MAYORAL CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE

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Oaklanders@MakeOaklandBetterNow.org

Candidate Name: Greg Harland

City Budget

1. Please state your position on the following November ballot

measures:

Measure V (increased medical cannabis tax and new non-medical

cannabis tax).
Answer:
 I’m not in favor of measure V. One of my main objectives is to
increase employment in Oakland and more marijuana would be
counter productive to that. Most employers drug test and city
encouragement of marijuana use seems ill-conceived. I know this
maybe an unpopular stand but I think this measure is short sighted
especially since its promoted to be another tax revenue scheme.

Measure W (telephone trunk line and access line taxes).

Answer:
 Again I’m not for it (Measure W) or anymore taxes because more
taxes that merely put off the inevitable while the underlying
problems grow larger.

Measure X ($360 parcel tax).

Answer:
 Again I’m not for (Measure X) for the same reason more taxes
merely put off the inevitable and will lead to a larger problem later
on. When the tax expires the city will be overwhelmed the cost that
have escalated out of conjtrol. One more reason is this tax is
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regressive and to be fair it should be and ad valorem tax based on

the value of real estate.

Measure Y (suspends police staffing appropriation requirements for

collection of 2004 Measure Y parcel tax).
Answer:
 I recommend passing measure Y to maintain the minimum service
while we work to resolve the budgetary problems. I also do not
consider measure Y a new tax just an ill-conceived tax presently in
place.

2. In June, the City Budget director reported that Oakland faced a five-
year general purpose fund structural deficit of $589 million. (See page 19 of City
Administrator’s report at http://tiny.cc/5jytp and a spread sheet adding the
numbers at http://tiny.cc/9sowf). After the City Council’s recent budget
amendments, much of that structural deficit remains. As mayor, what steps will
you take to eliminate that deficit?
Answer:
 I would balance the budget by cutting expenses. This will take
major structural changes in city employee compensation and
benefits as well as implementing a two-tiered system for new
employees as well as letting some employees go. This will
require convincing the unions that it is in their best interest to do
so.

3. Budgeted expenditures reflect a city’s priorities. When you present

your first budget to the City Council for consideration, what current city functions
will you give the highest priority, and how will your proposed budget reflect that
prioritization? For what city functions will you reduce or eliminate expenditures?
Answer:
 The entire budget is a priority. All departments have to be
properly budgeted. A city is about a good life or its not a city at
all. I will work to see that city government delivers all the
services that it should. It is not a matter of revenues it is a
matter of management and that management has been lacking
for many years.

4. Each of the city’s labor agreements will open during your term as
mayor, which means that wages and benefits will be up for negotiation. As
mayor, what will be your plan for balancing the city’s interests in maximizing
taxpayer services per tax dollar and retaining and attracting skilled and motivated
employees?
Answer:

 I’m confident we will attract good motivated employees at a

price we can afford. The current economy offers us an

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opportunity to correct past mistakes and move forward in a

healthy sustainable way.

Public Safety

5. Under recent adjustments to the 2010-11 budget, 120 police

officers are scheduled to be laid off in January 2011 (in addition to the 80 laid off
in July 2010) if Measure V, W, X and Y do not pass. If you are elected in
November and these measures are not enacted, will these layoffs take place? If
not, what specific budgetary steps will you take to prevent them?
Answer:
 These layoffs have already been voted on by the city council
and will take place if the above measures fail. There are no
steps by the new mayor to prevent them. I will however
immediately begin the process of rebalancing the budget and
rebuilding the force with the ultimate goal being 1050 officers.

6. Several citizens groups have advocated “civilianizing” police

functions that do not require the use of sworn officers, arguing that using civilians
for such functions as police misconduct complaint intake, press relations and
property crime investigations can substantially cut personnel costs and maximize
the availability and effectiveness of sworn officers. Chief Garcon of San
Francisco implemented civilianization in Mesa, Arizona and has begun doing so
in San Francisco. Do you support civilianization, and if so, for what functions?
Answer:
 In some cases I believe it might be appropriate to civilianize
certain tasks. That would require a careful study to determine
which jobs we could be reassign. I’m sure a good policeman will
not want to do a task that are not consistent with their training
and normal responsibility

7. At the end of your first term as mayor, how many sworn police
officers do you believe Oakland should have, and what steps will you take to
accomplish that goal?
Answer:
 My goal would be to have 800 by the end of my first term. As I
mentioned earlier it will take a major restructuring compensation
and benefits to achieve an adequate size force.

