On July 25th, 2013, the City Council held a meeting to consider censuring City Council Member Desley Brooks for her alleged actions regarding the Rainbow Teen Center and reported in the Grand Jury Report and the Ruby Report. The resolution was submitted by Council President Pat Kernighan. Desley Brooks responded with a 35 page supplemental report.
The meeting was long and pretty ugly. In the end, the council voted to admonish themselves (with the exception of the 3 new councilmembers) and to set up a new committee to establish a procedure for the future. They wanted to censure themselves by that would have required public noticing of the act and the city attorney told them they could not waive their notice.
Storify of the (horrible) evening.
Resolution for censure: View Report (15).pdf
Supplemental report: View Supplemental Report (10).pdf
A snippet of the councilmembers shouting over each other
In the News
- Abraham, Zennie. "Oakland’s CM Pat Kernighan Ignores Info Exonerating Desley Brooks." Zennie62.com: July 24, 2013.
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"Oakland Tribune editorial: Oakland council should censure Desley Brooks for overstepping authority." Oakland Tribune: July 18, 2013.
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Artz, Matthew. "Oakland Councilwoman Desley Brooks may face censure vote." Oakland Tribune: July 11, 2013.
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Tavares, Steven. "Censure Is In The Air: Oakland City Council Looks Into Rebuking Brooks For Alleged Misconduct." EBCitizen.com: July 11, 2013.
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Gammon, Robert. "The Case for Censure." East Bay Express: Mar 27, 2013.
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Kwamilele, Tasion. "City Council Votes Not to Censure Councilwoman Brooks." Oakland North: July 26, 2013.
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Jones, Carolyn. "Oakland council votes not to censure Brooks." SFGate.com: July 26, 2013.
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Tavares, Steven. "Brooks Escapes Censure; Council Admonishes Itself For Past Interference." EBCitizen.com: July 26, 2013.
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"'Council Members Favoring Censure Are a “Bunch of Hypocrites,' Says de la Fuente." The Post Newspaper Group: July 25, 2013.
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Tavares, Steven. "2013 Year In Lists: Desley Brooks's Top 5 Stages of Grief Over Ethics Allegations." EBCitizen.com: Dec 30, 2013.
