I was heartened to hear Oakland Chinatown officials demand that Gov. Newsom declare a State of Emergency over the crime wave that’s been sweeping the neighborhood the last few months. I’m not glad about the crime wave itself, which has thrown Chinatown into “pain and fear,” in the words of City Council member Loren Taylor, who represents the District. “Our community [is] under attack,” he added. Indeed, you can feel the apprehension as you walk through Chinatown, even as citizens’ patrols attempt to guard the people from danger.
The call for a State of Emergency came from Carl Chan, head of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, at a news conference at Pacific Renaissance Plaza. Chan specifically requested Gov. Newsom to call in the National Guard to patrol the streets.
Only hours before Chan’s news conference, yet another violent attack occurred in Chinatown, as two masked muggers leaped from a car on Franklin Street and robbed two women of their purses. The thugs pistol-whipped the boyfriend of one of the women, then fired two shots before escaping in their getaway vehicle.
Haven’t we had enough of this crime wave? Isn’t it time for every decent-hearted citizen of Oakland to stand up to the City Council Six who voted on June 24 to defund the Oakland Police Department? Kaplan, Kalb, Bas, Fife, Thao and Gallo stripped OPD of nearly $18 million, which OPD Chief LeRonne Armstrong warned will seriously reduce the number of officers on the streets and result in longer 9-1-1 wait times. To this day, nearly two months after their horrible vote, Kaplan, Kalb, Bas, Fife, Thao and Gallo remain unrepentant; indeed, Fife, on her website, incredibly continues to demand cutting OPD’s budget by 50%!!!
I am calling for a renewed public campaign of pressure by the People of Oakland to resist these insane “progressives” on the City Council, who are blind to the needs of the People. Carl Chan: Join us. Council members Taylor and Reid (the only members who didn’t vote to defund OPD): Join us. Chief Armstrong: Join us. People of Oakland: Join us. We are the majority in this town. For too long, we’ve gone about our lives, ignoring “politics,” hoping and praying and assuming our elected officials would do right by us. They have not. The clock is ticking. Join the Coalition for a Better Oakland, the only citizens’ group in town fighting against the defunders. It’s your city, your life, and the lives of your loved ones. Surely that’s worth fighting for!
Steve Heimoff