The veteran columnist Dan Walters the other day had an op-ed in the East Bay Times in which he wrote of the “frustration” of California progressives. “Progressive groups are…lamenting that they have been unable to realize their many goals and [are] sounding the alarm about losing ground despite having, on paper, a state government full of vocal allies.”

If I were Mayor of Oakland and announced a Christmas party to which only White elected officials were invited, I’d get tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail. And with good reason: I’d properly be accused of racism.

Sheng Thao and OPD are making much of the fact that, according to statistics, crime in the Fruitvale is coming down: A 43% decrease in robberies and a 29% drop in burglaries. Uptown is experiencing similar declines in crime.

As I and others have pointed out, one of the central tenets of wokeism is that capitalism is evil. I’m not here to defend capitalism, or any other “ism,” but I think San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston is out of his mind when he blames homelessness, drug use and all of San Francisco’s myriad problems on capitalism.

I thought it might be nice for our newer members to know something about the founding of the Coalition for a Better Oakland. It’s kind of a slow news day anyway, so this is a good time to do it.