Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee laid out her vision for the city during her State of the City address, tackling some of Oakland’s biggest challenges—from public safety and illegal dumping to a budget deficit exceeding $100 million—while outlining how her administration plans to address those problems.
Before Mayor Lee could address the state of Oakland, she walked past a crowd of city workers outside City Hall highlighting another major hurdle facing her administration. The city is dealing with a structural deficit of more than $100 million, and more than 1,000 funded positions remain unfilled, leaving remaining workers stretched thin.
“What we really want to do is push against these high vacancy rates so we can have people doing the job of one person instead of two or three people,” said Julian Ware, an Oakland city worker and Local 21 vice president…