I live in Oakland. I identified as far Left for most of my life. I now and independent and politically homeless. The divide and conquer, orchestrated culture war has pushed the online right and left even further away from reality. The whole ACAB and Defund people who claim to care about identity politics are not realizing that Defund overwhelming affects poor and working class people. If you watch the documentary on Netflix about how their anemic police department disproportionately affects the poor and working class people of color. It's not that I want to focus on race it's that the fake progressives only focus on it but their policies are contradictory and counterproductive.
I have a very similar story... I've been a life long lefty, voted almost exclusively Dem since my first election in 1996, but the past few years have been very sobering. It is so frustrating to continually watch the failed progressive policies on crime, erode the city I call home. All the while, elected officials continue to gaslight everyone that everything is fine, they just need more time & money, and that these policies which haven't (and won't) work are going to continue to be tried time and time again.
I've come to realize that, unfortunately, often the most impactful and effective policies, aren't the same ones that make you feel good inside. Instead of governing with emotions, we need an immediate shift to data driven policy, and to elect leaders that are willing to reassess and change course when things don't work, regardless of whether it appeals to a section of their base.
Well stated Sean. As civil society is broken down by the Progressives for their purposes, it is painfully apparent that those with less economic flexibility are harmed the most.
So tragic. My favorite (worst) anecdote was about the black shopkeeper who was trying to open a suit store downtown close to City Hall and had his place robbed before his grand opening:
At this point, I honestly don't know what kind of insanity has to happen before the Lara Bazelons of the world start to care more about the *victims* of crime, rather than isolated cases of legal malpractice. It's a forest for the trees kind of philosophy. You can't have a city when the criminals know they bear no consequences. Hearing that woman try to tell Seneca Scott he was catastrophizing was breathtaking.
The seemingly never ending doom loop / downfall of Oakland, is just so depressing. We have leaders that are simply and undeniably more concerned with their public image and careers, than they are the everyday lives of Oakland residents. They continue to cater & appeal to the far side of their base, enacting and pushing the same ineffective, failed policy, even though it's undeniably not helping or improving anything.
The crime issue feels so hopeless... not only does Mayor Thao try to convince us that the crime problem is overblown by the media and cite inaccurate crime statistics, even if there was a will to actually change things, there is no money to do so. As Tim pointed out, criminals simply aren't deterred because the consequences and enforcement, just don't exist. Low hanging fruit such as roads, trash, graffiti and the like, are more or less ignored.
We need new leaders, with new and different ideas & approaches to solve the ever worsening crime problem. Someone with realistic plans to enact change, instead of more vague promises of improvement. If city leaders don't refocus on crime and public safety NOW, instead of wasting more time and money on projects / policy that might make things better in a decade or longer, then what good is any long term improvement, when the city will just continue to bleed local business and good, tax paying citizens.
I'm not sure how much longer I have in me to stay here, and continue to watch my quality of life deteriorate year over year, when I could move 15-20 miles in any direction, and see an immediate improvement. I really like my neighborhood (Allendale), and this city, but it's clear that without some immediate and radical change, things are just going to continue to decline further.
Thank you for this. It is maddening to see Sheng, Nikki, Fife, and Rebecca talk about jobs of the future when they are clearly not protecting and retaining the jobs we currently have today. One only needs to look at the near total destruction of the Hegenberger corridor to know that these ideological politicians are not to be taken seriously.
Thanks for another clear-eyed, impassioned report on the pathetic decline of our city. I will copy it in a note to Sheng and the gang of 8. It often feels fruitless, but we've little else to do than to spread the word and constantly bombard them with facts until the leave and/or are voted out.
Thank you for your article. I have no confidence that our mayor will do the intelligent thing or that she is capable of recognizing it. I spoke with her twice while she represented my district and her responses were irrelevant. Nothing has changed, many of our council folks speak in prefabricated sound bites.
I am a D4 resident (since 1998) and Sheng is by far the worst representative. She worked for her donors, not her constituents, and couldnt care less about our local issues.
