July 2014 Vol. 14, Issue 7
Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker 
News from the Oakland City Attorney's Office
In This Issue:
Oakland reaches agreement with EPA to protect public health and SF Bay
Illegal Dumping Enforcement Update
City Attorney in the Community
Major Cases & Legal Matters
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In our monthly newsletter, we provide important information about the work of the Oakland City Attorney's Office -- plus updates on legal issues and matters that impact Oakland residents and businesses. 

 

This month: Oakland and other agencies reach agreement with EPA to protect public health and the environment; update on illegal dumping enforcement actions; amending the City's Nuisance Eviction law to protect tenants from illegal ammunition and prostitution; and as always, the City Attorney in the Community.

 

As always, I look forward to your comments, thoughts and questions about how we are conducting the City's business.

 

Very truly yours,

 

Barbara J. Parker

Oakland City Attorney

Oakland and other East Bay agencies reach clean water deal to protect public health and SF Bay

 

The City of Oakland, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), and six other East Bay agencies have reached an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that will significantly update aging sewer infrastructure and protect the San Francisco Bay from sewage spills.

 

The agreement in the form of a consent decree with the EPA resolves a lawsuit the EPA and the California State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) filed in 2009 to prevent sewage spills into the Bay and overflows throughout the East Bay region. Oakland and all of the other parties worked cooperatively to reach agreement to make repairs to aging sewer pipes that will protect creeks, parks, shorelines and public health in the East Bay.

 

The parties to the agreement with the EPA include Oakland, EBMUD, the Stege Sanitary District, and the cities of Albany, Alameda, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Piedmont.

 

During periods of heavy rainfall, flows often exceed the capacity of EBMUD's sewage treatment plant, discharging partially treated sewage into the Bay. During normal operations, thousands of miles of aging sewage pipes in Oakland and other cities also clog due to grease, roots and other obstructions, resulting in local overflows of raw sewage. Some of these pipes are more than a century old.

 

Although the vehicle for these negotiations was a lawsuit, all parties worked cooperatively to reach our common goal of providing greater protections for the health and welfare of our environment and the citizens of the East Bay. This agreement, negotiated by the City Attorney's legal team and the Oakland Public Works Agency, does not simply increase the rate of repairs to our sewer infrastructure. It also creates jobs, makes Oakland a greener community and helps to secure environmental justice for East Bay residents and future generations.

 

Under the terms of the deal, Oakland will spend up to an additional $13 million each year on sewer infrastructure above the $52 million we are spending annually now. The agreement also includes payment of a one-time civil penalty of $850,000 to the EPA.

 

Making this significant investment now will reduce the financial and environmental costs that otherwise would be far greater in the long run.

 

For more information and a copy of the Consent Decree, go to:

www2.oaklandnet.com/Government/o/PWA/s/Sewer/ConsentDecree

 

Illegal Dumping Enforcement Update

This month, the City secured the largest payment to date in our ongoing campaign to enforce illegal dumping laws in Oakland.

 

The City cited a dentist's office in downtown Oakland after a resident found trash and medical waste from the business dumped on the street in West Oakland. 

 

The business paid the full fine of $4,822.

 

Illegal dumping enforcement continues to be a top priority for my Office. The City Attorney's Neighborhood Law Corps is using photos and other evidence from the public to build cases against illegal dumpers, and the City is issuing major fines.

 

Results so far: 

  • Total number of citations: 74
  • Total number of warning letters issued: 77
  • Total amount collected in fines: $21,773.50

To report incidents of illegal dumping, go to:

 

Public Works on line service request page, or

 

SeeClickFix: http://www.seeclickfix.com/oakland.

  

Photos of the license plate numbers of vehicles used for illegal dumping are ideal. If a photo is not available, write down the license plate number, and please avoid confrontation when documenting illegal dumping incidents.  

 

City Attorney in the Community 

 

Honoring Dr. Gary Yee 

  OUSD Superintendent Gary Yee

On July 1, I attended a reception honoring Dr. Gary Yee, who recently retired as Acting Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District after dedicating his career to serving Oakland students.

 

Dr. Yee graduated from Castlemont High School and worked in Oakland as a classroom teacher, principal, school board member, college administrator and for the last year as Acting Superintendent. I have admired and greatly appreciate his thoughtful, enthusiastic and committed service to Oakland.

 

Updates on Legal Cases & Matters

  

Amending the City's Nuisance Eviction Law to Protect Tenants from Illegal Ammunition, Prostitution and Gambling

  

This month, I asked the City Council's Rules and Legislation Committee to schedule consideration of amendments to the City's Nuisance Eviction Ordinance that my Office has crafted to enhance tenants' protections against illegal weapons-related activity involving firearms, prostitution and illegal gambling.

  

The changes to the law will expand the illegal activities that the City can use as a basis to evict tenants from residential and commercial properties when they are endangering their neighbors or creating a public nuisance.

 

The current Nuisance Eviction Ordinance allows evictions when a tenant is involved in violence, drugs or illegal weapons-related activity involving firearms. The amendments we are bringing to the City Council will add illegal possession of ammunition, prostitution activity and illegal gambling as causes that landlords or the City can use to evict nuisance tenants.

 

The Nuisance Eviction Ordinance amendments will require that landlords bring an eviction action against tenants who illegally possess ammunition or engage in illegal gambling, prostitution, pimping, pandering or solicitation activities connected to the rental property.

 

These changes will help the City's efforts to stop prostitution and human trafficking of minors, which are at a crisis level in Oakland other communities in California. The Nuisance Eviction Ordinance is an important tool that the City can use to discourage the use of apartments or other rental properties for these crimes. 

 

The City may cite a landlord for maintaining a nuisance if the landlord fails to bring an eviction action after the City informs the landlord that the tenant is engaging in illegal activity and endangering the other tenants in the building. However, some landlords may have genuine concerns about retaliation by evicted tenants.  Landlords who have concerns for their safety or the safety of other tenants may assign the eviction cause of action to the City.

 

The Council is scheduled to consider our amendments on September 16 - the first Public Safety Committee meeting after the City Council returns from its summer break.


 

Appeals Court Upholds Judgment in City's Favor Dismissing Police Officer's Religious Discrimination Lawsuit

 

On July 28, the California Court of Appeal upheld the Alameda County Superior Court's decision granting the City's summary judgment motion in the case Longmire v. City of Oakland.

 

An Oakland Police sergeant filed a lawsuit against the City after he was suspended for eight days in connection with allegations that he performed insufficient investigations in ten cases. Plaintiff claimed he was discriminated against because his superiors believed he was a Black Muslim and because of his association with the former Your Black Muslim Bakery. Plaintiff had served as lead investigator in the murder of Oakland journalist Chauncey Bailey, who was killed by members of the Bakery in 2007.

 

The Superior Court dismissed the lawsuit after the City filed a summary judgment motion. In a unanimous decision, the Appeals Court affirmed the judgment because the plaintiff "could not substantiate his claims with evidence (1) of the decision makers' perception of him as a Black Muslim, (2) that an adverse employment action was taken against him with respect to the Bailey investigation or (3) that the City's nondiscriminatory explanations were pretextual."

 

"None of his evidence could lead a reasonable factfinder to conclude the discipline was based on religious discrimination," the justices wrote.

 

The Court's full decision can be found at:

http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/nonpub/A137344.PDF