Nothing seems to be working in Oakland or San Francisco, when it comes to crime, drugs and homelessness. Despite billions being poured into programs, there’s more of everything bad in both cities. Drug rehab programs aren’t working. San Francisco’s so-called “crackdown” on drugs and stolen goods at U.N. Plaza is a waste if time.
A $350,000 BART-Salvation Army program for homeless outreach “resulted in just one confirmed unsheltered person receiving its services.”
In Oakland, officials have no idea how much their expensive homeless schemes are working, if at all.
The city has done “a terrible job tracking the performance of the nonprofits” that get city funds for homelessness.
In some instances, half the people in Oakland homeless programs “became unhoused again after a few years.”
Crime is so bad that the the Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association of the East Bay is urging its members “to pool their money and hire a security consultant for active shooter and self-defense trainings.”
Yes, it’s come to vigilantism, when decent, hard-working people feel they have no choice but to defend themselves, since the progressives who run this town, led by Sheng Thao, won’t let the police do it.
Let’s face it, the two cities’ response to homelessness and crime is an abysmal failure. Nothing that either city does seems to work; in fact, everything gets worse. And yet, the same progressives who got us into this mess demand more and more money, in order to fund the same failed policies. Oakland’s progressive politicians (Bas, Thao, Fife and so on, egged on by Cat Brooks) “prioritize quantifying racial equity in the distribution of taxpayer funds over assessing whether those taxpayer funds get put to good use.”
In other words, who cares whether these programs are working? Just pour more money in to them as long as they’re for people of color! That’s the progressive way: take taxpayer money, waste it on racist programs that don’t work and never will, and when they turn out to be failures, argue that the reason they’re not working is because they’re not getting enough taxpayer money!
Sooner or later, people are going to have to realize that there are only two ways to fix the problems of homelessness and crime: First, establish a large refugee camp at the Oakland Army Base, and then compel every homeless person to relocate there. No relocation, no stay in Oakland! Free bus ticket out of town! Second, arrest every drug dealer, every sideshow freak, every shoplifter, every mugger, and throw the book at them. Criminals in Oakland and San Francisco know there’s almost no chance their misdeeds will ever result in consequences for themselves. They depend on soft-on-crime DAs (Pamela Price) and judges and woke politicians to let them off the hook and prevent police from doing their jobs. They know that, when push comes to shove, Fife and her gang would rather shut down the prisons and abolish the police, than to keep you and me safe.
Does my judgment sound harsh? It is, and about time. Let’s stop playing around. Nothing the progressives do is working. They will demand more and more money to fund their failed schemes until homeowners and businesses rise up and refuse to pay taxes. The people of Oakland must fire the current City Council and Mayor and replace them with serious public servants. We need to greatly increase the budget of the Oakland Police Department and stop hobbling cops from doing their job. That is our longterm political goal. Meanwhile, keep on emailing Sheng Thao to demand she reinstate Chief Armstrong immediately! Time is running out. We can’t let the cop haters enjoy a victory, because it will only embolden them. Here’s Thao’s email: officeofthemayor@oaklandca.gov
Thank you.
Steve Heimoff