The Oakland City Council is set to hold a special meeting to pass its budget on Friday afternoon.
In May, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao submitted a proposed budget, which includes more than $100 million from the sale of the Oakland Coliseum property. But on Tuesday, the finance department submitted a revised budget proposal that does not include that money.
“It was technically presented as an alternative, but in reality, we know it is the only option,” says Oakland City Councilmember Janani Ramachandran.
Ramachandran says it’s fiscally irresponsible for the city council to build a budget to include the deal with no sale date insight. As she explains, the coliseum deal would have to close by September 2025, in order for this budget to work. She doesn’t know if that’s possible.
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“This is a large facility. This is a lot of money at stake, in a particularly volatile time in Oakland city politics. Investors are going to want to take their time and be wise before they put that money out here,” says Ramachandran.