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Mayor Schaaf Speaks at Rally Blaming Teachers for Not Reopening Schools Immediately

“The rally featured the mayor,” though most of those there “were not even from Oakland,” said Davey D Monday afternoon on his radio show, “Hard Knock Radio.”

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Davey D

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was the featured speaker at a rally Lake Merritt Sunday of 100-150 mostly white participants. Many of those at the supposedly  “grassroots” protest blamed teachers and the teachers’ union for the failure to reopen schools immediately in the midst of the waning but still virulent pandemic that is claiming lives in Oakland.

“It’s time we get our kids back to school, or as we say in Oakland ‘hella time,’” said Schaaf. “Us adults have to get our stuff out of the way so we can put our children first,” she said in remarks quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle and other media.

The organization sponsoring the rally was called, in social media, “Oakland Parents for Transparency and Safe Reopening.”

Witnessing the Lake Merritt rally and the mayor’s participation in it were Davey D Cook, hip-hop activist and KPFA radio host; and local artist, activist and educator Kev Choice.

“The rally featured the mayor,” though most of those there “were not even from Oakland,” said Davey D Monday afternoon on his radio show, “Hard Knock Radio.”

“It was interesting to see this rally had nobody Black there,” though hundreds and hundreds of Black people were at the lake only a short distance away from where the rally was being held, he said.

Kev Choice, speaking on the radio show, said, “I was taken aback by the demographics of the rally” and particularly upset by two prominent placards he saw at the rally:  “End Oakland Teacher Supremacy” and “Teacher Union Delay Kills Kids.”

“If they want to hold a rally, where are the families and students from the Oakland’s Black and Brown schools?” asked Choice. “Where are the kids from the Deep East?” “Why did they choose to have (the rally) at the lake, which is such a multicultural place of gathering, especially on Sunday.”

He said he was disappointed that the mayor was supporting this crowd, which was not representative of Oakland’s most impacted families and teachers.

“Are (they) considering those schools that are going to need more resources to reopen?”  Choice asked.

Most of the polls and interviews in Oakland and other urban districts indicate that the majority of parents and teachers – unlike families from affluent districts  – are opposed to reopening schools until there are sufficient guarantees of student, teacher and family safety.

Referring to the rally on social media in the  “Mayor’s Weekly Briefing,” Schaaf wrote , “We joined with kids, parents, educators and residents to urge collaboration among our school district, unions and state officials to speed the process and reopen our schools in a safe and equitable manner.”

Joining the mayor in calling for the district to reopen were former school board member Jumoke Hinton-Hodge and current school board member Cliff Thompson.

One of the speakers was Megan Bacigalupi, who said “in-person education” is “essential,” arguing that Oakland is in the midst of “a sea of open or soon-to-be-open school districts,” comparing OUSD to neighboring highly affluent districts that have reopened, such as Piedmont and Orinda.

Bacigalupi is an attorney who works full time for the OUSD Parents organization and the statewide advocacy group Open School CA, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Davey D interviewed Mike Hutchison, a new school board member representing District 5, who emphasized that the district has been closed to in-person instruction for almost a year and is facing a serious crisis because it needs a concrete plan to reopen safely.

At the same time, he said there is a “concerted effort” to “rev up a small segment of parents” by some well-funded organizations “that are not friendly to public education” and oppose teacher unions.
CDC guidelines do say that schools can be reopened safely, according to Hutchinson, but also make clear that in order to do so, schools must made safe for students, including social distancing and other safeguards.

Oakland schools, which normally have nearly 30  or more students per classroom, would have to reduce to 12 students per class in order to maintain proper social distancing, requiring more classroom space and hiring more teaching staff.

“We do not have the space or the staff,” Hutchinson said. “We cannot afford it.”

He and others strongly disagree with those who favor reopening immediately who say a 1% fatality rate of school district staff and families would be an acceptable loss, Hutchinson said.

“That would be 350 students and 25 teachers,” who would die, he said.  “That is not acceptable.”

“Our mayor controls enough money that she could help speed up the reopening of our schools,” he said. “Instead, she chose to (promote) a group of selfish parents and throw the rest of the district under the bus.”

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Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

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Who are the Alameda County District 4 Supervisor Candidates’ Top Campaign Contributors?

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

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Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).
Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).

