Controversial jobs proposal from Oakland’s Desley Brooks fails to pass

A controversial job-training proposal from Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks narrowly failed to pass Tuesday at a council meeting. A controversial job-training proposal from Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks narrowly failed to pass Tuesday at a council meeting. Photo: Paul Kuroda / Special To The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Paul Kuroda / Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Controversial jobs proposal from Oakland’s Desley Brooks fails to pass 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A budget proposal from Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks that for months drew contentious debate and legal concerns failed to pass Tuesday night.

The proposed ordinance would have given a percentage of various public funds to private job-training organizations. Brooks said the money was needed to help the struggling groups and to fix racial inequities in Oakland’s workforce, particularly in construction and related trades.

Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker said the ordinance would have run afoul of state and federal law. Her office drafted a revised version of the proposal, striking out and rewriting nearly every clause, so that it would be legal, she said. Whereas the original proposal would have given funds directly to several organizations named by Brooks, for example, Parker’s version sought to include a competitive-bidding process.

City Administrator Sabrina Landreth, meanwhile, urged the City Council on Tuesday to “take no action ... until further analysis is undertaken.”

Brooks rewrote parts of Parker’s revision Tuesday and feuded with Doryanna Moreno, the chief assistant city attorney, over federal statutes. Brooks’ latest version narrowly failed to pass.

Council members Brooks, Noel Gallo and Rebecca Kaplan voted in favor of it; Annie Campbell Washington and Abel Guillen voted against it; Lynette Gibson McElhaney abstained; and Larry Reid and Dan Kalb were absent.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov