City of Oakland

Measure R Charter Amendment - Majority Approval Required

Oakland's City Charter currently contains language that assumes the gender identity of various City personnel, such as references to Councilmembers, the Mayor, and other City Officers and employees using the masculine pronouns "he," "him," and "his, " references to workers as "workmen," and references to firefighters as "firemen."

This measure would update the Charter to use gender-inclusive language, including gender-neutral pronouns and terminology.

This measure also would delete Charter Articles XIV and XV pertaining to obsolete City retirement systems for police officers and firefighters, respectively. These retirement systems were combined in one system, the Police and Fire Retirement System (Charter XXVI was enacted.

The Oakland City Charter currently contains language that assumes the gender identity of various City personnel, such as referring to City Councilmembers, the Mayor, and other City Officers and employees using the masculine pronouns "he," "him," and "his." In addition, the Charter uses gendered terminology such as referring to female police officers as "matrons," referring to surviving spouses as "widows," referring to workers as "workmen," and referring to firefighters as "firemen."

This measure would update the language of the City Charter to use gender-inclusive language, including non-gendered language and gender-neutral pronouns. The amendments are summarized in the table below.

Original Term	Amendment
Fireman	Firefighter
He; He or She	They
Him; Him or Her	Them
Himself; Himself or Herself	Themselves
His; His or Her	Their
Matron	Member of the Police Department
Mother	Parent
Policewoman	Member of the Police Department
Widow; Widower	Surviving spouse
Workmen	Workers

This measure also would delete two obsolete articles of the Charter: Article 15 (the Police Relief and Pension Fund) and Article 16 (the Firemen's Relief and Pension Fund). These articles were consolidated and superseded when the voters enacted Article 26 (the Police and Fire Retirement System).

The measure is consistent with City Council Resolution 88320 C.M.S. which established a City policy requiring that City conduct its affairs in a manner that uses gender inclusive language and City of Oakland's commitment to advancing equity and prohibiting discrimination and sexual stereotyping.

The Oakland City Council placed this measure on the ballot. A "yes" vote for the measure supports the passage of the amendment; and a "no" votes opposes the passage of the amendment. A majority vote (i.e., more than 50% of the votes cast) is required to pass the measure

Summary

The City Charter adopted in 1968 contains outdated and gendered language including referring to City Officers and City employees using the masculine pronouns "he," "him," and "his." This Measure, if approved by a majority of the voters, would amend the City Charter in its entirety to replace gender specific language with gender neutral and gender inclusive language, including using gender neutral pronouns such as "they," and replacing nouns like "fireman" with "firefighter."

Financial Analysis

This measure will have a very minimal financial impact to the City. If approved, the City Charter will be updated in its entirety to replace gender specific language with gender neutral and gender inclusive language, including gender neutral pronouns.

Our independent analysis is based on the best information available at this time.