Facebook event page

A teachers strike that began on May 15 has grown into a widespread rebellion in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. 14 compañeros have been killed by the state, including 12 in a massacre on June 19.

Join us in San Francisco to mark two months since the strike began as we march in defiance of state repression and in solidarity with our compañerxs on the barricades in Oaxaca.

To our compañerxs, teachers, mothers, fathers and children of the Oaxacan community, here and there, though we are miles apart, we fight with you.

Because here and there we fight against the same monster called capitalism. Because here and there, freedom, health care, and housing must be for all.

We march with love for our sisters and brothers who have been murdered and who will always be remembered, who walk alongside us in this struggle. We in the Bay Area, in solidarity with the Oaxacan community, say no more repression, no more deaths. We are ready to stand together. If they attack one of our communities there, we will respond here.

Help us kickoff the Oakland vs. Big Soda Campaign on Saturday, July 16th!

Hear from speakers about how the sugary drink tax will benefit you and the Oakland community. Learn how to talk about the tax and inform the community about the lies Big Soda is telling. After, we’ll head out into the community and make sure Oakland knows the truth about Big Soda and the soda tax. Light snacks will be served.

RSVP at this link.

International Conference Against Privatization

The effort to destroy unions and working conditions is directly connected to privatization and deregulation. In nearly every country of the world, public workers are under attack through outsourcing and deregulation. This educational conference will look at privatization in Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

Another key part of international policy that is being pushed through the US-controlled IMF and World Bank are trade agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA, and the TPP. This conference will look at the history of so-called “Free Trade” agreements and how this has lowered working conditions and also brought about the destruction of health and safety conditions and the privatization of healthcare, housing, education, and all public services.

Another focus of this conference will be the relationship of privatization to corruption on a global level. The crisis in Brazil and other countries are examples of how privatization has led to a growing corruption crisis.
Speakers from around the world will connect the dots and explain how unions have organized locally, nationally and internationally to defend working people.

Endorsed by Transport Workers Solidarity committee, United Public Workers For Action (UPWA.info)

This fall, Kayla Moore’s family will go to court to hold Berkeley and the BPD accountable for Kayla’s death in 2013.

Want to lend a hand in advance of this important fight? Come to our art-making party on Saturday, July 16th to create art that honors Kayla’s life.

We’ll be making posters, banners and other outreach materials. There will be a variety of ways to lend a hand; no need to have so-called creative talent. We’ll also have food to share.

Drop by between 11:30am and 4pm – and invite your friends!

Panel discussion by the KPFA Community Advisory Board.

Food, documentary screenings, music, art and sculpture unveiling.

Join neighbors for an afternoon block party honoring Berkeley civil rights leader William Byron Rumford.

This free public event will feature music, food, film screenings, kids’ activities and festivities aimed at building community by celebrating the life and legacy of Mr. Rumford, a key player in the Civil Rights movement in California.

Mr. Rumford (1908-1986) was the first African American elected to a state public office in Northern California. Among other achievements as a California Assembly member
, he authored groundbreaking legislation which banned discrimination in employment (1959) and housing (1963). These laws helped to pave the way for similar federal legislation. In addition to his public service at the state level, Rumford played an integral role in the South Berkeley community where he lived for 50 years. He owned and operated a pharmacy at 2960 Sacramento Street from 1942 until 1981 which now houses a clinic named in his honor.

#SF STAND UP #SayHerName #SFPD pic.twitter.com/IK9pVNDHsH

— Sylvia R (@achillesgirl) July 16, 2016

The Occupy Oakland General Assembly meets every Sunday at 4 PM at Oscar Grant Plaza amphitheater at 14th Street & Broadway near the steps of City Hall. If it is raining (as in RAINING, not just misting) at 4:00 PM we meet in the basement of the Omni Collective, 4799 Shattuck Ave., Oakland.  On every last Sunday we meet a little earlier at 3 PM to have a community potluck to which all are welcome.

OO General Assembly has met on a continuous basis for over four years! Our General Assembly is a participatory gathering of Oakland community members and beyond, where everyone who shows up is treated equally . Our Assembly and the process we have collectively cultivated strives to reach agreement while building community.

At the GA committees, caucuses, and loosely associated groups whose representatives come voluntarily report on past and future actions, with discussion. We encourage everyone participating in the Occupy Oakland GA to be part of at least one associated group, but it is by no means a requirement. If you like, just come and hear all the organizing being done! Occupy Oakland encourages political activity that is decentralized and welcomes diverse voices and actions into the movement.

