John Russo

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May 4, 2011 | 1:38 PM | By

Russo resigns, Oakland City Council to vote on gang injunction strategy

Ali Winston

Gang injunction opponents and Fruitvale merchants make their views known at an Oakland City Council meeting on May 3, 2011.

More than a year since Oakland filed its first gang injunction in Alameda County Superior Court, the City Council is poised to take action on outgoing City Attorney John Russo’s controversial anti-crime strategy that has polarized parts of the city and exacerbated police-community tensions.

Representatives from the Oakland Police Department and City Attorney’s office were conspicuously absent from last night’s meeting. In a joint letter to the council, Russo and Police Chief Anthony Batts said their staff was tied up with preparations for closing arguments Friday for the city’s second gang injunction against 40 alleged Norteños in the Fruitvale neighborhood.

Vice Mayor Desley Brooks, whose District 6 may be the target of a third gang injunction, was livid at the absence of OPD and City Attorney personnel and the lack of information provided to the council on the subject.

“It is incumbent on staff to be here, that’s what the charter says. It’s inappropriate,” Brooks said. “The City Attorney never received authorization to enter into this litigation.”

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FILED UNDER: Politics, Anthony Batts, Gang Injunctions, John Russo, Oakland, Oakland City Attorney, Oakland City Council
April 25, 2011 | 6:04 PM | By

Records show City Attorney planning third Oakland gang injunction

Records indicate Oakland City Attorney John Russo had private attorneys research a third gang injunction–this one in Area 3, East Oakland. The $19,999.98 in outside counsel costs are not included in a February joint report on gang injunctions by the City Attorney and the Oakland Police Department that was produced at the request of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee.

The Informant first reported on the proposed East Oakland injunction last Fall after obtaining retention agreements between Russo’s office and the law firms Ruiz & Sperow and Meyers Nave. Ruiz & Sperow have been handling the North Oakland injunction, which was approved by Alameda Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman last Spring. Meyers Nave is contracted to litigate the Fruitvale and Area 3 injunctions.

Meyers Nave has been representing the city in an ongoing legal battle over a separate gang injunction against the Norteños in the Fruitvale neighborhood.

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FILED UNDER: Police, Gang Injunctions, John Russo, Oakland, Oakland City Attorney, Oakland Police Department
March 29, 2011 | 1:07 PM | By

John Russo is top choice for Alameda city manager

Is John Russo looking to leave his position as Oakland City Attorney?

The Island reported earlier today that Oakland City Attorney John Russo is the top pick for the position of city manager in Alameda. Here’s the rub:

Russo, 52, told The Island on Sunday that he couldn’t talk about the council’s choice for a new city manager, saying the city hadn’t completed its hiring process yet. But The Island’s source said that the other two top candidates for the job, former assistant city manager David Brandt and Millbrae City Manager Marcia Raines, had been informed that they weren’t picked for the job.

Brandt confirmed on Monday that he had been told over the weekend that he wasn’t selected to take the job. Raines didn’t return a call seeking confirmation that she would remain in Millbrae.

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FILED UNDER: Politics, Alameda, Gang Injunctions, John Russo, Oakland, Oakland City Attorney
March 15, 2011 | 3:51 PM | By

The gang injunction debate: John Russo and Jeff Adachi

Rina Palta

As the court battle over a Fruitvale gang injunction continues into day eight, Oakland City Attorney John Russo joined San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi for a discussion about the efficacy and fairness of gang injunctions as a crime-fighting tool at a law enforcement symposium today at the University of San Francisco. Adachi has consistently opposed gang injunctions, which he believes are implemented unfairly and are overused compared to their effectiveness. Russo, who brought gang injunctions to Oakland last year through an initial 100-block “safety zone” in North Oakland and is asking for injunctions against 40 accused gang members in Fruitvale, believes injunctions can help combat drug and violence issues in the city. Both men agree that the Bay Area is dealing with too much gang violence, but they disagree on the solutions.

Yumi Wilson, a journalism professor at USF and a producer for the KALW show City Visions, moderated the discussion.

NOTE: The volume levels are a little funky at the beginning, but even out completely around minute 7.

FILED UNDER: Community, Gang Injunctions, Jeff Adachi, John Russo, Oakland, San Francsico
March 3, 2011 | 9:32 AM | By

What is a “city attorney” anyway?

Some of California's major cities have appointed city attorneys, others are elected. What's the difference?

People in the Bay Area who pay attention to local issues likely know the name of their city attorney–or at least, the name sounds familiar and conjures vague associations with city hall. That may be because San Francisco’s Dennis Herrera and Oakland’s John Russo make more headlines than a lot of their peers–and that may have something to do with how they got to office.

Herrera, now a candidate for mayor, has variously taken on and inserted himself in some of the major high-profile political issues of the day. In 2004, American Lawyer called his office “one of the most aggressive and talented city law departments in the nation.” When Proposition 8 passed, banning same-sex marriage in San Francisco, Herrera joined the lawsuit against it. Herrera also introduced San Francisco to gang injunctions. Using an interpretation of nuisance law pioneered in Los Angeles, Herrera has obtained civil injunctions that bar the movements of gang members in five zones throughout the city.

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FILED UNDER: Politics, Carmen Trutanich, City Attorney, Dennis Herrera, Gang Injunctions, Jean Quan, John Russo, Michael Aguirre, Richard Doyle
February 18, 2011 | 4:52 PM | By

Does Oakland need an elected city attorney?

rezlab

The past few months have seen deteriorating relations between Oakland City Attorney John Russo, members of the City Council and Mayor Jean Quan over the city’s controversial plan to license marijuana production and implement gang injunctions to fight street crime.

In an interview yesterday with the Bay Citizen’s Aaron Glantz, Mayor Quan proposed one way of settling the dispute: revising Oakland’s charter to do away with elections for the City Attorney’s office and let the City Council appoint someone to the post.

Should Oakland go down this path, it would be in line with five of the largest cities in California. Below is a breakdown of how the Golden State’s ten largest cities fill the post:

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FILED UNDER: Politics, Jean Quan, John Russo, Oakland, Oakland City Attorney
February 17, 2011 | 9:43 AM | By

Judge extends testimony on proposed Fruitvale injunction

Oakland City Attorney

Oakland's latest gang injunction would cover part of the Fruitvale district.

Alameda County Judge Robert Freedman delayed his decision on whether to approve a preliminary injunction against the Fruitvale Nortenos by at least another week, following yesterday’s two and a half hour hearing at Oakland’s Rene C. Davidson Courthouse.

The day centered around the testimony of two witnesses for the defense team of five pro bono attorneys, who are representing 30 of the defendants, 16 of whom attended the hearing. Javier Quintero, a wiry 27-year-old painter with closely cropped black hair and a goatee, took the stand for an hour and adamantly denied his involvement with the Nortenos. Convicted for drug possession in 2008, Quintero told the court he has stayed out of trouble for 18 months since violating his parole later that year. For reasons unknown to him, Quintero said his parole level was increased last year from minimum security to “super-max,” check-ins with his parole officer increased, and he was made to wear a global positioning system device.

“I don’t see no sense to it,” Quintero said in response to questions from defense attorney Dennis Cunningham about why he ended up on the injunction. “ I’m less than a year away from finishing my parole. I’m doing everything right. My GPS will tell you where I’m going, I don’t think you need anything more than that.”

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FILED UNDER: Courts, Fruitvale, Gang Injunctions, John Russo, Nortenos, Oakland, Oakland City Attorney, Oakland Police Department