8. In recent years, key components of community policing in Oakland

have been the interactions between the Measure Y Neighborhood Beat Officers,
Neighborhood Safety Coordinators, community members and Neighborhood
Crime Prevention Councils. The Neighborhood Beat Officers have now been
eliminated, and the functions of the NSC’s have been consolidated. To what

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extent do you believe community policing is important, and if you believe it is

important, how can it be accomplished in Oakland?
Answer:
 Since I first came here, as a young boy in 1954 the city has
never had a police department sufficient to its size. My first
priority will be to build a department of 1050 officers. With a
force of only 50 to 60% of what is necessary you can’t deploy
neighborhood beat officers or NCS’s. My first and main concern
will be building a 1050 officer force.
Public Works

9. In its April, 2009 performance audit of the Oakland Public Works

department (http://tiny.cc/afihq), Matrix Consulting Group, which conducted the
audit, recommended that:
a. The City should be replacing or rehabilitating an average of 1% to
2% of its sanitary sewer mains each year” at a cost of about $7.5
million; and
b. The City should be spending approximately $30 million annually for
the repair and replacement of the City’s streets (at the time of the
audit, the annual expenditure was $7.2 million).

Matrix also noted that the General Purpose Fund contribution to the Public
Works budget was far less than that of comparable California cities, and made a
series of recommendations (at pages 24-25) for adequate funding of the city’s
public works needs. Which of these recommendations do you support, and how
will Oakland meet its obligations to repair and replace sanitary sewers, streets
and infrastructure if you are mayor?

Answer:
 I’m in complete agreement with this report and have stated so
many times. Personally I think our total one billion dollar budget
is wrongly allocated but that too complicated an issue to discuss
here. The general fund has to be balanced in a way that meets
all of the cities needs. Until we fix the employee compensation
issue the budget cannot be balanced.

Management, Leadership, Accountability and Transparency

10. Oakland is a large and very complex entity with a $1.1+ billion
budget and thousands of employees. Please describe:

a. Your specific experience that qualifies you to oversee an

enterprise of this size and complexity;

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b. Your theory of management, with examples of how you have

applied that theory;
c. Your philosophy of executive leadership, with examples of
when and where you have shown that philosophy.

Answer:
 I’ve had forty years of business experience and during that time
I’ve started operated and sold five businesses. These
businesses were in retail, manufacturing, computers and food
service. None of the other candidates can match my experience
of running businesses. that have to produce a profit let alone a
balanced budget.
 The most important lesson I learned in all that time is that a
leader is only as good as the people he or she gathers around
them. I’ve spent the last eight months searching for a team to
work with. So far I’ve found key members. Each has met three
criteria I’ve set. First that have a proven track record second
they have a strong connection to Oakland and third they share
my vision of the future.

11. The City Administrator is the day-to-day head of city government.

What criteria will you employ and what qualifications will you look for in
appointing the City Administrator?
Answer:
 The city administrator is the most important appointment the
Mayor can make and I’ve been searching for eight months now
and have not made a final decision yet. I have found a city CFO,
IT director, Human Resources director, and Enterprise Zone
director. and a administrative assistant. I’m currently talking to a
candidate about heading up CEDA.
 All these candidates share three qualities, first they have been
highly successful, second they have strong connection with
Oakland and third they share my vision for the future of
Oakland.

12. What will you do as mayor to ensure that your agenda is being
executed?
Answer:
 In the beginning I will meet daily with the administrator and
department heads to make sure my agenda is on track and
goals are being met.