The city’s deal to sell their interest in the Coliseum property is astounding for two reasons: 1) selling a capital asset to plug gaps in an operating budget, and in only the very short-term at that, is incredibly stupid policy, and 2) the contingency plan to close the budget gap if the sale did not go through was apparently to reduce expenses exclusively through further public safety cuts — reducing the police force even more, and closing five fire stations.
This is just phenomenally incompetent government. When will the voters in Oakland wake up?
Oakland "leadership" won't make any type of gesture toward protecting the citizens of Oakland until they get permission from their comrades in the struggle, Social Justice, Inc.
Thank you for your article, a departure from the usual, numbers based reporting-but well written as always.
As others have pointed out, the situation is dire, and does not seem to be something that voting in new officials will fix in the immediate future.
Is this beyond the capability of the new CHP surge or are we looking at a national guard situation to get things under control.?
The crime described in this article, or the old folks home being targeted buy robbers on the street, or kids being shot, it seems that due to the volume of total lawlessness there is no one heinous crime that will be a tipping point for immediate, meaningful and drastic action-at least buy local officials.
I was referring to the Flynt, Michigan Documentary about how their budget has affected their police and emergency services that's streaming on Netflix. A perfect indictment of defund. I am however for better police accountability, better vetting, better training and more community policing. Maybe a radical idea but I think it should be a requirement to live in the city or at least county one is policing. Probably a bit of overreach but one can dream.
Yeah, it's quite a euphemism. Essentially anyone who has been incarcerated, in detention centers, etc. or has had close family through the system. The intent - as with so many of these euphemisms - is to blame a system instead of having an individual bear responsibility for their actions. eg someone who commits a h*micide and gets out of prison or the juvi system is "justice-impacted". You know, *they* were impacted by the system, not that they had any impact on, for example, victims of the crime.
The Coliseum property is the city's most valuable asset. In any organization, selling valuable assets and facilities to plug a hole in an operating budget is a red flag, a sure sign that an organization is failing. If Oakland were a private company it would be facing bankruptcy. Since it is not, but is saddled with incompetent leadership engaged in performative politics, it will continue floundering. Businesses will continue to leave and the budget will be under even more pressure with no way to increase the police ranks. There has been no real leadership since Jerry Brown was mayor and that is saying something. I see no end to this until ranked-choice voting, which has become a path for the political fringe to gain public office, is discarded. Until then, Oakland's brain/talent drain will continue and crime will get worse before it gets better.
It’s not just a dwindling police force, but also laws enacted to reduce criminal consequences (from felonies to misdemeanors, misdemeanor's to citations, increased theft limits, no bail, etc.) as well as prosecutors refusing to send criminals to trial to face penalties.
It is a plethora of failed ideas that have in turned harmed the most vulnerable and hardworking sectors. Policies and the politicians need to change. The people, not criminals, deserve representation.
Until Oakland residents and business's open their wallets to support reasonable candidates for Mayor and Council, as well as City Attorney, NOTHING WILL CHANGE at Frank Ogawa Plaza.
Only a tiny fraction of Oakland voters and businesses donate even $10 to local candidates. That's what a yard sign with a frame costs.
A good 20% of the people I've canvassed in District 1 say they give to national candidates.
A scant few ever gave to local candidates.
Campaigns for even district office cost upwards of $140,000.
Before COVID most of the campaign funds came from real estate people. For the last several years it has come from city unions and construction unions (want the parcel taxes to pay for low income housing @900k/unit)
It's good to go to City Hall sessions to speak and protest.
But if you have to go online to the sites of the candidates you want to get on Council, and donate as much as you can.
The real estate developers and the unions treat every Council candidate as if they were "at-large". So do many of the progressive individuals who contribute at much higher rates than moderates.
