Oakland's Oak to Ninth Development Project Referendum Blocked

John Russo, the Oakland City Attorney, has advised the Oakland City Clerk that a referendum to block the City's largest mixed-use housing development in decades should be invalidated because referendum proponents failed to comply with the requirements of the California Elections Code when they did not present the correct version of the ordinance, the subject of the referendum, to voters. Earlier this year the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 12760, approving the 3,100-unit Oak to Ninth project. In August, referendum proponents submitted over 25,000 signatures seeking to either have the City Council overturn its approval of the project or put the Oak to Ninth project before voters. When collecting signatures, referendum proponents failed to include the ordinance, as adopted by the City Council, and all incorporated exhibits. A failure to do so is a potential violation of the Elections Code. The City Attorney has directed the City Clerk not to certify to the City Council any petition that does not attach the version of the ordinance, as adopted by the City Council, or is missing exhibits to the ordinance.

For more information on the referendum challenge go to

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/07/BAG8LL0HK714.DTL

To review the Oakland City Attorney's legal opinion go to

http://www.oaklandcityattorney.org/PDFS/Opinions/OakNinthRefOpinion%209-06.pdf

To view the Oak to Ninth referendum efforts go to

http://www.abetteroaktoninth.org/Site/A%20Better%20Oak%20to%20Ninth%20Project.html