By Zack Haber

Nate Miley, who has served on Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors since 2000, is running for reelection to the District 4 supervisor seat.

Jennifer Esteen, a nurse and activist, is seeking to unseat him and become one of the five members of the powerful board that sets the county’s budget, governs its unincorporated areas, and oversees the sheriff, Alameda Health System, and mental health system.

District 4 includes most of East Oakland’s hills and flatlands beyond Fruitvale, part of Pleasanton and unincorporated areas south of San Leandro like Ashland and Castro Valley.

Voting is open and will remain open until March 5.

In California, campaign donations of $100 or more are public record. The records show that Miley has received about $550,000 in total campaign donations since he won the previous District 4 election in March 2020. Esteen has raised about $255,000 in total campaign donations since she started collecting them last July. All figures are accurate through Feb. 20.

While Miley has raised more money, Esteen has received donations from more sources. Miley received donations of $100 or more from 439 different sources. Esteen received such donations from 507 different sources.

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

Nate Miley’s top campaign contributors:

The California Apartment Association, a trade group representing landlords and investors in California’s rental housing business, has spent about $129,500 supporting Miley’s election bid through about $59,500 in ads against Esteen$55,000 in ads supporting Miley, and $15,000 in campaign donations.

The independent expenditure committee Preserve Agriculture in Alameda County has spent about $46,025 supporting Miley through about $27,200 in their own ads, and $18,825 in donations to his campaign. Preserve Agriculture has supported reelection efforts for former Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley, and Sheriff Greg Ahern, a republican. It’s received funding from ChevronPG&E, and a the California Apartment Association.

Organizations associated with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, or LiUNA, have donated about $35,000 in total. Construction and General Laborers Local 304, a local chapter of the union representing which represents over 4,000 workers, donated $20,000.

Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition, which represents 70,000 LiUNA members in Arizona, California, Hawaii and New Mexico, donated $15,000.

William ‘Bill’ Crotinger and the East Oakland-based company Argent Materials have donated $26,000. Crotinger is the president and founder of Argent, a concrete and asphalt recycling yard. Argent’s website says it is an eco-friendly company that diverts materials from landfills. In 2018, Argent paid the EPA $27,000 under a settlement for committing Clean Water Act violations.

Michael Morgan of Hayward, owner of We Are Hemp, a marijuana dispensary in Ashland, has donated $21,500.

Alameda County District 1 Supervisor David Haubert has donated $21,250 from his 2024 reelection campaign. He’s running unopposed for the District 1 seat.

SEIU 1021which represents over 60,000 workers in local governments, non-profit agencies, healthcare programs, and schools in Northern California, has donated $20,000.

UA Local 342, which represents around 4,000 pipe trades industry workers in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, donated $20,000.

The union representing the county’s deputy sheriffs, Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Alameda County, has donated $17,000.

Becton Healthcare Resources and its managers have donated $14,625. Becton’s mission statement says it provides “behavioral health management services to organizations and groups that serve the serious and persistent mentally ill population.”

Jennifer Esteen’s top campaign contributors:

Mary Quinn Delaney of Piedmont, founder of Akonadi Foundation, has donated $20,000. Akonadi Foundation gives grants to nonprofit organizations, especially focusing on racial justice organizing,

Bridget Galli of Castro Valley has donated $7,000. Galli is a yoga instructor and a co-owner of Castro Valley Yoga.

Rachel Gelman of Oakland has donated $5,000. Gelman is an activist who has vowed to redistribute her inherited wealth to working class, Indigenous and Black communities.

California Worker Families Party has donated $5,000. The organization’s website describes itself as a “grassroots party for the multiracial working class.”

David Stern of Albany has donated $5,000. Stern is a retired UC Berkeley Professor of Education.

Oakland Rising Committee—a collaborative of racial, economic, and environmental justice organizations—has donated about $3,050.

Fredeke Von Bothmer-Goodyear, an unemployed resident of San Francisco, has donated $2,600.

Robert Britton of Castro Valley has donated $2,500. Britton is retired and worked in the labor movement for decades.

Progressive Era PAC has donated about $2,400. Its mission statement says it “exists to elect governing majorities of leaders in California committed to building a progressive era for people of color.”

East Bay Stonewall Democrats Club has donated $2,250. The club was founded in 1982 to give voice to the East Bay LGBTQIA+ communities.

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