The Finance Committee of Oakland’s City Council is scheduled to consider the job classification of personnel who will intake complaints against police officers on Tuesday morning.
But in an email to Committee members, City Administrator Deanna Santana requested that the item be ‘deferred’ to a closed session discussion on Sept. 17th.
Why the need for secrecy? Why all of a sudden? What’s happened since this issue was scheduled at the Rules Committee for Open Session?
Ms Santana has been bargaining with the OPOA who are opposed to consolidating the intake of complaints at the Citizens’ Police Review Board (CPRB), as directed by the City Council. To justify her failure to implement Council policy, she has used newly appointed Compliance Director Frazier’s unfamiliarity with the history on this issue as a cover. But Frazier says he has no wish to obstruct the City Council’s policy on this matter.
Public process and police accountability are both at risk if Santana’s actions are allowed to overturn legislation.
Come to this Tuesday’s Finance Committee meeting at 9:30 AM to urge Council to stand firm and insist that the intake occur at the CPRB – not Internal Affairs.
Rashidah is the Executive Director of PUEBLO (People United for a Better Life in Oakland)