Homelessness is Big Business in Oakland. And like all massive businesses, its stakeholders—the bureaucrats who make their living in it, and the politicians who campaign on it—will fight to preserve the business that sustains them.

Chief Armstrong held another press conference yesterday, only this one was different. Usually, the mood is somber, as he talks about the latest murder/s in Oakland. Yesterday, Chief was in, if not quite a celebratory mood, then at least one in which he was (in his words) “sending a message of safety.”

The election is two weeks from today. I suspect most of you have already voted by mail, but if you haven’t, here’s our list of endorsements. This was worked out by the Coalition’s leaders; in some cases, I disagree. For instance, I voted for Measure S, because I think that parents deserve some input into matters that impact their kids’ schools (and I don’t think Measure S is a slippery slope toward generalized non-citizen voting). But at CBO, we go by consensus.

If Republicans take over the Congress in the upcoming election—which they’re in a good position to do--it will be in no small part because of the “defund the police” movement, which has alienated, offended and frightened tens of millions of voters who might normally vote Democratic but worry about crime, and are thus willing to consider going Red.

When it comes to clichés, you have to give Nikki Bas the Oscar. Here are a few of her platitudes in the closing days of the campaign: