Who would attend Council meetings?
Today, the City Administrator attends Council meetings. Councilmembers can ask the city’s chief executive about how the city is being run, or the status of a project or initiative, in a meeting residents can attend or watch. That provides an opportunity to ask questions publicly and hear the response.
Measure EE would make the mayor the chief executive, but would allow the mayor to attend Council and committee meetings through a designee, unless excused. The City Administrator could also meet the Council attendance requirement through a designee. Proposed Charter §§ 305(c), 504(b).
The measure includes an attendance obligation, but it would not require the chief executive to personally face routine Council questioning. We think direct responsibility for running city departments should come with regular public questioning by the representatives of the people those departments serve.
The mayor would have other public-meeting obligations
The mayor would still have to personally deliver an annual state-of-the-city address. The mayor and designated staff would also be required to conduct four additional public meetings each year. Those are opportunities for public engagement, but they do not replace the ongoing questioning that can happen at routine Council meetings. § 305.
What about the new oversight tools?
Measure EE includes Council information and investigation powers and authorizes an independent budget and legislative analyst office. Councilmembers would retain the right to seek information and follow up on service requests. These provisions could help the Council scrutinize city decisions. §§ 207, 218, 405.
We support better access to information. We also believe residents and Councilmembers need opportunities to question the person making executive decisions. The proposed oversight tools would not fully offset the concentration of power in the mayor’s office or replace that direct questioning.
Accountability between elections
Supporters argue that voters already hold the mayor responsible for city services, so the mayor’s formal authority should match that responsibility. We understand the reasoning. But residents also need ways to get answers and address problems during a mayor’s term.
Accountability means explaining decisions and facing consequences for misconduct. Legal, ethics, audit, Council, and judicial oversight remain important checks, alongside elections. We want a charter that makes those checks effective and visible throughout an administration. We believe Oakland can strengthen oversight without adopting this transfer of executive authority.