Just a few random comments before I take the rest of the week off for the holidays:

Virtually alone among Bay Area big cities, Oakland defiantly continues to allow the worst encampments to despoil the city. From Lakeside Park to Mosswood to East 12th Street and the despicable mess along the Estuary, your pro-homeless government is resisting doing what everyone else is doing: Cleaning up the slums.

Nikki F. Bas was shocked, shocked on Tuesday during the City Council meeting that slashed the budgets of both the Police Department and the Fire Department. “Most of what is before us,” she moaned, “is really hard to swallow.”

My friend Carrie, a longtime Coalition member, moved from her East Oakland home to another city some time ago. She didn’t want to leave but felt she had no choice: conditions in her neighborhood had deteriorated to the point where she no longer felt safe.

A string on Reddit is interesting in terms of how people view Oakland as a place to live. The original poster, a young woman, asked which city she should live in if the choice was between Oakland and New York City. Most readers responded with New York City because, well, it’s New York City! As one put it, “I’ve lived in or near Oakland for over 10 years and I love it, but not for a hot minute would I take it over NYC. You’re in your 20’s. Now is the best time to live in New York. There is no place on earth like it.”