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Oakland City Hall

As predicted, Oakland voters rejected Measure X, a proposed $360 annual parcel tax that would have allowed the city to hire more police officers and reinstate Measure Y. Initial reports late Tuesday night showed about 75 percent voted against Measure X. 

But Measure BB looks to have passed by a landslide, meaning Oakland will regain 60 specialized police officers who were a part of Measure Y’s popular fleet of problem-solving officers.

Voters originally passed Measure Y, also known as the Violence Prevention and Public Safety Act, six years ago. It established an $88 per year parcel tax totaling about $19 million in funds for violence prevention programs and community-oriented policing. Since then, the program has been credited with helping to decrease violence and increase employment among youth and young adults in the city. But in order to collect the funds, the measure requires the city to keep police staffing at a minimum of 739 officers. Measure BB removes that requirement.

Supporters of Measure BB were glad to hear the measure passed, but some warned that the city’s crippling deficit — projected at about $42 million next year — could mean future cuts and concessions in public safety, which accounts for about 75 percent of the general fund.

“I feel relieved in the sense that voters want to keep what’s happening right now,” said David Kakishiba, executive director of the East Bay Asian Youth Center, which receives about 5 percent of its funding from Measure Y. “Voters seem to be very clear about not wanting to open their pocketbooks at this time. We’ve got to come together in the city and figure out how we’re going to navigate through this tough economic time that we’re in.” 

City Council President Jane Brunner said attrition could mean the loss of about 30 officers by the end of the year, and federal stimulus funds, which currently pay the salaries of 50 officers, will run out in two years.

Measure X would have required officers to begin paying 9 percent of their salaries into their pensions. Although the measure was defeated, City Council members say — and union officials acknowledge — that such concessions may be necessary to save more jobs. Police are currently the only city employees who do not pay into their pensions.

Marleen Sacks was one of the few who spoke out publicly against Measure BB. In the past two years, the local attorney has filed two lawsuits alleging the city mishandled tax dollars collected through Measure Y. She originally supported Measure Y, but said City Council members have been irresponsible with money and that BB allows them to continue ignoring the need for more police officers.

But she agreed with Brunner that more concessions will be necessary to fill the city’s financial hole.

“I’m disappointed,” Sacks said of Measure BB's passage, after attending Perata’s election party Tuesday night. “I’m much more confident in Don Perata’s ability to work collaboratively with the police union and get the concessions that will be necessary to expand the police force. Without concessions, the city is not going to have enough money to bring police staffing back to what it needs to be.”