Oakland Voters Weigh Measure EE Strong-Mayor Charter Overhaul

Oakland voters will decide on Tuesday, Nov. 3, whether to approve Measure EE, a sweeping city charter amendment introduced by Mayor Barbara Lee and City Council President Kevin Jenkins that would shift Oakland from its current hybrid council-manager structure to a strong-mayor government, according to Oakland North.

Following recommendations issued in January by a charter reform task force convened by Lee, the City Council voted to place Measure EE before voters to clarify executive accountability at City Hall.

Five Core Changes Under Measure EE

Under Oakland’s existing charter, the city administrator oversees daily operations across police, fire, parks, and public works, while the mayor cannot veto legislation and only votes to break council ties. Measure EE would enact five structural changes:

1. Direct Mayoral Management of Departments: Reduces the city administrator’s authority so the mayor directly manages most city departments, while the City Council oversees the administration via hearings and subpoena power.
2. Council Confirmation of Key Directors: Grants the City Council new authority to confirm nominees for directors of human resources, finance, and infrastructure departments.
3. Independent Legislative Analyst: Establishes an independent legislative analyst to provide the City Council with its own fiscal and legal analysis of the mayor’s proposed budget and legislation.
4. Mayoral and Line-Item Veto Power: Grants the mayor veto power over most council legislation and line-item veto power over budget modifications (requiring six council votes to override, while removing the mayor’s tie-breaking council vote).
5. Full-Time Council Pay: Designates City Council members as full-time officials with salaries set by the Public Ethics Commission. The city auditor estimated first-year salary and benefit increases of $36,000 to $108,000 per councilmember, or roughly $288,000 to $867,000 council-wide.

Arguments From League of Women Voters and Former Officials

Gail Wallace, chair of the Oakland League of Women Voters Action Committee, told Oakland North that the League supports Measure EE because “the strong-mayor system establishes the condition for effective leadership.” Conversely, UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy lecturer and former Oakland interim city administrator Steven Falk warned that strong-mayor systems carry a higher risk of corruption and could weaken council oversight, while Oakland voter Ennis Jones said the mayor’s current powers are already adequate.