My First 50 Days

LEADING: Turning Community Priorities into Action

The first 50 days were about building the foundation — assembling teams, assessing challenges, and designing real solutions. Now we’re focused on action residents can see and feel.

Wildfire Prevention: Protecting Our Hills and Our Future.

2025 Vegetation Management is On Track: We’re on pace to clear over 1,300 acres of hazardous dry brush on city land and key evacuation routes.

Our plan includes:

• Wider Geographic Coverage – Crews are clearing brush from East Oakland hills to Grass Valley Road

• Youth Jobs – Civicorps youth are gaining job training while clearing parks like Joaquin Miller

• CAL FIRE Support – State teams are boosting local efforts with added resources

• Eco-Friendly Tools – Goat crews are managing brush in a sustainable, Oakland-style way

• Community Partnerships – Groups like Friends of Sausal Creek and Sogorea Te’ ensure our work is rooted in stewardship

Emergency Readiness
Our budget ensures that every Oakland fire station is open and fully staffed. We’re protecting lives through both prevention and rapid response.

Permitting Reform: Making City Hall Work for Residents and Businesses 

The Permitting process in Oakland can be a source of frustration for residents and businesses trying to improve their properties or start new ventures. After extensive analysis and community input, we're addressing the core problems with immediate improvements — with more on the way.

Areas of improvement:

• Expanding "By Right" Commercial Development: Commercial activities in Downtown Oakland, Broadway Valdez, and Lake Merritt areas have been streamlined, with all other commercial districts getting similar treatment in fall 2025.
• Expanding "By Right" Residential Development: Affordable Housing approval has been streamlined citywide, with code amendments this summer to extend streamlining to all districts outside the very high fire zone.
• One-Stop Digital Permit Intake: Common permits can now be submitted online with a single application, with high-volume applications going online by end of 2025.
• Same-Day Digital Permits: Most building permits for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing approvals can now be submitted online and processed immediately, with more permits available for same-day issuance by end of 2025.
• Expanded Service at the Single Storefront Permit Center: In-person permitting services at 250 Frank Ogawa Plaza are now much easier to access with most agencies relocated there offering expanded hours and appointment options.
• Navigating Processes More Easily: The Neighborhood Business Assistance Program is being expanded for more up-front support while the City website is being simplified with easier electronic payments.

 

Keep The Town Clean: Equity-Driven Community Beautification

Our Keep The Town Clean initiative represents a fundamental shift from reactive cleanup to proactive community stewardship, with equity and youth development at the center.

Summer 2025 Action Schedule: Every District, Every Community

We're launching high-visibility cleanup events in every Council District, targeting illegal dumping and blight near schools and youth-serving facilities. This isn't charity work — it's community investment with clear equity principles:

• July 8: District 6 (Greenleaf Elementary and Coliseum College Prep), with more dates to come and locations in the works. 

Long-Term Strategy: Sustainable Change

Monthly Mini-Bulky Block Parties: Starting within 50 days, monthly events with dumpsters, compost stations, and educational booths to make legal disposal easier than illegal dumping.

Business Corridor Maintenance: Ongoing abatement targeting high-traffic commercial areas for clean, walkable access.

Trash Compliance Campaign: 60-day "amnesty period" with compliance checks, outreach, and support for residents needing waste services.

Technology Upgrades:

• Public Dashboard (launching within12 months): Real-time tracking of dumping trends and cleanup progress
• Enhanced Surveillance (6 months timeline): Cameras and deterrents to prevent repeat dumping

Community Partnerships: Youth intern programs and Race & Equity Office ensuring fair service delivery while creating employment pathways.

Budget Victory: Investing in Oakland's Priorities

One of our most significant early accomplishments was passing a balanced budget that closes Oakland's historic deficit while protecting services and investing in community priorities. Working closely with the City Council, we secured funding for key initiatives that reflect our listening session priorities:

Major Budget Victories:

• Police and fire academies: One sworn fire academy in each fiscal year and five police academies over the two years of the budget
• Police staffing: 678 sworn police in both fiscal years
• Violence prevention: expands investments in Dept. of Violence Prevention to enhance capacity for dealing with those most likely to commit crimes
  
• Citywide sideshow prevention (added $1.4 million) and $600,000 for additional removal of abandoned automobiles
• Prevented fire station closures, which stopped a rotating station brownout, ensuring all 25 Oakland fire stations open over the next two years, aside from 90 days this winter.
  
• Homelessness Prevention Pilot Program (added $1 million)
• Illegal dumping enforcement technology and additional environmental enforcement officers ($1 million)
• $3 million in business incentives to support entrepreneurs and small business development
• $1 million for economic activation zones, which is targeted investment in commercial corridors across all districts
• $1 million for community safety ambassadors who are trained community members supporting business corridor safety

This budget reflects our values: fiscal responsibility without abandoning community investment, public safety through multiple approaches, and economic development that benefits all Oakland residents.

