Another Day, Another Chance to Do Good

Help keep OakDOT independent, and focused on safety!

This is a short but important action. Typically, we try not to flood your inbox, but as the Council session draws to a close, a flurry of activity requires heightened vigilance!

Object to the proposed Merger of Transportation with Public Works

On Monday, out of the blue, Council Member-at-large Rebecca Kaplan proposed as part of emergency budget negotiations that the Department of Transportation be re-merged into Public Works, where it used to reside. [brain exploding emoji!]

A merger of this magnitude (two of the largest departments in the City) needs discovery, budgetary analysis, public hearings, and serious consideration before even being considered, much less within the space of a single week. We say no.

What to do

Just tell Council Members not to pass Kaplan’s proposal as it stands. Instead, this Council should order the kind of analysis that will give the next Council the information and proposals it needs to address some real issues, such as our contracting process, and how capital projects are managed.

And we’ve made it easy for you, in conjunction with other groups. The Transbay Coalition, a transit group, has put together a great TOOL to email your Council Members and tell them to do the right thing. It’s EASY. It’s QUICK. And it needs to be done ASAP! Go HERE. (The text is already in there, but you can alter it.)

And if you want re-state your support for getting Measure U money flowing to the DOT again, then feel free to add that in. Here’s our most recent post on that ISSUE.

More to do on Measure U

Council has been stirred to attention by people speaking up, and support for new bond sales is growing on the board! HOWEVER, the allocation of these funds is where the sausage gets made. The original Measure U language gives OakDOT 34% of the total, but we are nowhere close. SPEAK UP again today to demand a fair portion of funds go to street safety and repaving.