James “Jim” Burch: A Trailblazer on The Basketball Court as Referee Page 2
Demand That Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans Stop Blocking COVID-19 Relief Page 5
U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn Says Gov. Newsom Must Appoint Black Woman to U.S.Senate...Page 3
State to Make Mobile App Available to Notify About Covid Encounters Page 6
Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
postnewsgroup.com
57th Year, No. 25
Weekly Edition. Edition. Dec. 9-15, 2020
HOWARD U.Student Shows Pandemic Survival Skills to High Schoolers By Ken Epstein
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Gen. Lloyd Austin (ret.) to head the Dept. of Defense.
Carole Stanford
Biden Picks Becerra to Head HHS, Retired Military Service Runs in the Family General Lloyd Austin for Defense Chief By Post Staff
President-elect Joe Biden has selected Gen. Lloyd Austin (ret.) to head the Dept. of Defense and California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) as he creates a Cabinet for his administration. Becerra’s proposed appointment was revealed over the weekend and Austin’s name came out on Monday as Biden faced increasing scrutiny about fulfilling his promise to have his administration ‘look like America.’ If confirmed, Austin
would be the first Black person to lead the Pentagon, while Becerra will be the first Latino to head HHS. In picking Austin, Biden has chosen a barrier-breaking former four-star officer who was the first Black general to command an Army division in combat and the first to oversee an entire theater of operations, Politico reported. As California’s attorney general, Becerra has led the coalition of Democratic states defending “Obamacare” from the Trump administration’s latest effort to overturn it, WISH-TV correspondents said.
Both men may face opposition from the U.S. Senate for approval. Austin, who only retired four years ago, would need a waiver from Congress to bypass the law requiring a seven-year waiting period between active duty and serving in the Pentagon. Becerra will be taking heat for his lack of health expertise and experience running a large department, while conservatives are dismayed by his record of upholding the law on abortion rights. Politico, the New York Times and WISH-TV contributed to this report.
of Woman for Black Veterans By Kiki
Carole Stanford is a veteran as is her father and many other relatives. Even though she “grew up Navy” she and her relatives, like many Black veterans, were unaware of benefits they were entitled to receive after leaving the military. National Association for Black Veterans (NAVBETS) is filling that void. Stanford was born in a Continued on Page 10
Community and Council President Kaplan Call for Accountability for $32-million in Unauthorized Police Overspending By Post Staff
The Oakland City Council Finance Committee this week heard a report from the city’s interim director of finance, which found that the “FY 20-21 year-end expenditures are projected to exceed the budget for a total of $62.29 million deficit, which puts the City at risk for severe fiscal stress if not addressed and called for “fiscal corrective action,” but failed Council President to address the primary issue, Rebecca Kaplan police overtime overspending, which accounts for over half of In June, 2020, as a part of the budget shortfall. the Mid-Cycle Budget, Oak-
land City Council President Kaplan successfully fought for a directive that would specifically require the administration to “provide tracking and accountability for unbudgeted expenditures” and set aside $8 million of OPD overtime to be held until after that process was done, to ensure that the budget, as properly and publicly adopted, is actually adhered to. Kaplan said, that information about what the administration is doing to track expenditures to make sure they are in line with the adopted budget has not been received yet.
“That information should be provided now -- as the unbudgeted expenditures by one department, the police department, now threatens the fiscal situation of our entire city, and has continued to get worse this year,” Kaplan said. Making cuts to other vital needs, potentially harms departments that did not commit the overspending, while reducing vitally needed services for the public, she said. “Leaving trash on the streets and failing to fulfill other fund-
Report warns that without timely action, City is at risk of severe fiscal stress
On Monday, staff delivered a report to the Oakland City Council’s Finance & Management Committee that contains a stark warning: without timely action to curb spending and bring expenditures in line with projected revenues, the City of Oakland could face a $62 million shortfall by the end of this fiscal year on June 30, 2021. The primary reason for this unprecedented shortfall is the devastating impact of COVID-19 and the shelter-in-place orders largely in effect since March 2020. These necessary actions to curb the transmission of the virus reversed the state of California’s robust pre-COVID growth, sending unemployment rates to levels not seen since the Great Depression. Like cities and counties across the country, the impact of COVID-19 severely weakened Oakland’s economy and City
revenues in FY 2019-20, and appears likely to have continued impacts through FY 2020-21 and beyond.
