Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

By Oakland City Attorney John Russo For once Oakland is getting some news about crime that isn’t horrible. Despite recent high-profile cases of violence, including the murder of four Oakland police officers in March, major crime in Oakland is down significantly this year. Homicide is down about 20 percent, according to police department statistics. Assaults with firearms – down almost one third. Part 1 crimes – everything from assault to burglary – are down about 15 percent this year. Credit is due to our police department – to the patrol officers who risk their lives and to the investigators and commanders who are using smarter and more effective tactics to fight crime during difficult times. And whether or not it’s the popular thing to say, one other person deserves some credit – Mayor Ron Dellums. At critical moments, Mayor Dellums took a stand to reform policing in Oakland and to fully staff the police department, and it looks like those decisions have helped the departmen...

More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! Tuesday morning's funeral for the late Oakland Tribune columnist Peggy Stinnett was sad as one could understand just how much a part of the soul of Oakland she was by listening to the words spoken about her. As if to underscore that, a number of Oakland's long-time journalists were there, especially people from the Tribune staff both former and current, like sportswriter Dave Newhouse and Oakland Historic Preservation expert Annalee Allen. Oakland Post Editor Paul Cobb, a friend of the Stinnett family for 45 years, gave an excellent speech worthy of posting here when I can get a copy of it. (I asked) And there were a good share of politicos there, lead by Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and former Oakland City Manager Henry Gardner. As one can imagine with this assembly of people there was more than the usual talk about what's happening in Oakland. A few people I kibitzed with at the reception following ...

  More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! In a strongly worded letter I just received as of this writing from the office of Oakland City Attorney John Russo (and is reproduced in full at the end of this post), Oakland's lawyer penned what is without a doubt the strongest attack on the Oakland Athletics attempts to leave Oakland by and Oakland City Official. Russo writes: Oakland A’s managing partner Lew Wolff is a talented and smart businessman. But if Wolff thinks anybody is buying his sob story about why the A’s have to leave Oakland, he’s seriously underestimating the intelligence of the team’s fan base, the press and the people of this city.   Oakland City Attorney John Russo with me in 2008 in his office.  What started this has been a process of dissing and trying to excavate the team from Oakland almost since it was sold to Ken Schott and Steve Hoffman after the beloved Haas Family sold the organization in 1994; Schott and Hoffman then ...

More at Inside Bay Area : “OAKLAND — The family of Jerry Amaro III, who died a month after suffering broken ribs from an alleged police beating in 2000, filed a $10 million civil-rights lawsuit against the city in federal court Tuesday. The lawsuit follows revelations last month that the FBI is conducting an investigation of the incident, including the role played by then-Lt. Edward Poulson, who was later promoted to captain and became head of the department's Internal Affairs Division in 2008. Poulson was placed on paid leave Jan. 22. Attorneys John Burris and Jim Chanin said Amaro was the victim of excessive police force, but also said that a number of officers conspired to cover up the facts surrounding his death, and to conceal information from Amaro's family and the public.”

http://oaklandfocus.blogspot.com - At his 50th birthday party hosted by Phil Tagami, Oakland City Attorney John Russo officially says he is not running for Mayor of Oakland because of his family obligations to his twin sons.

From "OaklandRusso" On YouTube Firing of Riders Cops Upheld by Arbitrator 2/4/09 OAKLAND, CA City Attorney John Russo today announced the settlement of an 8-year legal battle with two former City of Oakland police officers who were fired for insubordination and multiple acts of police misconduct. Former officers Clarence Mabanag and Jude Siapno were fired in 2000 after they refused to cooperate with an Internal Affairs investigation of misconduct by four officers known as the Riders. Both Mabanag and Siapno filed grievances challenging their terminations. On November 13 of last year, Arbitrator Sara Adler issued an opinion denying the grievances and upholding the citys right to fire Mabanag and Siapno for insubordination. Following the arbitrators opinion, the two former officers signed a settlement, finalized last week, ending their grievances and civil complaints. Neither one will receive any money from the City of Oakland. Artistically it's a good start for ...

