Oakland rewrites sex-work law and funds Sausal Creek land return

Oakland
City Council Meeting
February 17, 2026

TL;DR

• Oakland rewrote its prostitution law to penalize people who buy commercial sex, drop the old loitering offense, and start a survivor support fund.
• The council put $843,875 in Measure DD funds toward returning a Sausal Creek parcel to the Sogorea Te' Land Trust.
• Soda-tax grants will fund senior nutrition through three providers, including up to $300,000 each for two of them.
• The council raised the spending cap on a citywide road-repaving contract to $19,232,418.75.
• The council renewed local emergency declarations on homelessness, HIV/AIDS, and medical cannabis access.

What happened

1. Oakland's prostitution law now targets buyers, not the people being sold
   1. The council gave final approval to a rewrite of the city's prostitution code. It removes the old offense of loitering to engage in prostitution, adds a new offense for loitering to buy commercial sex, and lets the city fine buyers, traffickers, and properties used for prostitution. It also creates a Human Trafficking Survivor Support Fund.
   2. What this means for you: The shift moves enforcement toward buyers. It moves it away from the people being sold. Fines collected from buyers and traffickers are meant to feed the new survivor fund. Several service providers told the council this is the first local law they know of that penalizes buyers while funding survivor support.
2. $843,875 in voter-approved bond money helps return Sausal Creek land to a tribal land trust
   1. The council awarded $843,875 in Measure DD bond funds to the Sogorea Te' Land Trust to buy a parcel along Sausal Creek for conservation and restoration.
   2. What this means for you: The money helps protect part of the Sausal Creek watershed. Speakers said the parcel runs to the creek's headwaters and that the land returns to Indigenous stewards through the land trust.
3. Soda-tax dollars keep senior nutrition programs running
   1. The council awarded Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Distribution Tax grants for 2025 through 2027: up to $300,000 to Mercy Retirement and Care Center, up to $300,000 to Service Opportunity for Seniors, and up to $266,666 to the Alameda County Community Food Bank.
   2. What this means for you: The grants fund nutrition services for older Oakland residents. Providers told the council the money lets them keep feeding thousands of seniors a year, including homebound and diabetic seniors.
4. Road-repaving contract gets a higher spending cap
   1. The council raised the change-order limit on the McGuire and Hester citywide pavement contract from 25% to 27.5%, with a total not to exceed $19,232,418.75. The vote waived the competitive process to the extent necessary.
   2. What this means for you: The change lets the existing 2022 paving contract spend more without putting the job out to bid again.
5. Council renews three local emergency declarations
   1. The council renewed local emergency declarations on the homelessness crisis, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and access to medical cannabis.
   2. What this means for you: These renewals keep existing emergency declarations in place. The council did not state new actions tied to them at this meeting.

What residents brought up

• Library advocates pressed the council on Measure C funding. Several speakers said the city's plan to restore "maintenance of effort" library funding lacked specifics and was mostly aspirational. The Library Commission chair, a District 6 resident, said Measure C passed in 2022 with about 82% of the vote and requires a minimum of $14.5 million a year from the general fund. A District 1 resident and the advocacy chair of Friends of the Oakland Public Library warned that underfunding it could expose the parcel tax to legal challenge.
• Anti-trafficking advocates backed the sex-buyer ordinance; one speaker pushed back. Providers from Love Never Fails, Covenant House California, and Shade Movement urged passage, framing the fines as future funding to help young people out of trafficking. One speaker countered that under the county bail schedule, traffickers could still post bail, and faulted the council for not declaring a fentanyl emergency.
• Speakers urged the Sausal Creek land return. A Friends of Sausal Creek board member said the 16-acre parcel had been stewarded for decades by a local family and runs to the creek's headwaters. The tribal chair of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation, also a director of the Sogorea Te' Land Trust, described it as the first urban Indigenous women-led land trust and spoke of returning land and waterways.

Also happened

• The disparity study report on city contracting (Item S5.1) was pulled before discussion and rescheduled to the February 19 Rules and Legislation Committee so its author could present in person.
• The council confirmed the reappointment of Rownee Winn to the Public Safety Planning and Oversight Commission.
• The council confirmed Mayor Lee's appointments to the Head Start Advisory Board.
• The council approved up to $2,500 each for Council President Jenkins and Councilmember Ramachandran to travel to Washington, D.C. for federal advocacy.
• The council authorized a Foreign Trade Zone application to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
• The council approved FY 2025-27 biennial grants to ten organizations and a mental-health services contract for the Fire Department worth up to $700,000.
• The council honored Slam Dunk Contest winner Keshad Johnson, an Oakland native, and adjourned in memory of Reverend Jesse Jackson.

For any updates or corrections, please email steven@polisdesk.com