For those of you who have been unable to visit the Wood Street homeless encampment, here are a few photos to give you a feel.
I’ll remind you, as I did yesterday, that Caltrans, which owns the land, is ready, willing and able to clean this up, so that, God willing, it can once again become a thriving part of the community, with businesses, cafes, homes and places for people to stroll, in what could be a pleasant, Bayside neighborhood. But a Federal judge, William Orrick, has slammed his judicial gavel down and prohibited Caltrans from doing it, for reasons only he knows.
Yes, this is the same Judge Orrick who has had his jackboot on the neck of the Oakland Police Department for years, making it jump through all sorts of ridiculous hoops that have prevented it from protecting the public. Orrick seems determined to hurt Oakland in any way he can.
This monstrous mess is what Orrick is trying to protect and sustain. Don’t you wish we could make him live there? It’s all very shameful, and worth blogging about 2 days in a row. Oakland is not going to be able to manage our own affairs if we have these meddling outsiders, with their weird agendas, constantly interfering. If I had a way to contact Judge Orrick, I’d let you know. But the Federal Court system makes it virtually impossible to get an email for any of its District Court judges; I tried to find one and couldn’t. If any of you can figure out his email, please let me know, and I’ll share it with the group, so you can tell him—politely, of course—how you feel about him and his decisions.
Steve Heimoff