The informational report delivered Monday by City staff details the financial results of the fourth quarter of the previous fis-
cal year (through June 30, 2020) and projects General Fund revContinued on Page 10
Community, Family Demand Alameda County D.A. O’Malley Charge Ex-BART Police Officer Anthony Pirone With Felony Murder of Oscar Grant
The family of slain Oscar Grant made a public demand that his murder case be reopened based on new information about former BART police officer Anthony Pirone’s participation in Oscar’s murder. The information comes from the BART-commissioned independent investigative report of July 2009 by the law firm of Meyers Nave, which had been concealed until a newspaper’s Freedom of Information Act request revealed it in 2019. Grant was shot and killed on Jan. 1, 2009, by Johannes
From left to right: Loren Taylor, Rev. Wanda Johnson and Cephus X Johnson. Photo by Auintard Henderson.
Mehserle, who was eventually convicted for manslaughter in 2010. During a press conference
Akil Riley
things they actually can do right now,” said Epstein. PIC hired Akil Riley to do the outreach. He will be meeting with students online until December 18 when school ends for the holidays. Under the law, the funding is short term. The stimulus money must be spent by December 30. Riley, 19, is a graduate of Oakland Technical High School and a sophomore at the Historically Black College, Howard University. He is continuing his college classes from home. Music is his passion, and he talks a lot about how important it is to go to college, because you can find your true passion there. In June, Riley and a co-organizer led a march of 15,000 students in Oakland protesting the police killing of George Floyd. Continued on Page 10
Debates Continue on Reopening Schools in Midst of Pandemic
Continued on Page 10
City of Oakland Faces Possible $62M Shortfall By Karen Boyd
Teenagers are facing a particular set of serious issues in the midst of the pandemic, and many may not know where to find a helpful advisor as they wrestle with family illnesses, inability to find jobs in the midst of the shutdown, difficulties in applying for college or uncertainty on how to continue a university education that has been interrupted. “We recognize that a lot of young people, especially seniors in high school, are discouraged and frustrated. With all the disruptions, some students are having trouble passing advanced classes, schools are not holding regular graduations, and colleges are not open for visits, ” said Kitty Kelly Epstein, interim chair of the board of the Oakland Private Industry Council. That’s why PIC applied for and received a federal stimulus CARES Act grant through the City of Oakland to temporarily hire a young leader who can reach out to high school students in their virtual classes to answer questions, provide resources and encouragement at this difficult time. “We thought it would be useful to have someone closer to their age and facing similar obstacles talking about the
on Thursday morning, the family said that Alameda County Continued on Page 10
OUSD Supt. Kyla JohnsonTrammell By Ken Epstein
The pandemic in the United States, including California, is spiraling out of control due to what is now widely understood to be a national failure to take adequate or even minimal public health measures to protect the population. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Californians are finding themselves locked down under mandatory stay at home orders, at least until January. Others , many who have no choice, are still going to work and risking their lives. Oddly, at this moment of generalized systemic failure, there is a movement to reopen the K-12 schools, to get teachers out of their remote internetbased classroom and face-toface again in their classrooms with students. The demand is coming from some parents and is being driven nationally by corporate consultants, foundations and think tanks, which emphasize the internet-based
OEA Pres. Keith Brown
remote learning does not work for many students. Though not clearly identified, they claim to speak for all parents and point their fingers at teachers and education unions for putting the interests of their members ahead of the children – who need to be in school. Not reflecting a large groundswell of support for reopening, about 100-150 people attended a rally, part of a national protest, at City Hall in downtown Oakland on December 8 to demand that schools be reopened as soon as possible. The push to reopen schools is backed, according to a recent article in U.S. News & World Report, by a half dozen national reports in recent days that emphasize students are falling behind in their education, especially students of color. One of these reports was produced by McKinsey and Co., a management consulting firm with a controversial hisContinued on Page 10