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OP-ED: Public Safety for Oakland — Prevention and Policing, Intervention and Enforcement

As the only Black man on Oakland’s City Council, I know firsthand that public safety is an intersectional issue. It requires a focus on the history of Oakland, racism in America, the flaws of our criminal justice system, lack of investment in new technologies, and yes, adequately resourcing our law enforcement and violence prevention teams with well-trained and community-minded men and women.

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Caption: Loren Taylor represents District 6 on Oakland’s City Council. Photo courtesy of Loren Taylor.
Caption: Loren Taylor represents District 6 on Oakland’s City Council. Photo courtesy of Loren Taylor.

By Loren Taylor

The same playgrounds I grew up on in Oakland aren’t safe for my kids today. The Town deserves better, and it starts with a detailed, multi-pronged, comprehensive approach to public safety.

As the only Black man on Oakland’s City Council, I know firsthand that public safety is an intersectional issue. It requires a focus on the history of Oakland, racism in America, the flaws of our criminal justice system, lack of investment in new technologies, and yes, adequately resourcing our law enforcement and violence prevention teams with well-trained and community-minded men and women.

For too long in Oakland, saying that we should resource police officers has been a “third rail” issue that ambitious politicians avoid. This kind of politics has gotten us nowhere, and Oaklanders are rightly sick of it.

Oakland is in the midst of a public safety crisis. In 2021, 134 people were killed in our city and we are on track to meet or surpass that number this year. Families in my City Council district account for an outsized percentage of those affected by these tragic killings. They are mourning loved ones and trying to pick up the pieces, and in the meantime, our police officers simply cannot keep up.

A recent investigative report showed that over the course of 11 months last year there were 115 instances in which Oakland police were so overwhelmed with 911 calls that they had to prioritize on the fly, sending officers only to emergencies that seemed to present imminent danger.

It is absolutely crucial that as we try to solve the root causes of crime and homicide in our city, we fix the resource gaps and staffing shortages that are adding to the chaos. We are failing if our first responders are having to decide who lives and who dies.

I reject the framing that it’s either police and enforcement or violence prevention and root causes intervention. It has long been my stance that it has to be “both-and” and not “either-or.”

I also categorically reject the idea that we have to choose between racial justice and public safety, or that it is not “progressive” to enforce our laws. There’s nothing progressive about doing nothing when Oaklanders are dying from gun violence, having their cars broken into, or feel unsafe on our streets on a daily basis.

After the murder of George Floyd, I architected and co-led Oakland’s Reimagining Public Safety Task Force to develop innovative and equitable solutions to our public safety challenges, many of which we adopted in the current city budget. But that was just the beginning.

In my campaign for mayor, I’ve proposed a comprehensive public safety plan that will address the crisis we find ourselves in. I am not afraid to introduce tough, potentially controversial, systemic reforms and investments to keep Oakland safe. If elected mayor in November, this will be my top priority.

Some of my proposed reforms will require City Council action, but during my first month in office, I will take executive actions where possible to make Oakland safer. Here are a few of those:

  • As we wait for new officers to emerge from police academies, I will immediately increase our sworn officer capacity through partnerships with other law enforcement agencies, ensuring that officers with community-facing roles (e.g., traffic enforcement) adhere to OPD commitments to constitutional policing.
  • I will deploy tools that augment surveillance monitoring and investigation capacity, including high-definition cameras, automated license plate readers, drone technology, and a criminal investigations database, working with our Privacy Advisory Commission but not allowing them to be a bottleneck on the path to improved safety.
  • For the safety of all of our children, I will establish the long-overdue formal agreement between our schools, police, and Department of Violence Prevention for improved coordination of violence prevention, crime deterrence, and emergency response in and around schools.

There’s more. I invite you to read my plan for tackling our public safety crisis and urge you to carefully consider your choice for who is best to lead The Town. It is past time that we deliver on the promise of our beloved city. With the right leadership, Oakland can be a city of dreams fulfilled.

District 6 City Councilman Loren Taylor is a proud third-generation son of Oakland, a husband, a father, an engineer, and now a candidate for Oakland mayor. Loren lives in East Oakland with his wife, Dr. Erica Taylor, and their two children. To learn more, visit lorenforoakland.com.

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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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