Len Raphael CPA for Oakland City Council District 1 November 2024
I live in Oakland. I identified as far Left for most of my life. I now and independent and politically homeless. The divide and conquer, orchestrated culture war has pushed the online right and left even further away from reality. The whole ACAB and Defund people who claim to care about identity politics are not realizing that Defund overwhelming affects poor and working class people. If you watch the documentary on Netflix about how their anemic police department disproportionately affects the poor and working class people of color. It's not that I want to focus on race it's that the fake progressives only focus on it but their policies are contradictory and counterproductive.
I have a very similar story... I've been a life long lefty, voted almost exclusively Dem since my first election in 1996, but the past few years have been very sobering. It is so frustrating to continually watch the failed progressive policies on crime, erode the city I call home. All the while, elected officials continue to gaslight everyone that everything is fine, they just need more time & money, and that these policies which haven't (and won't) work are going to continue to be tried time and time again.
I've come to realize that, unfortunately, often the most impactful and effective policies, aren't the same ones that make you feel good inside. Instead of governing with emotions, we need an immediate shift to data driven policy, and to elect leaders that are willing to reassess and change course when things don't work, regardless of whether it appeals to a section of their base.
Very similar feelings here. Illiberal "progressivism" has no appeal to me.
Well stated Sean. As civil society is broken down by the Progressives for their purposes, it is painfully apparent that those with less economic flexibility are harmed the most.
So tragic. My favorite (worst) anecdote was about the black shopkeeper who was trying to open a suit store downtown close to City Hall and had his place robbed before his grand opening:
https://www.ktvu.com/news/new-downtown-oakland-business-burglarized-before-its-grand-opening
At this point, I honestly don't know what kind of insanity has to happen before the Lara Bazelons of the world start to care more about the *victims* of crime, rather than isolated cases of legal malpractice. It's a forest for the trees kind of philosophy. You can't have a city when the criminals know they bear no consequences. Hearing that woman try to tell Seneca Scott he was catastrophizing was breathtaking.
The seemingly never ending doom loop / downfall of Oakland, is just so depressing. We have leaders that are simply and undeniably more concerned with their public image and careers, than they are the everyday lives of Oakland residents. They continue to cater & appeal to the far side of their base, enacting and pushing the same ineffective, failed policy, even though it's undeniably not helping or improving anything.
The crime issue feels so hopeless... not only does Mayor Thao try to convince us that the crime problem is overblown by the media and cite inaccurate crime statistics, even if there was a will to actually change things, there is no money to do so. As Tim pointed out, criminals simply aren't deterred because the consequences and enforcement, just don't exist. Low hanging fruit such as roads, trash, graffiti and the like, are more or less ignored.
We need new leaders, with new and different ideas & approaches to solve the ever worsening crime problem. Someone with realistic plans to enact change, instead of more vague promises of improvement. If city leaders don't refocus on crime and public safety NOW, instead of wasting more time and money on projects / policy that might make things better in a decade or longer, then what good is any long term improvement, when the city will just continue to bleed local business and good, tax paying citizens.
I'm not sure how much longer I have in me to stay here, and continue to watch my quality of life deteriorate year over year, when I could move 15-20 miles in any direction, and see an immediate improvement. I really like my neighborhood (Allendale), and this city, but it's clear that without some immediate and radical change, things are just going to continue to decline further.
Thank you for this. It is maddening to see Sheng, Nikki, Fife, and Rebecca talk about jobs of the future when they are clearly not protecting and retaining the jobs we currently have today. One only needs to look at the near total destruction of the Hegenberger corridor to know that these ideological politicians are not to be taken seriously.
Thanks for another clear-eyed, impassioned report on the pathetic decline of our city. I will copy it in a note to Sheng and the gang of 8. It often feels fruitless, but we've little else to do than to spread the word and constantly bombard them with facts until the leave and/or are voted out.
Thank you for your article. I have no confidence that our mayor will do the intelligent thing or that she is capable of recognizing it. I spoke with her twice while she represented my district and her responses were irrelevant. Nothing has changed, many of our council folks speak in prefabricated sound bites.
I am a D4 resident (since 1998) and Sheng is by far the worst representative. She worked for her donors, not her constituents, and couldnt care less about our local issues.