13. What metrics or benchmarks will you establish for your

performance and the performance of City department heads? How will
Oaklanders know whether benchmarks are being met?
Answer:

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 Each department head will prepare a plan outlining major goals

and benchmarks. I along with the city administrator will monitor
those plans and benchmarks. I also intend to encourage close
scrutiny by all citizens and will on a regular basis publicly report
to the city at large.

14. How can Oakland’s television station, its web site and other media
be used to more effectively inform and engage Oaklanders concerning city
government activities and issues?
Answer:
 I believe the TV station could be used in many ways. I would
like to use it to go behind the scenes of city operations to give
citizens a better understanding of what is really going on. This
could include a police ride along or a time in some of the
departments seeing how employees work with the public.
Another idea I like pursue is to televise youth activities like
basket ball games. Last but not least I think the Mayor should
use this medium to regularly talk to the public and I intend to do
so.

 As far as the city website goes, it needs a lot of improvement

and that will be a priority of the IT department.

15. Should the City be taking other steps to more effectively engage
the citizenry in city issues, and if so, what steps?
Answer:
 As the Mayor I intend to spend a great deal of time meeting with
the public. This will include groups like yours and all others that
are interested in improving our city. I plan to also visit schools of
all levels public and private.

Economic Development

16. Many Oakland candidates and office-holders express the opinion

that Oakland city government systemically business-unfriendly. Do you agree or
disagree? If you disagree, explain how the city has established a favorable
climate for business development. If you agree, describe what you see as the
systemic problems and explain how you, as mayor, would fix them.
Answer:
 I’ve visited with many retail business owners and one issue
stands out universally as the most important, PARKING. I can’t
emphasize how devastating the cities parking enforcement
measures have been. The city council has obviously chosen to
make this a major revenue stream at the expense of the citizens
and retail operators. In the process they have done great

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damage to their tax base and trust of the citizens. I’ve been told
of multiple instances were people have gotten a ticket while
going to the kiosk to buy their parking slip.
 Two council members Kaplan and Quan want to eliminate as
many cars downtown as possible and I believe this impractical
and short sighted. Using restrictive policies like excessive
parking fees and fines as well as changing the building code to
reduce parking requirements. What happens in the near future
when we have all electric cars with no place to park? This is an
example of the kind of short sightedness that has led to many of
our current problems.

17. What, if anything, does Oakland have to learn from Emeryville,

Berkeley or other cities about how to effectively use Enterprise Zones and
redevelopment funding to attract and retain businesses? What, if anything, have
other cities done that Oakland will start doing if you are mayor?
Answer:
 If you have followed my campaign at all you know that this is a
major issue to me. The other candidates have barely mentioned the
Enterprise Zone while I have gone to great lengths in the forums to
carefully explain the value of it. This is the most powerful tool the
city has to create jobs. Incredibly the city council has budgeted $0.
dollars to the Enterprise Zone leaving the one employee to pay for
herself by processing $10 dollar vouchers.

Other

18. What, if anything, can Oakland city government learn from other
cities about how to maximize its ability to provide quality services to its citizens in
difficult economic times?
Answer:
 I’ve learned a lot by reading other cities budgets. I’ve learned for
example that Santa Ana found a new process for resurfacing
streets that is much more cost effective. I also learned a great deal
from some long conversations with Vallejo’s Mayor Ozby Davis. He
was very generous with me in spending time discussing his
experience with bankruptcy. I also learned a lot by reading the
Vallejo case court records.

19. The majority of Oaklanders love their city, and believe it has
unparalleled positive elements that are simply not recognized in the rest of the
state and country, including history, diversity, and vibrant activity in its culture,
arts, restaurants, etc. Does the mayor have a role in getting this message out
there, and how should the city send this message?
Answer:

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 I think once we’ve corrected the cities problems the message will
get out on its own but I will be its biggest promoter. We can make
Oakland better than its ever been before. I look forward to a day
when Oakland is a leader in future technologies and crime along
with unemployment is a thing of the past. When that day comes I
want to remember John Kennedy’s words “failure is an orphan
while success has a thousand fathers”. I love this city and it would
be a pleasure and honor to be a part of this change.

Dated: September 10, 2010 By Greg Harland

(Electronic signature – i.e. Name is acceptable)

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