Next 50 Days: From Listening to Sustained Action

Mayor in the Community

Lot 2270 Plaza: Empty Lot to Community Space

On June 25, we dedicated Lot 2270 Plaza in Uptown—transforming an empty lot into a space where people can gather, rest, and connect. The plaza represents collaboration between Councilmembers Carroll Fife and Rowena Brown, city teams, the Uptown Downtown BID, and local businesses.

During the week of June 23, I hosted a Hospitality Roundtable focused on keeping Oakland active day and night with nighttime safety measures, faster permits, and local branding campaigns; A Large Employers Meeting where I addressed employee safety, parking, transit, and good-paying jobs with tailored security plans and workforce training; A Business Owners Session that brought together BIDs and city teams to create a "culture of yes" at City Hall with fast-track permits and corridor beautification. 

Elaine Brown Way - Last week, we unveiled this West Oakland street naming that honored the Black Panther leader, author, and affordable housing developer whose work shaped our city.

Ms. Margaret Gordon West Port - I joined EBALDC for the grand opening of new supportive housing development, named for the lifelong environmental justice activist who embodies West Oakland's spirit.

Major League Cricket at the Coliseum - I amplified Major League Cricket's debut on the West Coast at our Oakland Coliseum. With $3 million in stadium improvements, this was exactly the kind of investment that showcases our city's potential on an international stage.

Co-Founders the Musical - On July 6, I celebrated the final performance of this groundbreaking hip-hop musical at A.C.T.'s Strand Theater. Created by Oakland talent, telling Oakland's story—this is our creativity and social justice legacy on stage.

Fruitvale Merchants Meeting – Met with local business owners in Fruitvale to hear firsthand about their priorities, including improving public safety, reducing illegal dumping, and creating a more supportive environment for small businesses to thrive. We discussed ways the City can strengthen partnerships to better meet the needs of this vibrant commercial corridor.

Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council – Joined the Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council to address persistent concerns around blight, sanitation, and public safety. The conversation focused on strengthening city services, supporting legacy businesses, and ensuring that Chinatown remains a safe, clean, and welcoming destination for residents and visitors alike.

Visit by Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett to the Black Cultural Zone – Welcomed Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett to the Black Cultural Zone in Deep East Oakland and enjoyed a meaningful dialogue on community-driven development and economic opportunity.

My appointments to the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners - 

• Barbara Leslie (reappointed) - Works closely with our business community and understands the Port's economic role.
• Alvina Wong - First Asian American woman on the Port Commission, bringing environmental justice experience to lead on sustainability and equity.
• Derrick Muhammad - Longtime ILWU labor leader from West Oakland who brings a strong voice for workers and understands the Port's neighborhood impact.

Honoring Dan Siegel: A Champion for Justice

Our Oakland community recently lost a giant. Dan Siegel, a longtime friend of mine and a pathbreaking civil rights lawyer who fought for workers, unions, and human rights advocates over five decades of civil practice, died on July 2 in Oakland. He was 79.

Born in the Bronx and shaped by his commitment to civil rights struggle, Dan's journey to Oakland began when he was arrested in Mississippi while working with the Congress on Racial Equality to register voters. A National Lawyers Guild attorney got him out of jail—an experience that inspired his own legal career.

A Legacy of Legal Victory and Social Justice

Dan's legal career was defined by landmark victories on behalf of thousands of plaintiffs seeking protection for their civil, labor, and First Amendment rights. He represented workers across industries, defended protesters, and as chief of complex litigation for San Francisco, led employment discrimination settlements that guaranteed affirmative action in hiring and promotions.

Oakland Leadership and Community Service

Dan's commitment to Oakland extended beyond his legal practice:

• Elected to two terms on the Oakland School Board, serving as president
• Served as chair of the Oakland Housing Authority
• Co-wrote Oakland's community policy law
• Taught graduate courses at Mills College

His final public appearance was a speech at Oakland's "No Kings" rally on June 14, where he urged the crowd filling Oscar Grant Plaza to oppose authoritarianism and white supremacist movements. Dan understood that democracy requires constant vigilance and active participation. 

To Anne, Michael, Christopher, and the entire Siegel family: Oakland grieves with you. Dan’s legacy of justice lives on in every life he touched and every victory he won for our community.

Rest in power, Dan. 

A Personal Note: This is Oakland's Moment 

As I close this newsletter, I'm thinking about what good government can accomplish when it listens to residents and acts on their priorities.

We have momentum. We have partnership between residents and government. We have the foundation for sustained progress.

The challenges remain serious. Our budget situation requires ongoing vigilance. Public safety concerns demand continued attention. Housing and homelessness need sustained investment. Infrastructure maintenance requires consistent funding. Economic development needs ongoing support.

But Oakland has always been a city that faces challenges head-on, brings people together across differences, and finds innovative solutions to complex problems. That's who we are. That's what we're doing. That's why I remain optimistic about our future.

This is Oakland's moment. We're bringing our diverse communities together to build a city where everyone feels seen, heard, and supported. We’re moving from crisis to opportunity, and from listening to action. Your partnership makes it all possible.

Let's keep moving forward together.

In solidarity and service,

Mayor Barbara Lee

One last note before you go:
I have a new Instagram that can be found here: 

www.instagram.com/mayorbarbaralee