The Coalition for a Better Oakland has been active since March. In this period, just short of six months, we’ve grown to 157 members, each of whom joined us through our website, https://cfabo.org. We’ve become more focused in our mission, and we’ve been mastering our subject matter: the details of policing and homelessness. And we’ve certainly attracted the attention of the powers-that-be in Oakland.
But there’s one area in which we’ve lagged: group activity. We’ve had no meetings, no street rallies, no organized action by our members. (This was partly because of the pandemic.) It’s time for that to change. I’m asking each of our members, as well as others who haven’t yet formally joined but are sympathetic, to volunteer for our first major drive.
We’re looking at Oakland City Council District 2, a sprawling district that runs from the Embarcadero up through the Uptown Corridor to the Piedmont border. D2 is represented by Nikki Fortunato Bas, who also serves as the City Council President. Bas, you may recall, co-led (with D3 member Carroll Fife) the successful effort to defund the Oakland Police Department last June. OPD Chief LeRonne Armstrong warned Oaklanders that that vote would result in fewer cops on the street and more crime—which is exactly what we’re seeing.
We think that Fortunato Bas’s constituents don’t know how much their council member has hurt OPD, and thus placed them, their families, friends and property in jeopardy. Bas talks a good game when it comes to public safety. But her actions belie those words.
She’s up for re-election next year, and it’s not too early to begin to organize to defeat her. The Coalition doesn’t yet have a preferred candidate, but Bas must be made to understand that, when she acts in ways contrary to the interests of her constituents, there are consequences to be paid.
I’m asking each of you to let me know two things: (1) Do you live in D2, and (2) even if you don’t, are you willing to get in on the ground game to send Nikki Bas into retirement? A few of you already have told me you can help to distribute flyers. But I need more than a few of you to cover this immense, populous district.
Please raise your hand and volunteer. There’s very little point in having a grass roots group like ours if we can’t muster bodies in the streets. You can email me at coalitionforabetteroakland@gmail.com and let me know if I can count on you.
Steve Heimoff