Yesterday we talked about the Oakland Police Department’s use of license plate readers, which has been so fiercely resisted by so-called “privacy rights” advocates. Today, I want to talk about another technological issue: lethal autonomous weapons (or LAWs), which similarly have drawn intense opposition from the same quarters.
Why does the City Council hate crime-fighting technology?
Technology, as we all acknowledge, can be a double-edged sword. We love what it does for our lives, but then we hear Google or Amazon knows more about us than we know about ourselves. The loss of privacy is indeed a serious concern, but so is crime. So how do government officials balance the promise and the threat of technology when it comes to public safety?
Our event this Saturday, and our endorsements for the election
Two important things, folks: First, we’ll be hosting a picnic/potluck to meet each other, and some of the candidates, this Saturday, Oct. 22, at noon in San Antonio Park. We hope you all show up—it will be fun and educational. If you can, please register through Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cfabo-meet-and-greet-for-oakland-mayor-and-city-council-candidates-tickets-436099534447
Next, here are our local endorsements for the upcoming Nov. 8 election. Keep in mind that some of us differ on one or two of these endorsements, but in general, they reflect the thinking of CBO’s Board of Directors.
CBO Nov 8 2022 Oakland Voters’ Guide
Summary
MAYOR: 1.Scott, 2.Taylor, 3. de la Fuente, 4.Reid
CITY COUNCIL
Note that districts’ boundaries have changed, find your district here https://oakgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/lookup/index.html?appid=da589a352c8641459af8a0f890398d44
District 2: Harold Lowe, not Bas
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/haroldlowe
District 4: Nenna Joiner, not Ramachandran
https://www.joinerforoakland.com/donate
District 6: Yakpasua Zazaboi
Alameda County District Attorney: Terry Wiley, definitely not Price
Oakland Measures
· Measure Q: Social Housing Vote No
o Disingenuous and unnecessary
· Measure R: de-Gendering City Charter Vote Yes
· Measure S: Non-Citizen Voting Vote No
o Do not dilute your rights as a citizen
· Measure T: Progressive Business Tax Vote No
o Does not make sense economically
· Measure U : Affordable Housing & Infrastructure Bond Vote No
o A Massive misallocation of resources
· Measure V: Eviction Moratorium Vote No
o Eviction moratoriums have gone too far
· Measure W: Additional Campaign funding Vote No
o Favors incumbents and an additional unneeded expense for city
· Measure X: Term Limits, Address Councilmember abstentions Vote No
· Measure Y: Zoo Parcel Tax Vote No
o Donations to the zoo should be voluntary
Thank you, Steve Heimoff
Obama gets it right--as usual
In his marvelous new book, A Promised Land, Barack Obama wrote these words about running for President in 2008: “I knew…I needed to embrace white people as allies rather than impediments to change, and to couch the African American struggle in terms of a broader struggle for a fair, just and generous society.”
Who ya gonna call?
I went for a walk around Lake Merritt the other day, and what I saw was disturbing. There were considerably more tents, and dirtier ones, than just a month ago. A few sites looked like Wood Street, with heaps of garbage and junk strewn all over the place. My simple question is this: If Lakeside Park is truly the “Jewel of Oakland,” then why won’t the authorities clean it up and keep it clean?