Measure Y Oversight Committee To General Public: Screw You!

So this afternoon I get a phone call from the Chairperson of the Measure Y Oversight Committee meeting, Jose Dorado, letting me know that the committee is meeting tonight (Tuesday) to hear the “pros and cons” of Measure I, and he wanted to make sure that our group, Oaklanders Against The Parcel Tax, was invited. I told him that the law precluded the MYOC from endorsing any position, pro or con, to which he responded that he was already told that by Assistant City Attorney Mark Morodomi, and he had modified his proposed agenda language accordingly. Now, he claimed, the issue was essentially, what would be the impacts on Measure Y programs if Measure I passed or didn’t pass? However, he admitted that the modified agenda item had not been posted. So, I said, "well, if it wasn’t posted, then you can’t meet. It’s that simple." He acknowledged that Mr. Morodomi told him the same thing, but they were going to meet anyway.

I then explained that the purpose of the Brown Act is to invite public participation, and to ensure that the public knows what its government is doing, and that what he was doing was against the letter and the spirit of that law. He insisted he knew this and was going to meet anyway. I told him that under these circumstances there was no way I could dignify the meeting with any presentation from our group. Which probably suited him just fine, given that he was appointed by Jean Quan and the whole purpose for him was to proselytize to his small herd of sheep. Except they’re really small - less than 10 of them. And the meeting isn’t on KTOP. And nobody wants to come to City Hall tonight anyway, since there’s another Occupy Oakland riot going on. But whatever. He just totally didn’t care about any of this.

I was unable to actually contact any City officials to discuss the matter, other than Claudia Albano, who is now the Assistant City Administrator in charge of Measure Y, who assured me that she had told Mr. Dorado exactly the same thing, but couldn’t stop him from having the meeting. I told her that the meeting was scheduled to take place at City Hall, and since this was an illegal use of City Resources, she could just lock the door and make him meet at some local bar. She said she’d think about it.

So there you have it, folks - a public advisory committee that defies the authority of the City Attorney’s Office and the City Administrator’s office, as well as the need and desire for public participation. Pathetic.