, just make for such a rich sensory experience. If you haven’t been before, you just have to go on Sunday.

And to give you a sense of what you’ve been missing, check out the photos below of previous festivals, mined from Flickr.

gwen on flickr

Tim in sanhazzay on flickr

jrbrubaker on flickr

jen_masier on flickr

g.p. macklin on flickr

gwen on flickr

Lydiat on flickr

gwen on flickr

jen_masier on flickr

So do yourself a favor, hop on the 1, and spend a little bit of your Sunday in Fruitvale this weekend (the festival takes place along International Boulevard between Fruitvale Avenue and 35th Avenue, and runs from 10 AM to 5 PM). Relish the color, the crowds, the altars, the food, and the music, and remember how lucky you are to live in such an incredible, vibrant, exciting city.

And if you bring your camera, be sure to submit your photos to the Fruitvale Dia De Los Muertos 2009 Flickr group, so everyone who couldn’t make it will be able to see afterwards just how much they missed out.

In a poll conducted this October a whopping 96% of Oakland voters say Oakland leaders should attract new companies and businesses. This comes from residents in every district in Oakland. It includes every demographic – every age group, ethnicity, party affiliation, sex and sexual preference; in short, everybody. This is the highest approval for a single concept that we have seen in our polls since 2005.

The Jobs and Housing Coalition takes regular polls of Oakland residents to gauge their perceptions of what is right and wrong with the city. These polls are eye openers. In 2005, when we heard complaints from a small but very vocal group of people at city hall that it was foolish to try to bring 10,000 new residents to town, our polls told us that this was exactly what more than 70% percent of the residents wanted.

Fortunately, city leadership was undeterred. It focused razor sharp attention on the 10K plan and it is now beyond speculation that the city has improved tremendously. The new residents have revitalized Uptown, Jack London Square and other parts of the city. Following the new residents, came a major infusion of restaurants, entertainment venues and new businesses and jobs.

Today, Oakland gets glowing press reports and recognition as the culinary ground zero for the Bay Area. In the past year, hundreds of thousands of people have flocked to the opening of the Fox, the Unveiling of Uptown, Eat Real in Jack London Square, and other grand Oakland events. Specialty food and beverage producers are flocking to the city bringing new jobs and revenues. Soon, Oakland will have a new free shuttle service that will link Broadway Grand and Jack London Square and help fill in the area in between. None of this would have happened without city leadership’s commitment to the 10K plan.

This fall we did another poll to see what are the top concerns of Oakland residents. Reeling from the recession and the city’s $144 Million budget deficit, we asked respondents to tell us how they wanted to see the city move forward. Should we increase taxes? No, said 52% of the respondents. Should we cut city staff? Yes, said 53% of the respondents. Should we increase parking fees and fines? Hell NO, said 78% of the respondents. With the exception of parking, these numbers suggest that a lot of Oaklanders have mixed opinions on whether new taxes and spending cuts will solve our problems.

So what should be the focus of city leader’s efforts? Oaklanders are nearly unanimous on the need for economic development.

These results tell us in no uncertain terms that Oakland residents want growth; they want our leaders to institute bold policy initiatives that encourage economic development.

It is time for Oakland leaders to send the clear and unmistakable message that the city is open for business. The business community will respond just as surely as home builders flocked to the city when they were assured that they were welcomed.

Send out the word city leaders. Encourage businesses, residents and consumers to bring your dollars to Oakland!

In our next report we will talk about the kinds of businesses residents want attracted to Oakland. Hint – think of Oakland, one of the top five green cities in the nation, with more retail, office workers, restaurants, residents, and more green dollars.

Greg McConnell is the CEO of the Jobs and Housing Coalition, a nonprofit association of major employers and commercial and residential developers and property managers dedicated to growing Oakland.

I feel kind of sad admitting this, but over the past few years, I have gotten extremely jaded about the City’s ability to do, like, anything right, ever. So much so, in fact, that anytime I do hear about something good, I’m like, completely floored and immediately look for ways the City is going to screw it up.

But sometimes, the City does manage to do things right, and today we get a great example of that.

Downtown nightlife business owners have been clamoring for years to get the street sweeping hours pushed back. Right now, most of downtown gets their streets swept between midnight and 3 AM. Since we have, like, constant street sweeping down here, that means that like half the parking spaces outside all these bars and clubs are just suddenly gone every night at midnight.

This is annoying for patrons arriving late at these businesses, who often have difficultly finding a place to park. This is annoying for owners and employees at these businesses, for the same reason. And it is annoying for patrons who arrive early for a night on the town, and either notice the street sweeping sign and have to cut their night short in order to move their cars in time, or don’t notice the sign and come back from a night on the town to find a street sweeping ticket on their cars.

So what does the City announce yesterday? That they’re going to move the downtown street sweeping hours. Most of the current midnight to 3 AM streets are getting switched to 3 AM to 6 AM street sweeping, exactly like people have been asking for forever. I had to read the press release like six times before I could believe it. Sad, huh? I mean, happy about the street sweeping, but…you know.

Furthermore, the City has apparently learned something from this summer’s parking meter debacle, and actually has a visitor-friendly plan in place to ease the transition:

To avoid frustration during the signage transition period, the City’s parking enforcement staff will provide a grace period from October 26 to November 30. Rather than leaving citations on cars, parking enforcement staff will leave a courtesy flier explaining the changes and encouraging parkers to review the new signage. Following the grade period, street sweeping parking restrictions will be strictly enforced.

Business owners in the area will receive a letter and a flier so they can help alert their patrons to the changes.

I guess the City can learn, after all.

Want to talk about something I haven’t covered? Do it here. You can find the previous open thread here.

Below is a photograph of a charming new downtown bar called the Layover.

I love the Layover. It’s been great to watch downtown transform over the past several years, and have all this wonderful new nightlife. But it has always bothered me a little bit that every new place that opens is so fancy. Penelope is very nice, and their spicy cocktails are delicious, but I’ve always just felt more comfortable hanging out somewhere a little more low key. The Layover is exactly the type of place I’ve been wishing would open downtown for years, and if you haven’t been yet, I strongly encourage you to go check it out. (It’s at 15th and Franklin. There is also a very flattering article in today’s Trib about it.)

Anyway, the reason I mention the Layover not just because I love it, but because this picture I snapped last night provides a nice example of a very common style of bar these days, where a DJ provides background music, but there is no dance floor.

This sort of bar currently exists in a legal grey area. The issue is whether or not such an establishment should be required to obtain a cabaret license if they are going to have DJs. Some do, others don’t. Some apply for one, only to find themselves sucked into an expensive and seemingly endless bureaucratic nightmare. Others send the City letters quoting the code governing cabarets and arguing that they should be exempt, and just cross their fingers that nobody will try to bother them about it. Others are simply told straight up by the City that they don’t need one. Still others do nothing and hope to fly under the radar. (I have not asked the owners of the Layover what route they choose, so I don’t know if they have a cabaret license or not, although I don’t remember seeing anything about a hearing.)

For the most part, the City has agreed that if all you’re doing is letting DJs play background music without a dance floor, then you don’t need a cabaret license. After all, the City already has regulatory power over bars through permitting alcohol sales, so there’s really no need to add another layer of hassle. But as we all know, the City can be infuriatingly inconsistent, and every so often, the fun police will do a little run around town issuing warnings (and sometimes tickets) to such businesses for acting as an unlicensed cabaret. (In one case last year, a bartender was threatened with a cabaret ticket after an office saw him changing a CD behind the bar.)