I’m not big on the “I told you so” game, but in this case, I’ll say it to these restauranteurs: “I told you so.” Lots of people warned you about voting for Nikki Bas, Sheng Thao, and Pamela Price, last November. You can’t say you didn’t hear the warnings. But you chose to disregard them. And now, you’re suffering the consequences.
These thoughts are prompted by yesterday’s front page article in the Chronicle. It was a heartbreaking tale: so many Oakland restaurants broken into, some of them multiple times. They include Awaken Café, Tay Ho, Farley’s East, Asha Tea House, the Melt, Parche, Low Bar, Sobre Mesa, Bar Shiru, and Alamar. I’ve patronized most of these establishments. They’re vital to the Downtown/Uptown area where I live. In interviews, their proprietors told the Chronicle about having to spend tens of thousands of dollars to increase security, of having their insurance policies canceled, of feeling that calling the police is useless. In some instances, they’re considering leaving town. Uptown/Downtown is struggling enough, as it is: if these businesses fold, central Oakland will be impoverished beyond repair for years.
The article made me feel sorry for these proprietors. They put their blood, sweat and fortunes into these small businesses, only to become victims of the crime wave that has Oakland in its grip. But the article also made me angry. I don’t know how these owners voted, but I have a strong hunch that the majority consider themselves progressives, and voted for Bas, Thao and Price, as well as for Fife, Kalb, Kaplan and the Council’s other progressives in past elections.
Did they not know the history of their candidates? Did they not study their records? All have voted to defund the police, or have voted against funding for additional police academies, or have called for releasing all prisoners from jail. All have exhibited extreme hostility toward the Oakland Police Department and have heavily contributed to the collapse of morale there. All refuse to allow OPD to expand to the 1,100 officers it requires in a crime-plagued town the size of Oakland. In the particular case of Pamela Price, whom the progressives adore, she is conducting a war on cops that is unprecedented. Do the business owners who voted for her understand the connection between their vote and their losses?
Elections, it’s said, have consequences. They certainly do. There’s also an old saying, “A conservative is a liberal who’s been mugged.” I’m hoping that all these restaurateurs recover and remain in Oakland. But I suspect the robberies will worsen, because we have a governing regime that literally doesn’t care and refuses to protect victims instead of criminals, whom they coddle in the name of “social justice.” I hope the restaurateurs read this and realize that they voted very, very stupidly, and are suffering the consequences of their own actions.
Steve Heimoff