The Oakland City Attorney Office: Law in Service of the Public Part II

Part of the Get to Know Your Local Community Organization Series

This is part II of our spotlight on the Oakland City Attorney’s Office. Check out Part I here.

Advisory Division
The Advisory Division provides legal services that address the full spectrum of municipal affairs, including: drafting legislation and contracts, and providing advice on housing and economic development projects, labor and employment matters, land use, negotiating real estate transactions, and providing advice regarding finance, municipal bonds, retirement, benefits, elections, tax, constitutional law, ethics and conflicts of interest.
 
A small snapshot of the broad range of activities undertaken by the Advisory Division in recent months are:

• Advise the City’s Tax Administrator regarding enforcement and interpretation of Oakland’s tax ordinances, including the business tax, parking tax, transient occupancy tax, real property transfer tax, and utility users’ tax.
• Advise the City Administrator and various City departments regarding the use of monies including grants proceeds, tax-exempt bond proceeds, special tax revenues, and other restricted funds.
• Staff and provided legal advice to the City Council’s Life Enrichment Committee, Education Partnership Committee, Finance Committee, and Public Works Committee.
• Provide advice and legal opinions to staff and officials on a variety of public ethics issues, including conflicts of interest, gifts, mass mailings, incompatible activities, and post-employment activities.
• Draft a management agreement between the City and the East Bay Zoological Society for management of the Oakland Zoo.
• Review contracts, grant agreements, resolutions and staff reports for the Oakland Public Library to provide Oakland residents’ greater access to library services and other youth programs.
• Negotiate a consent decree and settled litigation against the City by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California State/Regional Water Board and environmental groups involving Oakland’s aging sewer collection system, and provided on-going advice with respect to implementation and compliance with the consent decree.
• Advise the City Council with respect to illegal dumping matters, including review of existing maintenance agreements and Caltrans/City Letter of Understanding.

Originally published in the ACBA Trial Practice Section’s Summer 2017 Newsletter, this article was written by James Treggiari, Executive Director of the Legal Assistance for Seniors, located in Oakland. Read Part I here and keep an eye out for Part III in this series coming soon.