The Oakland City Council meets on the first, third and fifth Tuesdays of the month in Council Chambers on the 3rd floor of City Hall.
The public is free to attend all City Council meetings.
You can also watch meetings live online or on Oakland’s Public Access channel, KTOP.
For more info, check out the City Councilofficial site.
These are the rules of procedure for city council meetings.
Committees
The City Council holds the following Committee Meetings the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month on the first floor of City Hall, except when moved or rescheduled. To confirm meeting times, contact the City Clerk.
| Finance and Management | 9:30 am – 11:30 am |
| Public Works | 11:30 am – 1:30 pm |
| Community & Economic Development | 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm |
| Life Enrichment/Education Partnership | 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm |
| Public Safety | 6:00 pm – until convened |
| Rules and Legislation | Thursdays at 10:45 am |
City Council Meetings as Platform for Civic Engagement
City Council meetings provide a huge opportunity for citizens to get involved in Oakland’s future. The meetings are open to the public and people can make public comments. Sometimes public pressure does make a difference. For example, the budget process was changed substantially to make it more transparent for the 2013-2015 budget cycle. The Domain Awareness Center was pushed off of the consent calendar after citizens became aware of it and forced city council to realize that it was not “non-controversial.” The “tools of violence ordinance” was dropped once in 2012 after citizens fought back about its constitutionality.
These are just a few recent examples.
Attending, speaking at, following and livetweeting the meetings are just a few of the ways that people can be engaged. There are also lots of fun things you can do while watching City Council Meetings. Add more ways to participate here!
PS
City Council meetings are streamed and archived. BUT you will not be able to download them from that site. Here's how to download them!
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