$17,000 In Measure Y Funds Used To Pay for Cops' Donuts

A while back I did a Public Records Requests to find out how much of the $7.7 million Augmented Recruitment Program money had actually been spent, and on what. As you already know if you've been following this blog, the ill-conceived, and patently illegal "Augmented Recruitment Program" was what got me to file my lawsuit in the first place, and all this money will have to be paid back to Measure Y from the general fund.

According to City records, the total spent to date is around $3.5 million. They ended up not spending the whole wad because they cancelled the last police academy. But that wasn't until they'd spent hundreds of thousands to recruit candidates for the police academy, who were then told Oakland didn't want them after all, since the department was (momentarily) overstaffed. A ton of your hard earned tax dollars, totally wasted.

Aside from telling me the actual amounts spent to date, another highlight of the records is that apparently $17,000 of Measure Y funds were spent at a place called the "Fountain Cafe" - a catering joint in Oakland. Now, the money may not actually have been spent on donuts. Maybe it was whole grain tabouli and hummus. And maybe it wasn't just cops eating the grub. I can't say for sure since they didn't give me any invoices. But what I can say is that I think it's outrageous that they're spending Measure Y funds on catered food! Particularly since none of the officers recruited were ever placed in Measure Y positions. And particularly considering how friggin broke the City is. And particularly considering how now the City is grabbing inside your pockets for spare change at parking kiosks.

Over at ABetterOakland.com, the debate has been raging on the parking meter increases, and some people can't seem to grasp the connection between public outrage over the meter changes, and general government waste. To make it simple: pay your meter, feed a cop (but not a Meaure Y cop!) a donut. Or some baba ganoush. Whatever. Get the picture?