General Assembly Standard Agenda

1. Welcome & Introductions
2. Reports from Committees, Caucuses, & Independent Organizations
3. Announcements
4. (Optional) Discussion Topic

Occupy Oakland activities and contact info for some Bay Area Groups with past or present Occupy Oakland members.

Occupy Oakland Web Committee: (web@occupyoakland.org)
Strike Debt Bay Area : strikedebtbayarea.tumblr.com
Berkeley Post Office Defenders:http://berkeleypostofficedefenders.wordpress.com/
Alan Blueford Center 4 Justice:https://www.facebook.com/ABC4JUSTICE
Oakland Privacy Working Group:https://oaklandprivacy.wordpress.com
Prisoner Hunger Strike Solidarity: prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/
Bay Area AntiRepression: antirepression@occupyoakland.org
Biblioteca Popular: http://tinyurl.com/mdlzshy
Interfaith Tent: www.facebook.com/InterfaithTent
Port Truckers Solidarity: oaklandporttruckers.wordpress.com
Bay Area Intifada: bayareaintifada.wordpress.com
Transport Workers Solidarity: www.transportworkers.org
Fresh Juice Party (aka Chalkupy) freshjuiceparty.com/chalkupy-gallery
Sudo Room: https://sudoroom.org
Omni Collective: https://omnicommons.org/
First They Came for the Homeless: https://www.facebook.com/pages/First-they-came-for-the-homeless/253882908111999
Sunflower Alliance: http://www.sunflower-alliance.org/
Bay Area Public School: http://thepublicschool.org/bay-area

San Francisco based groups:
Occupy Bay Area United: www.obau.org
Occupy Forum: (see OBAU above)
San Francisco Projection Department: http://tinyurl.com/kpvb3rv

The Community Democracy Project is your connection to direct democracy in Oakland! Convened out of Occupy Oakland in Fall 2011, we’re gathering steam on a campaign to bring the people back in touch with the city’s resources through participatory budgeting.

Picture this: Across Oakland, Neighborhood Assemblies are regularly
held in every community. People come together to tackle the important issues of their neighborhoods and of the city. At these assemblies, people don’t just have discussions–they learn from one another, from city staff, and they make fundamental decisions about how the city should run. They decide the city budget.

Democratic, community budgeting is a powerful step toward building strong communities, real democracy, and economic justice–and it’s being done all over the world.

The budget of the City Oakland totals more than $1 billion per year. Although part of the budget must be used for specific purposes, still over half of the budget–over $500 billion per year–consists of general purpose funds paid by the taxes, fees, and fines of the people of Oakland. The Mayor and the City Council decide the city budget, with minimal input from the community.

Working together, we will not only get a seat at the table–we will REBUILD the table itself. Participatory democracy is real democracy–join us to say: Local People, Local Resources, Local Power!

Cal will hold vigil Monday @4:30 to remember Nicolas Leslie, now confirmed killed in #Nice truck attack. Terrorism has hit UC Berkeley hard

— Berkeleyside (@berkeleyside) July 17, 2016

The first meeting the Berkeley Police Review Commission’s “Fair and Impartial Policing Subcommittee,” which will address allegations of racial profiling in Berkeley.

Agenda:

http://www.cityofberkeley.info/uploadedFiles/Police_Review_Commission/Commissions/2016/Fair%20-%20Impartial%20agenda%2007-18-16.pdf

This is the first in a series of meetings that will continue into the fall, so there will be numerous opportunities for the public to engage with the process.  Please know that your participation is essential to the commission’s ability to take a deep and honest look at the performance of our police department.  We need to hear from the community at every meeting.

OccupyForum presents…

The Sacramento Protest:
Victory over Fascism

On June 26, fascists were chased off of their intended rally site at the California State Capitol building by hundreds of anti-fascist protesters. People from the Sacramento community and anti-racist protesters from around northern California began to assemble in the morning to prevent white supremacists from entering the capitol grounds and holding their hate rally.

Militarized police cornered the protesters on the street to allow space for fascists to assemble, but to their surprise the protesters heroically challenged them and took over the steps of the capitol building before the fascists could assemble.