This press conference was held to announce the settlement between the City of Oakland and the Oakland Housing Authority last fall of 2008. This is the only full-length video of that press conference. Oakland City Attorney John Russo sued the Oakland Housing Authority for not meeting its city-established housing mandates. But unlike most lawsuits, this one ended in an agreement that helped all sides.

Today, as I was attending the memorial service for Dr. C. Diane Howell, the Oakland City Council selected Councilmember Jane Brunner (D-1) as its new President, replacing and breaking the long string of Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente (District 5) serving in that role. Frankly, I say "Congratulations" to Jane, who was rewarded for her long term of service to her North Oakland constituents.   But I can't help but feel that Councilmember Larry Reid should be the President.  But then one has to have the votes for that to occur, and perhaps Larry counted heads and saw they weren't there.   Regardless of who the head of the helm is, the City has a laundry list of large problems.  According to my friend Tom Guarino of Pacific Gas and Electric, Oakland City Attorney John Russo gave what Tom called an "incredible speech" about how Oakland needs to improve and what to do.    Sorry I missed it.  The City Council has it's first meeting every year, I'...

I made this 12Seconds.tv video as a quick response to the Brooklyn (Oakland) blogs assertion that John Russo should run for Mayor of Oakland: on 12seconds.tv

From - “At midterm, Dellums faces growing criticism” : Of all of the people who tossed grenades at Mayor Ron Dellums, we have Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente saying this: “City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, who ran against Dellums in 2005, said the mayor has shown an unwillingness to make decisions. While the two men meet weekly, De La Fuente said many of his suggestions fall on deaf ears. "It's our job to manage and respond with more or less money," De La Fuente said. "Until someone says 'I want it tomorrow,' it won't happen."” -- Ok. This means that Ignacio is gearing up to run for Mayor again. Yes, he's shooting from the hip and that was not a calculated statement, but I know Ignacio well enough to assert that he feels Dellums is vulnerable, Perata would give his blessing, and the Mayoral prize would be his. Now if Robert Bobb were to run against him, Bobb would win. City Attorney John Russo could beat both ...

As a preface to what I'm about to write, let me state that I'm generally one of the persons who's been very critical of Mayor Dellums' performance. Indeed, in the case of bringing in a new City Administrator, Dellums is dragging his feet beyond a reasonable degree of time. Thus, Oakland City Attorney John Russo's public charge last week that the Oakland City Charter is such that the Mayor may be violating it by not naming a City Administrator is shockingly sloppy in logic and approach. I'm frankly surprised Russo would take such a brazen road in trying to get the Mayor to act. It's the duty of the media to provide an informational check on these actions. And in this case, Russo's builying tactics cause me to wonder if it's overstepping the normal attorney-client relationship. Not that Dellums doesn't deserve it because it's obvious that he misread the City Charter. The Charter states: Section 502. Acting City Administrator. The...

In this bit of old news that you may not know but should, Oakland City Attorney John Russo has annouced that his office has joined the City of San Francisco's lawsuit against Proposition 8, the anti-Gay marriage initiative. If you want a copy of the full press release from Russo's office, click here  .

This is from the Adams Point Yahoo! Message Board. Hello. On very short notice, City Attorney John Russo's office was able to arrange for Mr. Russo to join us at our meeting next week. He will take questions, and present some information about a new joint effort between the OPD, the Alameda County DA's office, and the Oakland City Attorney's office to crack down on "chronic non-felony crimes" such as disorderly conduct, illegal dumping, drug-related offenses, disturbing the peace and selling stolen property. See the website for the City Attorney: http://www.oaklandcityattorney.org/. Beat 14X Problem Solving Officer Madlansacay will be joining us for the first time in a few months as well, so if you have questions about recent crimes or related matters, please bring those to his attention during the Q&A with him. Below is the text of the meeting agenda. I will also post a copy in Word Document format in the Files section of the Yahoo Group. Incid...

I sat down with Oakland's Top Lawyer and friend John Russo just a day after the Vice Presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and to talk about who won the debate, and what Palin's assendency says about American Government and Culture. We have a difference of views and it centers on the idea that Palin did a terrible job -- my contention. Russo says that in debates one must "hold their ground" make sure their point is gotten across. He says she did that. Russo's observation is that Palin used a "game show" approach to the debate, comparing her to the legendary game show host Wink Matindale, where she uses the eye wink and assured finger "gun" point to connect with the audience. My point was that she just repeated talking points and failed on many occasions to answer questions Gwen Ifel asked of her. What do you think? Watch the video and let me know here.

