Oaklands Reserves Missing Millions; Dellums, Edgerly, Quan, Chai and former City Manager Bobb sort out fiscal mess

With $48 million of Oakland reserves gone, and over $21 million unaccounted for, it looks like Oakland will have a rough September. We have our key players; former City Manager Robert Bobb teaming up with Mayor Ron Dellums, City Administrator Deborah Edgerly, City Councilwoman Jean Quan and Mayor's Cheif of Staff David Chai all trying to uncover the mystery of the missing millions, and are working together to present a new budget for the City of Oakland. This could mean tough times up ahead.

Read the whole story by Matier and Ross SF Gate:

Oakland's finances appear to be far worse than suspected.
Former City Manager Robert Bobb, who has parachuted into town at the request of Mayor Ron Dellums to try to sort out the fiscal mess, has discovered that Oakland's reserves have been drawn down by as much as $48 million in the past year, and accounting for most of the missing funds hasn't been easy. Just last year, Bobb said, the city reported a reserve of between $60 million and $70 million, but as of June, the account had dipped to $22 million.
Bobb said that as far as he's been able to figure out, recently ousted City Administrator Deborah Edgerly and her staff told the City Council that they intended to use $15 million to $17 million in reserves to help cover funding shortages. That would still leave at least $21 million unaccounted for.
"That's the story we are still trying to unfold," Bobb said.
But City Councilwoman Jean Quan, who chairs the budget committee, said she and some of her colleagues understood that at least $30 million had been drawn from reserves. Edgerly hoped to be able to replenish the fund this year, but the economy tanked, Quan said.
"It's not like the money was stolen," Quan said.
City departments were recently asked to come up with 15 percent cuts to help close a deficit of $40 million to $60 million. But Bobb said that even with the cuts, the city is still $20 million to $30 million short of what's needed to balance the budget.
One area certain to be hit hard is park maintenance, which took a $12 million hit when a new lighting district bond was ruled invalid.
As for what other services will cut and which taxes and fees will be raised - that's anybody's guess.
But one thing is certain, Bobb said: "It's going to be a stressful September."
As for Dellums' crew, they're bracing for the ride.
"It's going to be painful, no matter what," said the mayor's chief of staff David Chai. "But we are managing the situation, and we are going to present a balanced budget, and we are going to meet our responsibilities."