In the last five years, the average graduating class size for OPD academies has been 22. Last May, the graduating academy had just 12 new recruits.
“Yes, it’s natural that you’re going to have recruits dropping off, but to start at 22 instead of 42 and to end up with 12 [officers] for $4 million doesn’t make sense,” Ramachandran said.
While cutting one academy, the budget amendments would also add $220,000 to outreach efforts for police academies to help increase class sizes in a more cost-effective way, she said.
The councilmembers believe OPD can also increase the number of officers in the field by speeding up Skelly hearings, which officers have to go through when placed on administrative leave before they can return to the job, and to determine whether they will face disciplinary action.
In March, there were 149 pending hearings and 42 officers on administrative leave, according to police commission reports. Eleven officers have been on administrative leave for between one and two years, which has cost the department nearly $3 million annually.
The council members are also asking to add more than $10 million to the Fire Department’s budget to stop a rotating station brownout, which would have continued one of the most controversial budget cuts made in January after the city implemented a contingency budget to make up for unrealized revenue from the stalled sale of the Oakland Coliseum.
For the first time in 20 years, all 25 of the city’s fire stations have been open for the last month. Before that, three stations, including two in the fire-prone Oakland Hills, had been shuttered throughout the year due to the budget cuts.
With the additional funding, only one brownout would be necessary for a three-month period this winter.
The amendments’ impact on labor partners is more of a mixed bag.
While the councilmembers’ proposal would reverse eight layoffs and salary reductions planned across various departments, it also proposes budgeting lower starting salary steps for some city positions.
Ramachandran said it’s common for new workers to come into the city, making more than the minimum required by Oakland’s deals with labor partners.
The amendment requests roles be budgeted based on the salary scales agreed upon, and that new recruits to non-exempt roles not come in at a starting salary that doesn’t exceed a certain step three on the salary scale, Ramachandran said.
The proposal predicts that the adjustment will save the city about $5 million.
The team’s proposal also set aside nearly $3 million to protect against federal and state funding cuts and allocates additional dollars for clean streets efforts, sideshow prevention, economic zone and new business development — interests they said were share by newly inaugurated Mayor Barbara Lee, who took over the office shortly after Jenkins’ proposal was released.
Jenkins said during his budget briefing last month that Lee had not had much input in the spending plan.
“Throughout the entire process, we were informed and supported by another great Oaklander, our new mayor, Barbara Lee,” said Councilmember Zac Unger. “She made it clear that her priorities were reopening all of the fire stations, setting aside money for economic development and funding the positions to make this the cleanest, most ethical City Hall in memory.”
After reviewing the mayor’s budget plan, the City Council must develop alternative proposals and adopt a final budget by June 30.