I found this video on Oakland City Attorney John Russo's Law Corps.

I can only hope Kids First passes in November because the City's budget problems are so potentially bad that this "zero-sum" choice was presented: pay for more youth programs, and cut jobs, or don't and wait to see if the Kids First Initiative passes in November, and save City jobs. Here's the Trib story, in part.. OAKLAND — The City Council rejected the idea of a compromise ballot measure Tuesday that would have increased funding for youth programs, but not as dramatically as a separate initiative expected to qualify for the November ballot. A majority of council members worried a ballot-measure compromise could seriously dent the rest of Oakland's budget. The meeting came on the heels of another blow to the city's finances: The council voted unanimously early Tuesday not to collect $12 million in increased Landscaping and Lighting Assessment District fees after officials faced questions about whether the new rates would have held up in court. The decisio...

In this controversial eviction action by Oakland Community Housing, Inc with respect to the tenants of the California Hotel , some apparently called Congresswoman Barbara Lee's office and got no action at all. This is what they wrote, which I originally placed on the initial blog on this matter, but now I'm repeating here as a post of its own: Update on California Hotel and Drasnin Manor tenants July 19, 2008 Hi Darlene & others concerned... The elderly, disabled and the poor in the California Hotel have been sold out by Oakland City Councilmembers, non profit housing organizations and apparently Congresswoman Barbara Lee who remains completely silent on the issue of their housing plight, so far . (Oakland Focus emphasis) The California Hotel tenants continue to remain in their housing and refuse to move after being doublecrossed by those that were supposed to watch out for their best interests. They have organized themselves to clean the hotel up and maintain it for th...

I got this from the City Attorney's Office. I'll post it, then comment. Oakland, CA – For the second time, a Superior Court judge has issued a ruling upholding the city’s collection of the Measure Y parcel tax. On Friday, Judge Frank Roesch ruled that the city can collect the tax approved by voters in the Violence Prevention and Public Safety Act of 2004 – as long as the City Council appropriates the money in accordance with the provisions of the ballot measure. The ruling agrees with an impartial analysis provided by the City Attorney’s Office that was included in the ballot information given to every voter before the November 2004 election. The analysis said that the city could collect the tax so long as the money was an addition to the existing police budget. Friday’s ruling settles one of the questions raised by a lawsuit challenging the implementation of Measure Y. In an earlier case, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith also ruled that the City Attorney ana...

Oakland City Attorney John Russo and Oakland City Auditor Courtney Ruby held a press conference calling for reforms in City of Oakland personnel and ethics policies on Wednesday, July 9th in Hearing Room Two at Oakland City Hall. Russo and Ruby (sounds like a law firm) put together a press package that's quite extensive and calls for more study than most press people will give it. But the initiatives are broken down into the following categories: 1) Strengthen Anti-Nepotism Rules 2) Reform Personnel Department Procedures 3) Fix Records Management 4) Protect Whistleblowers 5) Establish Employee Ethics Program Press from KGO Radio, KTVU, KPFA Radio, NPR, and others were there. But this is the only full video of not just the press conference speakers, but the questioners as well. The press conference was well-attended, and even drew people like Pat McClough, who ran against incumbent Councilmember Jane Brunner in this year's election battle for the Oakland District One City Coun...

Yesterday, I was tipped off by an Oakland Resident that the Oakland Police have been wiretapping now-former Chief Administrative Officer Deborah Edgerly and say that the resulting evidence is incrminating. Now, I can't, as of this writing confirm this. It may be a couple of police officers trying to score points with an influential person, but I'm taking the claim seriously. Why? Well because it comes from people -- Oakland Police -- who can do it. I found this analysis of current California law, which reads: Both federal and California law enforcement officials may eavesdrop on and record telephone conversations without a court order under the so-called "one party consent provision" (18 USC 2511(2)(s); California Penal Code 633). In other words, if state or federal authorities have the consent of one party to a conversation (such as a government informant), the conversation may be monitored. This provision applies only to eavesdropping by law enforcement official...