I have mixed feelings about the City Council’s decision to put a ballot proposition in the November election that would allow non-citizen parents of school children to vote for members of the school board.
A part of me is sympathetic. The proposed law would allow these non-citizens to vote only for the school board, and not for positions like City Council or Mayor. With what we recently saw in San Francisco regarding their school board, these low-visibility elected positions can be very important. Were I a non-citizen parent of a school kid in Oakland, I’d want some say in who gets to determine policies that impact my child’s education and welfare.
Another part of me, which respects the law and adherence to it, is appalled, but not surprised, that the Oakland City Council would take this step. What’s appalling is that the Council did it so blithely, disregarding centuries of law and custom in their drive for “equity.” But I’m not surprised, because the Council, as currently constructed, has clearly shown that “equity” (as they define it) is their number one priority. If laws, community preferences or even public safety get in the way, then laws, preferences and public safety must be sacrificed on the altar of progressivism.
I don’t know how I’ll vote on this one. There’s plenty of time to think about it. I no longer take positions on issues based on my initial emotional response; I feel I need understand all the ramifications, in order to make an informed choice.
But one thing I do understand, very clearly, is that this same City Council earlier this week gave the middle finger to OPD Chief LeRonne Armstrong when they told him he can no longer use automated license plate readers to solve crimes. Yes, it was the same two extreme radicals, Carroll Fife and Rebecca Kaplan, who decided that their concerns over “privacy” outweigh our concerns about being safe. Privacy is fine, but being in intellectual thrall to it, at the expense of public safety, is outrageous. I really couldn’t care less if OPD or CHP took a picture of my license plate, since I don’t break the law. If license plate readers can help solve crime (and OPD tells us they can), then let’s do it.
If you think about it correctly, you’ll see that these two decisions—non-citizen voting and against license plate readers—actually stem from the same mindset: that longstanding notions of law and common sense can be tossed aside in order to advance the cause of progressivism. Many of us are shocked by the ease with which Trump disregards the law in order to push his own agenda (which is frequently self-serving). Why then are we so complacent when politicians like Fife and Kaplan throw law and custom under the bus?
Steve Heimoff