Oakland citizen journalist Charles Pine researched this from public records supplied by the Oakland City Clerk's office and sent the Coalition for a Better Oakland this interesting story. We can’t vouch for Charlie’s statements, but they’re worth further investigation. Here is his account:

I was glad to see Caltrans finally follow through on their intention to clear out the homeless people living on their property in the Wood Street area. Obviously this is something Caltrans has long wanted to do and needed to do. The scores of fires that the campers regularly start are threats to the integrity of the superstructure that holds up the freeways above. Caltrans could have been sued had something terrible happened. A big fire last June also caused the California Highway Patrol to shut down the 880 freeway and issue a SIG-alert. Amtrak had to halt operations. This kind of interruption of the daily lives of tens of thousands of working people is unacceptable.

Nikki Bas is sending an email to her constituents that contains a huge, treacherous lie: “I have supported increasing OPD's budget each year.” (I have a copy of the email.) This lie is repeated a second time: “[A]gain, I have supported increases each year.”

San Francisco Chronicle, June 24, 2021: “Oakland City Council Votes to Defund Police, Stripping More than $17 M from Department Budget.”

Atlanta has the same problem we have here in Oakland: a relatively small number of criminals keeps committing many of the most serious crimes. These repeat offenders get arrested, but lazy District Attorneys refuse to prosecute, and even if they do, liberal judges keep sending these predators back out onto the streets. The cycle continues, and the city suffers.