5 21-0575 Subject: Informational Report On The MACRO Program Implementation
From: Vice Mayor Kaplan
Recommendation: Receive An Informational Report From The City Administrator And The Oakland Fire Department On The Progress Of The Implementation Of The Mobile Assistance Community Responders Of Oakland (MACRO) Program.
My name is Sara Melish, and I am a D4 resident joining my voice with the demand that the City of Oakland develop MACRO with a commitment to community accountability and expertise, 24/7 access and a living wage for workers.
In order to effectively meet the needs of ALL Oaklanders, MACRO must be available 24/7 so all Oakland residents can receive the assistance they need when facing a nonviolent emergency or mental health crisis.
The purpose of the MACRO recommendations is to reimagine our response to nonviolent emergencies such as mental health crises and other human experiences of Oakland residents that don't require a badge and a gun — NOT to recycle a broken system.
This will require the ACCOUNTABLE development and implementation of MACRO. It is not enough to just change the personnel. We must completely transform the way we both think about AND respond to the needs of Oakland residents facing non violent emergencies— especially for communities of color. MACRO needs to be implemented with the input of grassroots organizations already doing the work.
Black, brown and Indigenous members of the Oakland community have experienced disproportionate harm due to our City’s insufficient response to nonviolent emergencies and mental health crises. The correct and accountable implementation of MACRO is an important step in providing the people of Oakland with a truly transformational and trusted service.
Lay the foundation to make MACRO successful and sustainable!
Nell Scott D4, writing in to deeply support MACRO moving forward, without impeding actions by City Administration, and with thoughtful care so systems of harm are not reproduced. As a former healthcare worker of 3 decades, I can attest to the harms of the medical industrial complex. The way forward is to Listen to the People - a Community Advisory Board is completely the right thing to do, listening to what the most impacted people need and being informed by people already doing this work.
MACRO needs community oversight and we need MACRO, so we're calling on Council to defend your vote against attacks.
A Community Advisory Board that will partner with the Oakland Fire Department and community organizations like APTP (MH1), Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, and Urban Peace Movement to properly develop, vet and hold the program accountable.
Big thanks to CM Fife for her leadership and Council President Fortunato-Bas Vice Mayor Kaplan for supporting. We're calling on the full City Council to support their efforts.
Black, brown and Indigenous members of the Oakland community have experienced disproportionate harm due to our City’s insufficient response to nonviolent emergencies and mental health crises. The correct and accountable implementation of MACRO is an important step in providing the people of Oakland with a truly transformational and trusted service. Thank You.
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald, here, a resident in District 3--ably served by the outstanding work and presence of
Council Person, Carroll Fife. I'm writing to alert the entire Council that engaging in any actions that obstruct the reimagining public safety process is unacceptable. This City is at a turning point. Either we reimagine what Public Safety looks like, or we will continue to violently and needlessly lose lives, and obstruct the possibility of a future that is safe for all citizens. I stand with multiple accountable organizations in demanding that MACRO: (1) Include a community advisory committee, (2) Be available 24/7, (3) Pay workers a living wage, and (4) Work with existing grassroots organizations already doing the work.
The climate, economic, political, social/cultural circumstances we face, now and into a long a difficult future, demand that we rebuild our City in ways that will serve us all, keep us safe, and generate the kind of moral grounding people need to thrive.
My name is Gabriel Alvarez and I am a resident of Oakland's District 3. I am writing in solidarity with the Anti Police Terror Project and their demand that the city develop MACRO with a commitment to community accountability and expertise, 24/7 access and a living wage for workers.
The purpose of the MACRO recommendations is to reimagine our response to nonviolent emergencies such as mental health crises and other human experiences of Oakland residents that don't require a badge and a gun — NOT to recycle a broken system. So, MACRO needs community oversight, and it needs to draw on the years of community outreach that have identified real, proven solutions -- not additional layers of bureaucracy. The administration cannot obstruct the people’s voice in MACRO.
Black, brown and Indigenous members of the Oakland community have experienced disproportionate harm due to our City’s insufficient response to nonviolent emergencies and mental health crises. These community members most impacted by decades of police terrorism must be centered in the development of MACRO, and the correct and accountable implementation of MACRO is an important step in providing the people of Oakland with a truly transformational and trusted service.
My name is Cynthia Morfin,and I am an organizer with the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, an economic and racial justice organization. We stand by the original MACRO proposal and we believe in reimagining public safety.
It is not enough to demand MACRO NOW—We demand that the City of Oakland develop MACRO with a commitment to community accountability and expertise, 24/7 access and a living wage for workers.