The some-500 anti-racist protesters who covered the capitol grounds were people of many political orientations, races, genders, and ages united against the hate group and its preaching of deadly racist ideas. The counter demonstration was supported by, among others, Antifa Sacramento, Anti Police Terror Project, Sacramento Brown Berets, the Progressive Labor Party, various anarchist collectives, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Anti-fascist participants in the Sacramento Action will tell about their experiences and lead a discussion on this event.

For background, see the reports on Indybay: https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2016/06/29/18788329.php

Information, discussion & community! Monday Night Forum!!
Occupy Forum is an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue
on all sides of these critically important issues!

Time will be allotted for announcements.
Donations to OccupyForum to cover costs are encouraged; no one turned away!

All across the East Bay, cities are raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour!  The California legislature voted to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022!

Now, we have the opportunity to stand with working families in San Leandro to raise the minimum wage.  It’s been a long time coming. Join us on Monday, July 18.

Raise the Wage in San Leandro!
City Council Vote on San Leandro Minimum Wage Ordinance

STANDING IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE
Press Conference by Justice 4 Mario Woods Coalition 7/19 at 12 PM SF City Hall. Bring your signs. @j4MWNow

— LolaLolaLola (@Lola_Casanova) July 15, 2016

Food, Rally, and Pre-briefing before Council Meeting

Meet in the reserved room next to City Council chambers at City Hall, 3rd floor–there will be people wearing this sticker!

Workshop on police body camera implementation.

Council will hear presentations from the PRC and from the City Manager/police chief.
Agenda: http://records.cityofberkeley.info/Agenda/Meetings/ViewMeeting?id=234&doctype=1

Note that the police department proposal differs from the PRC proposal in these respects:
1. The police position is to let officers review camera footage before writing their incident reports, except for an officer-involved shooting or in-custody death investigation.  The PRC made a broader exception for all use foo force incidents; this was in itself a compromise position. This issue is important to prevent officers from tailoring their report to the video.  Our position even allowed officers to review the footage and file an amendment.
2. The PRC proposed some very moderate provisions for public release of footage, for example, to the media with permission of the police chief or designee, an in compliance with a public records act request.  The police object to these provisions on logistical and bureaucratic grounds.
*** Additionally the staff proposes a very cautious one-year pilot program of only twenty cameras.  Body cameras have been shown to save lives and keep particularly people of color out of the mass incarceration system.  This proposal is much too conservative.
See the attachments in the link above for other less critical issues.
Council needs to hear from you to produce the best possible policy.

The Committee to Protect Oakland Renters (sponsor of, and collector of signatures for an effective rent control Initiative) is organizing a stepped up campaign to show councilmembers that broad components of Oakland civil society are concerned about the rental and displacement crisis that is pushing so many long time Oakland households out of the city.

We ask that you send a letter to Council Members Lynette McElhaney, Abel Guillen, Anne Campbell Washington, Dan Kalb, Mayor Libby Schaaf, in addition to your councilmember.

Email Addresses:  lmcelhaney@oaklandnet.com, dkalb@oaklandnet.com, aguillen@oaklandnet.com, acampbell-washington@oaklandnet.com, officeofthemayor@oaklandnet.com,
Select Emails:  ngallo@oaklandnet.com, dbrooks@oaklandnet.com, lreid@oaklandnet.com, rkaplan@oaklandnet.com,

In addition to sending the letter below in the name of your organization (or in your name as a member of your organization), please urge your members and colleagues to attend two very important events this week and next:

• Thursday, 7/14 “Major Media Event,” 12 Noon – 1:30pm, City Hall Plaza — Labor, Clergy, Councilmembers, Tenants, Landlord speakers !
• Tuesday, 7/19 , “Pre Council Rally”, 4pm to 5pm, City Hall Rally — Pizza, drinks, chants !!

Urgently requested
Oakland Tenants Union and the  Protect Oakland Renters Coalition
_________________________________________________

Oakland City Council
1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza
Oakland, CA 94612

To Oakland City Councilmember ___________:

(YOUR ORGANIZATION’S NAME) urges the City Council to approve placing Council Member Rebecca Kaplan’s “Renters Protection Act of 2016” on the November  ballot. This is the only legislation that will establish strong and lasting tenant protections and will safeguard the diverse communities that make our city unique.

The current crisis of displacement in Oakland has deeply affected many families and communities, including many of our own members. Working families of Oakland whose incomes cannot keep pace with rising rents are most at risk, and now that the moratorium on high rent increases and unjust evictions has expired, the Council desperately needs to act as the massive displacement that caused thr demand for the Moratorium will surely resume, with the unfortunate result that more families will be forced from their homes and from the City.

