NOTE: These are my personal endorsements. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Coalition for a Better Oakland’s Board of Directors or our membership. Keep in mind also that, since the Coalition’s concerns are cops/public safety and encampments, I have no endorsements for offices like BART directors or East Bay Regional Park District directors.
President and Vice President of the United States: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz
U.S. Senator: Adam Schiff
U.S. Representative 12th District: Lateefah Simon
State Senator 7th District: Jesse Arreguin. Beckles is way too far left.
State Assembly 18th District: Neither candidate is ideal. Vote for Mia Bonta
Supervisor 5th District: John Bauters. We must get rid of Nikki Bas, once and for all.
Recalls
Yes on recalling Price
Yes on recalling Thao
Oakland City Council
At-Large: LeRonne Armstrong
District 1: Len Raphael
District 3: We obviously need to fire Carroll Fife. Warren Logan is simply Fife-Lite. Afolabi has some good ideas to offer, but is strangely silent on our main issue, public safety. (He calls for “introspection,” whatever that means). I’m endorsing Michelle Hailey, who has a good, common sense approach to the issues.
District 5: A reluctant endorsement for Erin Armstrong. She’s a bit too woke for me, but one of her opponents, Dominic Prado, is just too inexperienced, while the other, Noel Gallo, is long past his expiration date.
District 7: Marcie Hodge. She is the only candidate who seems to have a correct understanding of public safety. She understands the dangers of underfunding OPD and of restricting cops from doing their jobs.
PROPOSITIONS
In general, I’m against new bonds, because the costs are always passed on to taxpayers, especially homeowners, who already are crushed by parcel taxes. Renters think that parcel taxes don’t impact them, but whenever a landlord has a tax increase, he’ll figure out a way to pass it on to the tenant. In addition, there is no guarantee the funds raised by these propositions will actually be used for the alleged purposes, particularly in Oakland, where bait-and-switch is common.
Prop 2: No
Prop 3: Strong YES
Prop 4: No
Prop 5: Strong NO. This is a sneaky attempt by progressives to be able to raise taxes eternally, at will, and by whatever amount they want.
Prop 6: Strong NO. Opponents are painting this as “Slavery 2.0” but that’s ridiculous. Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time—that’s my feeling.
Prop 32: No. Constant increases in the minimum wage contribute to inflation, and cause businesses to fail.
Prop 33: No
Prop 34: No position taken
Prop 35: No position taken
Prop 36: Strong YES
Gov. Newsom is against Prop 36. Although I like and support Gov. Newsom, in this case he’s wrong. We HAVE to get tough on shoplifters!!!
Oakland Measures
Measure NN: No. We do need additional money for 9-1-1 dispatch, but the City Council should vote on this as a stand-alone expenditure. Instead, they lump it in with dubious “anti-violence” programs that waste the taxpayers’ money and lead to graft and corruption.
Measure OO: No. This is a poorly-explained measure. It contains some pretty bad things that are hidden in bureaucratese.
City Attorney: Brenda Harbin-Forte
Steve Heimoff