Oakland council may cut meeting access OAKLAND

Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana speaks during a press conference on Thursday June 14, 2012 in Oakland, Calif., announcing the findings from a 121 page outside report commissioned into the handling of the Occupy protest from last year. less Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana speaks during a press conference on Thursday June 14, 2012 in Oakland, Calif., announcing the findings from a 121 page outside report commissioned into the handling ... more Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Photo: Mike Kepka, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Oakland council may cut meeting access 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Oakland City Administrator Deanna Santana is proposing to sharply reduce public access to City Council meetings in an effort to avoid disruptions such as one last week, when demonstrations over a fatal police shooting prompted the council to shut its meeting down.

The most dramatic change would eliminate nearly half the 214 seats in the council's City Hall chambers by prohibiting people from sitting in the upstairs galleries.

Santana's plan would also bar people from standing in the chambers or congregating in the hallway outside. Both have been common practice for years, allowing scores of additional people to attend the council's meetings.

The proposed rules were the subject of two meetings involving Santana and other high-level city staffers over the past week, several sources said. Karen Boyd, a spokeswoman for the city, said Thursday that the changes are still under consideration but would be finalized in time for the next scheduled council meeting, on Tuesday.

Santana was unavailable for comment.

Raucous meeting

The proposals were prompted by a raucous council meeting Sept. 18 in which supporters of the family of Alan Blueford, a Skyline High School student shot to death by police in May after he allegedly pointed a gun at an officer, dominated proceedings and shouted down the council's efforts to consider items on the agenda.

Council President Larry Reid finally gave up and adjourned the meeting early, the first time in memory that had happened.

Santana's proposals come as Occupy Oakland activists prepare to mark the first anniversary of their October 2011 takeover of the plaza in front of City Hall. Occupy activists have become a frequent presence at council meetings, and some were among the Blueford family's supporters during the session that Reid cut short.

Overflow rooms

Under Santana's plan, people would be directed to overflow rooms with video feeds on the first floor of City Hall once the third-floor council chambers were filled to their new, 116-seat capacity, according to four people who were at Santana's meetings. They revealed details of the plan on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak for the city administrator.

Only the main doors to City Hall, facing Frank Ogawa Plaza, would remain open before and during the council meeting. Disabled access, however, would still be allowed through side doors on 14th Street.

Audio for the feed to the city's public access cable-television station would be cut during recesses. The crowd during the Sept. 18 session grew more boisterous during a recess that Reid called in an attempt to calm the proceedings. Sources at Santana's meeting said the purpose of cutting the audio appeared to be limiting the perception that the council didn't have control of its meetings.

Safety concerns

Reid said the main reason for limiting the size of the crowd was public safety, particularly when Occupy Oakland and other activist groups pack the galleries.

"It's a potential danger to the staff and council members below the balcony," Reid said. "It makes no sense to be sitting there trying to do your job and you're worried that somebody up in the balcony may throw something down at you."

Reid, however, said he didn't remember any instance of someone throwing an object from the balcony.

"I don't see any issue with closing off the balcony as long as we allow people to participate in the public process," he said.

Peter Scheer, executive director of the First Amendment Coalition, said Santana's plan didn't necessarily violate the Brown Act, the state law that requires most public business to be conducted in open meetings.

Safety is a valid concern, he said.

However, "If the real reason for curtailing space for members of the public is to exclude from the meeting people who disagree with the council, that would be an act of censorship and unlawful," Scheer said.

Adam Blueford, father of the slain 18-year-old, said his family had come to the council meeting to get answers they weren't getting from police. Public meetings are vital, he said.

"Anything restricting the public forum would not be helpful for our community," he said. "We're not there as a family to shut down any of the city business. We're just a grieving family."

Uneven enforcement

Oakland's council meetings have become increasingly boisterous over the past two years, the period that Reid has presided over the sessions.

He has been known for an arbitrary system of applying rules. Speakers frequently talk beyond their allotted time. Others speak without filling out speaker cards. Those who disrupt meetings are rarely escorted out.

Powers exist

All those powers are already in Reid's hands.

"I need to do a better job of doing that," he said. "We've got to adhere to our own policies. It's my intention to do just that. I'm not going to make any exceptions."

Scheer said it's vital that rules are applied consistently.

"Nothing justifies people using their voices to shut down democratic deliberations, if that's what they're trying to do," he said. "On the other hand, those in charge of the meeting need to be consistent and evenhanded and competent in their application of the neutral rules that already exist."