Oakland

There isn't anything sexy, juicy or particularly controversial in the Oakland Measures up for a vote in next month's election. But here's a summary of them.

Measure M - Loosening Restrictions on Investments by the Police and Fire Retirement System
In our government issue voter information guide there was no argument submitted against this one. Basically, the Police and Fire Retirement System handles the pension plan for retired cops and fire fighters in Oakland that signed up 30+ years ago; it stopped enrolling new participants in 1976. The PFRS is what's called a "defined benefit plan," where retirees get a fixed amount of money throughout their lives - this is the old school pension plan, the type that has been in the news recently with large corporations getting in legal trouble with the Feds because their pension funds don't have enough money in them to pay benefits and are projected to go broke in x number of years. Pension plans take the money they have saved up for future payments to retirees and invest it in things. The PFRS is currently restricted in what and how much it can invest in certain types of things - these restrictions are primarily based on risk (see Enron) - of course risk and profit tend to go hand in hand, thus the current restrictions are seen as limiting the PFRS' ability to increase the value of the funds in the plan. This measure would remove the current restrictions and apply a looser standard called the "prudent person standard," which would allow the PFRS to invest more freely but, presumably, not in Enron or comparable f***ed companies.

Measure N - Library Bonds
$148 million in bonds to fix up branch libraries and build a new Main Library at the Henry Kaiser Convention Center (recently closed) is at issue here. The bonds would be repaid through a property tax increase. Recently, there's been a bit of controversy over selling off public property to private developers, and some folks are concerned about what will happen to the existing Oakland Main Library building. The folks arguing against this one are not your standard "no new taxes" Howard Jarvis types, but are fairly liberal people that feel the City has done a piss-poor job managing its money and property, and that the majority of this money will go towards a fancy showplace downtown rather than support services in more troubled neighborhoods.

Measure O: Instant Runoff Voting
This would implement the same system of electing local officials as found in San Francisco. For those unfamiliar, you must not be a regular Bay Guardian reader. Let us fill you in!