Sometimes it seems like Groundhog Day around here. Another week goes by, and the same stories are out there, seeming never to be resolved. Wood Street, for one. Caltrans finally is clearing it out, but “some residents won’t want to part with their vehicles and others don’t want to live in a congregant shelter.”
What do these residents expect the City to do for them? Give them their own private apartments? How about free food, healthcare and a credit card? There’s that old saying, “Beggars can’t be choosers,” and if there was ever a population in Oakland that can be called “beggars,” it’s the Wood Street people.
They seem to think, “Oh, Oakland will never roust us. They wouldn’t dare. We’ll get all our supporters here to protect us, and the authorities won’t be able to do a thing about it.” I wouldn’t be so sure. Yes, if Oakland or Caltrans tries to forcibly remove the most stubborn diehards, Cat Brooks will be there with her merry band of chanters, and who knows to what extent they’ll go to protect “the Constitutional right” of homeless people to live anyplace they want. Of course, the Constitution grants no such right--quite the opposite, it’s cities that have the right to pass and enforce zoning and other ordinances and laws. But the Constitution has never stopped Cat Brooks before.
One of the questions that’s emerging in this Mayoral debate is the extent to which candidates will, or will not, get tough with homeless people. Some of them won’t admit that they’d rather give a pass to lawbreaker campers than to enforce the law. I suspect Sheng Thao is one of those, and so is Nikki Defundo Bas, who’s running for the City Council in District 2. Both have proven that they value the “rights” of homeless people, and other criminals, more than they value the rights of the rest of us. It seems to me that Seneca Scott is willing to go the furthest to make homeless people obey the law.
Speaking of Cat Brooks, she was out there again the other day, demanding that Santa Rita Jail be shut down. (Now there’s an idea. All those criminals back out on the streets. While we’re freeing prisoners, let’s close San Quentin, too.) She was babbling about “dead body after dead body” (only she was talking about non-existent mass murder by cops, instead of the reality of mass murder of Black men by Black men). She was demanding the names of the 47 Alameda County Sheriff’s Department deputies, even though medical privacy laws forbid their public identification. (Can we please see Cat Brooks’s medical records?) One of these days, Cat Brooks is going to have to get a real job. Who’s paying her anyway? Her Anti Police-Terror Project spends a lot. Where does it come from? Brooks is big on “accountability” when it comes to the police. How about some accountability for herself? Apparently, they get some money from something called “Blue Heart Action,” which describes APTP as “a black-led coalition dedicated to ending violence perpetuated against black, brown and poor people by the state.” Why don’t Blue Heart and APTP dedicate themselves to ending violence perpetuated against Black and Brown people by Black and Brown people? How many people of color has “the state” killed in Oakland, or anyplace else in California, in, say, the last five years? Maybe a handful, almost always as a result of the perp trying to escape or attack cops. How many people of color have people of color killed during the same time period? By my calculation, close to 500 in Oakland alone.
I mean, let’s get real. Widespread state violence against people of color is a myth. I’d like to see “the community” rise up and scream like hell for the gangbangers and gangsta wannabes to get the hell out of Oakland and stay out! If APTP did that, I might even donate to them.
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By the way, here’s a story that’s gotten remarkably little media coverage. Carl Chan, who runs the powerful Chinese Chamber of Commerce, called for Nikki Defundo Bas’s resignation the other day. The reason? You know why: Bas is a diehard police defunder who only seems to care about crime when the flaming pitchfork crowd is coming after her—which the AAPI community is doing. Bas’s hypocrisy on public safety is stunning. She can’t be trusted, and Chinatown knows it.
AND FINALLY:
We, the Coalition, are thinking of hosting a picnic on Saturday Oct. 22 in San Antonio Park, at noon. It would be an informal “meet the candidates” event. We’ll try to get as many of the Mayoral candidates as we can. No speeches, just a picnic in which everyone can get to know each other. It’s not definite yet, but we’re working on it. Please mark your calendars. We’ll let you know the details ASAP.
Have a great, safe weekend!
Steve Heimoff