I have said over and over again in this space that there’s simply not enough money to house all the homeless people in Oakland, and there never will be. Not even close. And yet, the “pro-homeless” elements on the City Council and elsewhere continue to demand Housing First; they will not stop their activism, they say, until every one of Oakland’s 5,000 homeless people is permanently sheltered.

Brandon Harami’s official title is Policy Director to Oakland Mayoral candidate and City Council member Sheng Thao, but he’s much more than simply a guy who writes memos on housing and garbage to his boss. He’s Thao’s hatchet man on social media.

When the San Jose Police Department conducted that amazing sideshow bust last weekend, in which many cars were impounded and more than 700 people arrested as police blocked off all possible escape routes, a lot of us wondered why Oakland can’t do the same thing. After all, our sideshow problem is far worse than San Jose’s, and yet we seemingly let these scofflaws get off scot-free.

I told you a week or so ago I’d let you when whether Measure O, in Sacramento, passed or not. Well, the official result is still ambiguous, but “O” at last count had nearly 55% of the vote, and the Sacramento Bee reported that “O” is “very likely [to be] approved.”

Last Monday, Jan. 9, 2023, the Oakland City Council held its first meeting of the new year. Here are the minutes, as provided by Secretary to the Council Steve Heimoff.