The Committee to Protect Oakland Renters (CPOR) supports Councilmember Kaplan’s legislation.  It is based on best practices established and functioning efficiently in other cities in California that have rent control ordinances. The policies that inform CM Kaplan’s “Renters Protection Act” have been drawn from what works well in these cities.

The “Renters Protection Act of 2016” will require landlords to petition for, and justify rent increases above the automatic pass-through that keeps owners at pace with the rate of inflation.  Landlord petitions will take the burden of having to petition off tenants when their landlord raises rents illegally.  This change will dramatically reduce the workload of the Rent Board.  Last year, 726 tenants petitioned the Rent Board, while in Berkeley, which has a landlord petition system, only 28 landlords petitioned for an extra increase.

Presently, tenants who live in buildings constructed after 1980 have no protection against being arbitrarily evicted.  For simple justice, the exemption date for the current Just Cause for Eviction law must be expanded past the present date of 1983. The current date of 1983 exempts far too many landlords and puts many good tenants at unnecessary risk. This, too, is a much-needed reform.

One of the reasons we are in this situation is the ineffectiveness of the Rent Board & Rent Adjustment Program (RAP). The City Council recently passed Councilmember Kaplan’s proposal to add alternate members to the Rent Board, which will enable the Board to hear more appeals and eliminate the backlog of unheard cases.  The proposal also expands the powers and responsibilities of the Rent Board & Rent Program to be more efficient in carrying out its various responsibilities. Anyone who has had relations with the Rent Board and Rent Program staff knows it is severely under-sourced to serve a City in crisis.

(YOUR ORGANIZATION’S NAME) urges you to approve the Kaplan proposal for the November ballot, and to let the voters of Oakland decide whether the need is ungent to put lasting tenant protections in place at this November election.  Only by establishing the needed changes by ballot, can residents can be  assured that the protections will remain in place for years to come.

Thousands of activists and advocates have been fighting for these common sense solutions to our displacement crisis for years. They know that failing to act now will force more people out of Oakland and destroy the fabric of our communities.

Sincerely
___signer’s name______ ,
YOUR ORGANIZATION’S NAME

Agenda Item

Subject: Ordinance Amending Chapter 8.22, Article I (Rent Adjustment)

From: Councilmembers Kalb, Gibson McElhaney and Guillen Recommendation: Adopt An Ordinance Amending Chapter 8.22, Article I (Rent Ajustment) Of The Oakland Municipal Code To:

• (1) Modify Exemptions For Owner-Occupied Duplexes And Triplexes And Sustantially Rehabilitated Properties;
• (2) Require That Owners File Petitions For Rent Increases In Excess Of The Annual Consumer Price Index Increase
• (3) Change The Amortization Period For Capital Improvements To That Of The Useful Life Of The Improvement;
• (4) Clarify That Certain Types Of Work Are Not Capital Improvements;
• (5) Amend Timelines For Filing Petitions;
• (6) Require Owners To Pay Interest On Security Deposits; And
• (7) Amending Chapter 8.22, Article Iv To Permit Tenants To Choose To Pay Their Portion Of The Program Fee Either In A Lump Sum Or In Six Monthly Installments

Agenda Item

Subject: Renter Protection Act of 2016 (Rent and Eviction Ordinance Amendments Ballot Measure)

From: Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan

Recommendation: Adopt A Adopt A Resolution On The City Council’s Own Motion Submitting To The Voters At The November 8, 2016 Statewide General Election Proposed Amendments To The Rent Adjustment Ordinance (O.M.C. Chapter 8, Article I (8.22.100, Et Seq.)

• (1) To Require Owners Petition For Rent Increases In Excess Of An Annual Allowance; And Proposed Amendments To The Just Cause For Eviction Ordinance (Measure EE (2002), (O.M.C. Chapter 8, Article Ii (8.22.300, Et Seq.) To
• (2) Modify The New Construction Exemption To Apply To Units Constructed After January 1, 2002,
• (3) To Require Relocation Payments For Owner-Occupancy Evictions,
• (4) To Permit The City Council Limited Authority To Modify The Ordinances, And
• (5) Amending O.M.C. Chapter 8.22 (Rent And Evictions) To Increase Transparency, Including Regular Reports From The Rent Program To The City Council And
• (6) Removing The Requirement For Council Approval Of Regulations, And Directing The City Clerk…