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Postcard from Oakland

by WILL MCCARTHY and EMILY SCHULTHEIS 07/07/2025 07:28 PM EDT

For years, former city manager Steven Falk has believed that the greatest problem with Oakland’s city government is its org chart. The mayor has no vote on the city council or direct role in policymaking. The city council, in his view, is disconnected from the day-to-day operation of the city. The city attorney is elected, rather than appointed, leading to tension with the council. And perhaps most importantly, the city administrator comes and goes with the mayor, leading to high turnover.

“What occurred to me when I arrived in Oakland in 2020 is that the city organization seemed more dysfunctional than other cities where I had worked,” said Falk, whose résumé includes stops in nearby Richmond and Lafayette. “And the longer I worked there the more evident that it became that it wasn’t the people, but rather the organizational structure that was holding Oakland back.”

Since December, Falk’s group the Oakland Charter Reform Project has been campaigning for a charter amendment that proposes a “unitary strong-mayor” system that would resolve those issues by giving the mayor a vote on the city council and potentially a veto, among other changes. In newly sworn-in Mayor Barbara Lee, who listed charter reform as one of her 10 priorities while seeking the office in a special election, he finds an ally at the top of city government. But in order to get a charter amendment before voters, Falk and Lee will have to run a bureaucratic gauntlet in the narrow window before the regularly scheduled mayoral election just a year and a half away.

Because charter amendments can only be placed on the ballot during a general election, Falk is aiming for June or November 2026. The problem with November is that the race will also feature elections for mayor, auditor, and city attorney, meaning candidates would be running for positions that would be affected by any proposed charter amendments.

But in order to get the amendment on that June ballot, it would need to be in the hands of the city attorney by January, and then formally referred by city council in March. That leaves just five months for Lee to create a task force, allow for community conversation, and write draft legislation.

“It could be done,” Falk said. “But it’s tight.”

The alternative is to push the charter amendment vote to 2028 or beyond. But beyond the urgency of fixing a problem sooner rather than later, that timeline also poses the risk of Lee losing reelection — or the mayor, who turns 79 next week, choosing not to seek another term. If the city’s next mayor is less amenable to charter reform, Falk’s group would have to turn to a citizen’s initiative and gather about 50,000 signatures to place the amendment on the ballot.

“It wouldn’t be our preference to go to 2028,” Falk said. “We think Oakland needs improvement now.”

Originally published by Politico on 07/07/2025 07:28 PM EDT