Events elsewhere—the presidential race, the heat wave, inflation and the economy, the threat to democracy—seem to be on everyone’s mind, pushing local Oakland politics to the provincial background. But in many respects, what happens here in the next 4-1/2 months will prove to be more important to our future than anything else.
That’s because we have two Recall elections coming up on November 5, for Thao and Price. The results could lead to a major course-correction in the direction of Oakland politics and freedom or, conversely, plunge us back into the chaos and dysfunction of the last several years.
As recently as 2022, I didn’t seriously believe Oakland could possibly stop its inevitable plunge off the woke cliff. I hoped we would, but with far-left progressives in charge of City Hall, and a gutless, rather clueless mayor, Schaaf, there didn’t appear to be anything to halt our city’s suicide mission. We kept electing politicians who appealed to Oakland’s compassionate, root-for-the-underdog side, but who lacked the intelligence to discern the harmful impact of their policies.
The elections of Nikki Fortunato Bas, Carroll Fife and Sheng Thao, in 2018, 2020 and 2022 respectively, seemed to be terminal blows to any hopes Oakland had of a cultural recovery. The three, who have been referred to as The Squad, took the city sharply to the left, making race the dominating issue and increasing their attacks on the police department which, to varying degrees, they wished to eliminate altogether or at least reduce considerably in funding and, therefore, in effectiveness.
The results were both predictable and inevitable. Oakland became one of the murder capitals of America. Crime exploded, as young hoodlums realized there would be few if any consequences for their actions. Homeless encampments exploded, especially after Libby Schaaf announced that Oaklanders love our unhoused brothers and sisters and invited them to move here, which they did.
The question always was, How much destruction could the wokes cause in Oakland before the electorate realized how dangerous they were. The answer, sadly, was: A lot. Oakland voters frequently reminded me of those pitiful women who are repeatedly abused by their men: they excuse the misogynistic behavior and blame themselves for the violence inflicted on them.
Then Pamela Price got elected, and it was immediately clear that she intended to go soft on criminals. She said she wouldn’t prosecute anyone under the age of 25 of a felony if she could possibly avoid it. She said she would direct her prosecutors to press for misdemeanors and parole instead, no matter how violent the crime. Always inherent in her pronouncements was her ultimate goal of shutting down the jails and freeing all the thieves, muggers, carjackers and rapists.
Fife, meanwhile, stealthily took over the City Council. She was clever, curating her public remarks and keeping her fingerprints off the most egregious bills but leaving no doubt to those of us watching that she was determined to make her racist activism the predominant ideology in Oakland. Bas, influenced by Fife, went along, and in many respects became the face of the anti-police, pro-crime movement.
Now, here we are. There are so many grave crises confronting America that it’s hard for people to concentrate on local issues, but we have to, we really do. Nothing you or I do individually will end global warming, or protect LGBTQ rights, or lower inflation, or prevent religious maniacs from taking over the country, or keep Americans from being able to buy military-style assault weapons. But we can retake our city. I will make this prediction: if we recall both Thao and Price in November, it will be a political shot heard around the world. We will demonstrate that a city can heal itself of dangerous and offensive political cults, even while preserving the liberal values that make Oakland such a special place.
Steve Heimoff