We demand that MACRO: (1) Include a community advisory committee, (2) Be available 24/7, (3) Pay workers a living wage, and (4) Work with existing grassroots organizations already doing related work.
Oakland is one step closer to reimagining our response to nonviolent emergencies & mental health crises via MACRO. But only if the City gets it right. Let's make sure they do!
The city's MACRO report to Public Safety is deeply problematic.
MACRO emerged from the community 2 years ago - based on a tested model pioneered by CAHOOTS. Faith In Action East Bay, Coalition for Police Accountability and the Police Commission brought CAOOTS team members to Oakland to meet with community members & city officials. City A stakeholders' table was brought together with extensive outreach.
The city's version of MACRO departs from the model that has been developed with community engagement and a full year of research & discussions among stakeholders. We want innovation, not more layers of bureaucracy, and non-essential employment barriers that reflect failures of the past & no recognition that a model tested for 30 years that we can adapt to Oakland.
The city is sabotaging MACRO, inflating the budget with additional costs and responsibilities that will make it unsustainable. It also ignores the need for pilot to operate 24/7 to test the model. And we need continuing community engagement.
Just adding a community advisory is meaningless if the City's plan ignores the community engagement that has taken place. Public Safety Committee should:
Reject the city’s report.
Hold well-publicized public meetings, focused on the neighborhoods most in need of alternative 911 responders, to determine next steps.
Follow Urban Strategies well-researched report & community engagement - the City Administrator is adding non-essential costs and hiring barriers.
The city's "Living Wage" ordinance requires contractor pay around $15/hour. MACRO responders will have a challenging, stressful, complex job as deserve a first-responder salary of at least $70k. The community has supported that demand for over two years. Please, Councilmembers, don't hide behind "Living Wage" when that means MACRO responders can't afford to live in Oakland and condemns MACRO to high-turnover. The city's proposal is to add lots of unnecessary, high-paid jobs to weigh MACRO down. The only ones they don't propose paying well are the actual responders. Please support $70k salaries and stop bloating the MACRO budget so it fails.
Oakland Frontline Healers requests that the City Council not accept the report or forward it to the full City Council as written. 2. Oakland Frontline Healers recommends that the City Council convene a town hall with MACRO as the single issue and include CAHOOTS, the City Administrator, OFD staff, and Urban Strategies Council. You may also wish to include Jeweled Legacy. This should be a virtual event open to the public and widely advertised and it should occur by the end of September. The outcome of this town hall should inform a revision of the September 1 OFD report which should come back to the Public Safety Committee by October 15. 3. In advance of the town hall, Oakland Frontline Healers' request the city administrator provide the documents and research underlying the proposed model changes and implementation decisions. In short, we oppose the MACRO plan in its present form.
As a mental health provider and D3 resident, I strongly support MACRO.
We demand that the City of Oakland develop MACRO now with a commitment to community accountability and expertise, 24/7 access and a living wage for workers.
In order to effectively meet the needs of ALL Oaklanders, MACRO must be available 24/7 so all Oakland residents can receive the assistance they need when facing a nonviolent emergency or mental health crisis.
The purpose of the MACRO recommendations is to reimagine our response to nonviolent emergencies such as mental health crises and other human experiences of Oakland residents that don't require a badge and a gun.
This will require the ACCOUNTABLE development and implementation of MACRO. It is not enough to just change the personnel. We must completely transform the way we both think about AND respond to the needs of Oakland residents facing non violent emergencies— especially for communities of color.
MACRO needs community oversight to ensures this program works in an effective, transparent and transformational way that centers the expertise of the people of Oakland.
Black, brown and Indigenous members of the Oakland community have experienced disproportionate harm due to our City’s insufficient response to nonviolent emergencies and mental health crises. The correct and accountable implementation of MACRO is an important step in providing the people of Oakland with a truly transformational and trusted service.
MACRO is a program that Oaklanders have strongly supported from the beginning. As an Oakland resident I demand that MACRO: (1) Include a community advisory committee, (2) Respond to calls and provide services around the clock 24/7, (3) Pay staff a living wage, and (4) Work with existing community organizations already doing the work. I disagree with Administrator Resikin's assessment that a community advisory committee for MACRO would be at issue with the city charter. There are dozens of advisory committees & commissions that work with the City, including arts commissions, the Oakland Police Commission, etc. To deny the inclusion of a community advisory committee for MACRO, a program that the community has demanded, is disingenuous, and calls me to question the (political?) motivations of Administrator Reiskin's analysis.