The city’s deal to sell their interest in the Coliseum property is astounding for two reasons: 1) selling a capital asset to plug gaps in an operating budget, and in only the very short-term at that, is incredibly stupid policy, and 2) the contingency plan to close the budget gap if the sale did not go through was apparently to reduce expenses exclusively through further public safety cuts — reducing the police force even more, and closing five fire stations.
This is just phenomenally incompetent government. When will the voters in Oakland wake up?
Oakland "leadership" won't make any type of gesture toward protecting the citizens of Oakland until they get permission from their comrades in the struggle, Social Justice, Inc.
Thank you for your article, a departure from the usual, numbers based reporting-but well written as always.
As others have pointed out, the situation is dire, and does not seem to be something that voting in new officials will fix in the immediate future.
Is this beyond the capability of the new CHP surge or are we looking at a national guard situation to get things under control.?
The crime described in this article, or the old folks home being targeted buy robbers on the street, or kids being shot, it seems that due to the volume of total lawlessness there is no one heinous crime that will be a tipping point for immediate, meaningful and drastic action-at least buy local officials.
I was referring to the Flynt, Michigan Documentary about how their budget has affected their police and emergency services that's streaming on Netflix. A perfect indictment of defund. I am however for better police accountability, better vetting, better training and more community policing. Maybe a radical idea but I think it should be a requirement to live in the city or at least county one is policing. Probably a bit of overreach but one can dream.
Please define "justice-impacted." I thought I was up to speed on all the current euphemisms, but this one is a bridge too far.
Yeah, it's quite a euphemism. Essentially anyone who has been incarcerated, in detention centers, etc. or has had close family through the system. The intent - as with so many of these euphemisms - is to blame a system instead of having an individual bear responsibility for their actions. eg someone who commits a h*micide and gets out of prison or the juvi system is "justice-impacted". You know, *they* were impacted by the system, not that they had any impact on, for example, victims of the crime.
The Coliseum property is the city's most valuable asset. In any organization, selling valuable assets and facilities to plug a hole in an operating budget is a red flag, a sure sign that an organization is failing. If Oakland were a private company it would be facing bankruptcy. Since it is not, but is saddled with incompetent leadership engaged in performative politics, it will continue floundering. Businesses will continue to leave and the budget will be under even more pressure with no way to increase the police ranks. There has been no real leadership since Jerry Brown was mayor and that is saying something. I see no end to this until ranked-choice voting, which has become a path for the political fringe to gain public office, is discarded. Until then, Oakland's brain/talent drain will continue and crime will get worse before it gets better.
It’s not just a dwindling police force, but also laws enacted to reduce criminal consequences (from felonies to misdemeanors, misdemeanor's to citations, increased theft limits, no bail, etc.) as well as prosecutors refusing to send criminals to trial to face penalties.
It is a plethora of failed ideas that have in turned harmed the most vulnerable and hardworking sectors. Policies and the politicians need to change. The people, not criminals, deserve representation.
Until Oakland residents and business's open their wallets to support reasonable candidates for Mayor and Council, as well as City Attorney, NOTHING WILL CHANGE at Frank Ogawa Plaza.
Only a tiny fraction of Oakland voters and businesses donate even $10 to local candidates. That's what a yard sign with a frame costs.
A good 20% of the people I've canvassed in District 1 say they give to national candidates.
A scant few ever gave to local candidates.
Campaigns for even district office cost upwards of $140,000.
Before COVID most of the campaign funds came from real estate people. For the last several years it has come from city unions and construction unions (want the parcel taxes to pay for low income housing @900k/unit)
It's good to go to City Hall sessions to speak and protest.
But if you have to go online to the sites of the candidates you want to get on Council, and donate as much as you can.
The real estate developers and the unions treat every Council candidate as if they were "at-large". So do many of the progressive individuals who contribute at much higher rates than moderates.
Len Raphael CPA for Oakland City Council District 1 November 2024
City Hall Needs an Intervention
www. LensForChange.com