Loren Taylor is playing his mayoral campaign just right. He’s positioning himself as the moderate Democrat—the “adult in the room” who seems to be in favor of more cops and has consistently supported the Oakland Police Department. In this, he contrasts well with his opponents: Sheng Thao, who was against OPD before she was for it, and Treva Reid, who has yet to carve out a coherent policy on public safety. Sadly, in her refusal to accept campaign contributions from cops or cop organizations, Reid has caved to defund-the-police types, which must be counted a point against her.
Taylor’s five-point public safety plan, announced yesterday, is short on specifics and long on anodyne, feel-good goals, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. All of his goals are aspirational: cutting in half the number of unanswered 911 calls, for example, or doubling the solve rate for violent crimes. This is like saying you’re in favor of world peace and ending hunger. Who could be against?
If I have an objection to Taylor’s plan, it’s that he’s a little weasly on the issue of more funding for OPD. Sometimes he seems to promise just that; for instance, in a Chronicle interview in September, he said he “wants to push for more police resources so that the city is not ‘putting more lives at risk.’” And when we Zoomed with him a few weeks ago, he also implied he favors more money for cops.
Yet sometimes Taylor avoids the topic altogether; the five-point plan makes no specific promise of OPD funding, although implicit in all of its goals is the reality that achieving them will cost a lot more money. Taylor’s “Both, And” philosophy implies that Oakland can provide more funding for OPD as well as more money for anti-violence programs. This may well be true in theory, but together, they raise doubts about what Oakland can afford, and what the next City Council will be prepared to do.
I understand Taylor’s eagerness to avoid specifics. There’s a lot of anti-police sentiment out there, and nobody, including Loren Taylor, wants to get on its wrong side. On the other hand, there’s a lot of pro-cop sentiment, too, as citizens, witnessing the distressing explosion of murder and crime, desire greater police protection.
It’s a delicate balancing act for Taylor. Those of us who wish for a firmer commitment to supporting OPD will just have to be patient and allow Taylor the wiggle room he needs, to develop his campaign themes and test voter sentiment. The election is still a year away, leaving plenty of time for developments. If crime continues to spiral out of control—and sadly, that looks to be the case—I expect Loren Taylor to move further to the center (or moderate, or rational) position on OPD funding, and to insist on greater resources, including more Police Academies. This would cause the Progressive, anti-cop Left to howl, but they’re of dwindling importance in Oakland, as they are nationally.
At this point, from my point of view, Taylor is the best of the viable announced candidates for mayor. The Coalition for a Better Oakland isn’t prepared to formally endorse him, or anyone else, just yet. We’re still in the process of meeting other candidates. In endorsing, we also have a balancing act. Do we throw our weight behind someone who’s closer to our issues than Taylor is, even if that person has zero chance of winning? Voters always have to consider the pragmatic implications of their choices.
NUMBER OF DAYS SINCE I INVITED CARROLL FIFE TO HAVE TEA WITH ME, WITH NO REPLY: 7
Steve Heimoff