It is important that the Oakland City Council continue to support the implementation of the MACRO program, and provide the necessary funding to insure the success of MACRO, and its fulfillment of its mission.
My name is Sara Melish, and I am a D4 resident joining my voice with the demand that the City of Oakland develop MACRO with a commitment to community accountability and expertise, 24/7 access and a living wage for workers.
In order to effectively meet the needs of ALL Oaklanders, MACRO must be available 24/7 so all Oakland residents can receive the assistance they need when facing a nonviolent emergency or mental health crisis.
The purpose of the MACRO recommendations is to reimagine our response to nonviolent emergencies such as mental health crises and other human experiences of Oakland residents that don't require a badge and a gun — NOT to recycle a broken system.
This will require the ACCOUNTABLE development and implementation of MACRO. It is not enough to just change the personnel. We must completely transform the way we both think about AND respond to the needs of Oakland residents facing non violent emergencies— especially for communities of color. MACRO needs to be implemented with the input of grassroots organizations already doing the work.
Black, brown and Indigenous members of the Oakland community have experienced disproportionate harm due to our City’s insufficient response to nonviolent emergencies and mental health crises. The correct and accountable implementation of MACRO is an important step in providing the people of Oakland with a truly transformational and trusted service.
Lay the foundation to make MACRO successful and sustainable!
Nell Scott D4, writing in to deeply support MACRO moving forward, without impeding actions by City Administration, and with thoughtful care so systems of harm are not reproduced. As a former healthcare worker of 3 decades, I can attest to the harms of the medical industrial complex. The way forward is to Listen to the People - a Community Advisory Board is completely the right thing to do, listening to what the most impacted people need and being informed by people already doing this work.
MACRO needs community oversight and we need MACRO, so we're calling on Council to defend your vote against attacks.
A Community Advisory Board that will partner with the Oakland Fire Department and community organizations like APTP (MH1), Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, and Urban Peace Movement to properly develop, vet and hold the program accountable.
Big thanks to CM Fife for her leadership and Council President Fortunato-Bas Vice Mayor Kaplan for supporting. We're calling on the full City Council to support their efforts.
Black, brown and Indigenous members of the Oakland community have experienced disproportionate harm due to our City’s insufficient response to nonviolent emergencies and mental health crises. The correct and accountable implementation of MACRO is an important step in providing the people of Oakland with a truly transformational and trusted service. Thank You.
Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald, here, a resident in District 3--ably served by the outstanding work and presence of
Council Person, Carroll Fife. I'm writing to alert the entire Council that engaging in any actions that obstruct the reimagining public safety process is unacceptable. This City is at a turning point. Either we reimagine what Public Safety looks like, or we will continue to violently and needlessly lose lives, and obstruct the possibility of a future that is safe for all citizens. I stand with multiple accountable organizations in demanding that MACRO: (1) Include a community advisory committee, (2) Be available 24/7, (3) Pay workers a living wage, and (4) Work with existing grassroots organizations already doing the work.
The climate, economic, political, social/cultural circumstances we face, now and into a long a difficult future, demand that we rebuild our City in ways that will serve us all, keep us safe, and generate the kind of moral grounding people need to thrive.
My name is Gabriel Alvarez and I am a resident of Oakland's District 3. I am writing in solidarity with the Anti Police Terror Project and their demand that the city develop MACRO with a commitment to community accountability and expertise, 24/7 access and a living wage for workers.
The purpose of the MACRO recommendations is to reimagine our response to nonviolent emergencies such as mental health crises and other human experiences of Oakland residents that don't require a badge and a gun — NOT to recycle a broken system. So, MACRO needs community oversight, and it needs to draw on the years of community outreach that have identified real, proven solutions -- not additional layers of bureaucracy. The administration cannot obstruct the people’s voice in MACRO.
Black, brown and Indigenous members of the Oakland community have experienced disproportionate harm due to our City’s insufficient response to nonviolent emergencies and mental health crises. These community members most impacted by decades of police terrorism must be centered in the development of MACRO, and the correct and accountable implementation of MACRO is an important step in providing the people of Oakland with a truly transformational and trusted service.
My name is Cynthia Morfin,and I am an organizer with the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, an economic and racial justice organization. We stand by the original MACRO proposal and we believe in reimagining public safety.
It is not enough to demand MACRO NOW—We demand that the City of Oakland develop MACRO with a commitment to community accountability and expertise, 24/7 access and a living wage for workers.
We demand that MACRO: (1) Include a community advisory committee, (2) Be available 24/7, (3) Pay workers a living wage, and (4) Work with existing grassroots organizations already doing related work.
Oakland is one step closer to reimagining our response to nonviolent emergencies & mental health crises via MACRO. But only if the City gets it right. Let's make sure they do!
The city's MACRO report to Public Safety is deeply problematic.
MACRO emerged from the community 2 years ago - based on a tested model pioneered by CAHOOTS. Faith In Action East Bay, Coalition for Police Accountability and the Police Commission brought CAOOTS team members to Oakland to meet with community members & city officials. City A stakeholders' table was brought together with extensive outreach.
The city's version of MACRO departs from the model that has been developed with community engagement and a full year of research & discussions among stakeholders. We want innovation, not more layers of bureaucracy, and non-essential employment barriers that reflect failures of the past & no recognition that a model tested for 30 years that we can adapt to Oakland.
The city is sabotaging MACRO, inflating the budget with additional costs and responsibilities that will make it unsustainable. It also ignores the need for pilot to operate 24/7 to test the model. And we need continuing community engagement.
Just adding a community advisory is meaningless if the City's plan ignores the community engagement that has taken place. Public Safety Committee should:
Reject the city’s report.
Hold well-publicized public meetings, focused on the neighborhoods most in need of alternative 911 responders, to determine next steps.
Follow Urban Strategies well-researched report & community engagement - the City Administrator is adding non-essential costs and hiring barriers.
The city's "Living Wage" ordinance requires contractor pay around $15/hour. MACRO responders will have a challenging, stressful, complex job as deserve a first-responder salary of at least $70k. The community has supported that demand for over two years. Please, Councilmembers, don't hide behind "Living Wage" when that means MACRO responders can't afford to live in Oakland and condemns MACRO to high-turnover. The city's proposal is to add lots of unnecessary, high-paid jobs to weigh MACRO down. The only ones they don't propose paying well are the actual responders. Please support $70k salaries and stop bloating the MACRO budget so it fails.
Oakland Frontline Healers requests that the City Council not accept the report or forward it to the full City Council as written. 2. Oakland Frontline Healers recommends that the City Council convene a town hall with MACRO as the single issue and include CAHOOTS, the City Administrator, OFD staff, and Urban Strategies Council. You may also wish to include Jeweled Legacy. This should be a virtual event open to the public and widely advertised and it should occur by the end of September. The outcome of this town hall should inform a revision of the September 1 OFD report which should come back to the Public Safety Committee by October 15. 3. In advance of the town hall, Oakland Frontline Healers' request the city administrator provide the documents and research underlying the proposed model changes and implementation decisions. In short, we oppose the MACRO plan in its present form.
As a mental health provider and D3 resident, I strongly support MACRO.
We demand that the City of Oakland develop MACRO now with a commitment to community accountability and expertise, 24/7 access and a living wage for workers.
In order to effectively meet the needs of ALL Oaklanders, MACRO must be available 24/7 so all Oakland residents can receive the assistance they need when facing a nonviolent emergency or mental health crisis.
The purpose of the MACRO recommendations is to reimagine our response to nonviolent emergencies such as mental health crises and other human experiences of Oakland residents that don't require a badge and a gun.
This will require the ACCOUNTABLE development and implementation of MACRO. It is not enough to just change the personnel. We must completely transform the way we both think about AND respond to the needs of Oakland residents facing non violent emergencies— especially for communities of color.
MACRO needs community oversight to ensures this program works in an effective, transparent and transformational way that centers the expertise of the people of Oakland.
Black, brown and Indigenous members of the Oakland community have experienced disproportionate harm due to our City’s insufficient response to nonviolent emergencies and mental health crises. The correct and accountable implementation of MACRO is an important step in providing the people of Oakland with a truly transformational and trusted service.
MACRO is a program that Oaklanders have strongly supported from the beginning. As an Oakland resident I demand that MACRO: (1) Include a community advisory committee, (2) Respond to calls and provide services around the clock 24/7, (3) Pay staff a living wage, and (4) Work with existing community organizations already doing the work. I disagree with Administrator Resikin's assessment that a community advisory committee for MACRO would be at issue with the city charter. There are dozens of advisory committees & commissions that work with the City, including arts commissions, the Oakland Police Commission, etc. To deny the inclusion of a community advisory committee for MACRO, a program that the community has demanded, is disingenuous, and calls me to question the (political?) motivations of Administrator Reiskin's analysis.
It is important that the Oakland City Council continue to support the implementation of the MACRO program, and provide the necessary funding to insure the success of MACRO, and its fulfillment of its mission.
I am a volunteer with Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America, and support the continued efforts to fund and implement MACRO in Oakland.