I met for coffee yesterday with a new Coalition member. He wanted to find out more about CBO than was apparent from the website and the blog, and a face-to-face was the best way to do that. Of course, I was happy to get together. Meeting and chatting with people is one of my favorite things.
It’s so important to be able to put a face and, above all, a mind onto a name. I learn from my interlocutors; hopefully they learn from me; together we’re more complete and complementary. I don’t mean to suggest that anyone ever completely changes their views base on coffee chit-chat. That’s asking too much. But we learn more about the nuances of the various issues, and more importantly, we become aware of each other’s humanity, no matter how much we may disagree on any one topic.
The guy I met with described himself as a conservative Republican. We had the usual back-and-forth; I’m a Democrat, and there’s a lot we disagree about. But he wasn’t one of those awful, QAnon Trump types; he was thoughtful and reasonable, with a loving heart. As we chatted, I expressed my liberal beliefs: pro-gay, pro-women’s rights, pro-science, that sort of thing. Then we went on to talk about Coalition issues, especially our pro-cop position (on which I am very passionate). He remarked how odd it seemed to him that I, a liberal, was pro-cop. “Aren’t you taking the conservative position?” he asked.
I told him what I earnestly believe: When I was growing up, supporting the police was not a partisan issue! Some of my relatives (although not my parents) were Republicans while most were Democrats, but to a man and a woman, the adults respected the police—and passed that value on to us children. I also told him how I resent the fact that somehow Democrats allowed Republicans to own the issue of crime and public safety. I don’t understand how that happened. I suspect its roots trace back to the Sixties, when white hippie kids adopted the rhetoric of the fashionable Black Panthers, who called cops “pigs” and talked about “offing” them. Those white hippie kids grew up and some of them became Democrats and held on to their anti-cop prejudice. And Republicans, following Nixon’s lead, seized on the “law-and-order” issue and became known as the pro-cop party.
However it happened, it’s a shame that public safety has become a Republican thing. If I accomplish nothing else in the Coalition, at the very least I’d like to turn around this notion that Democrats are anti-cop. Most Democrats, including leadership (President Biden, President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Gov. Newsom) are extremely pro-cop, as, I believe, are the vast majority of Democrats. It’s only a sliver of the far left that doesn’t like them, but sadly, that sliver knows how to capture the attention of the media. It’s appalling to me, for example, that the San Francisco Chronicle, for reasons I cannot fathom, has chosen to give Cat Brooks (the ultimate cop hater) a position of such visibility. But they have; and part of my job is to try and bring pro-cop sentiment back into the rank-and-file of the Democratic Party and to let Independents know that, if they vote for a Democrat, they’re not attacking the police!
The point I’m trying to make is that the Coalition for a Better Oakland is absolutely non-partisan. We’re not Republican or Democratic or Independent of Socialist or Progressive or Conservative or anything else. We have two goals: to reduce crime by supporting the Oakland Police Department, and to compel the city to do a better job controlling the encampments that are ruining Oakland. No matter where you are on the political spectrum, I hope you share those views.
I said above that meeting and talking with people is something I enjoy. It’s a major part of my job as President of the Coalition for a Better Oakland to get to know everyone, not only power brokers and movers and shakers, but regular Oaklanders like the guy I met with yesterday. That’s why it’s so sad that certain people won’t meet with me, Rebecca Kaplan and Carroll Fife among them. They really have nothing to fear. I’m a harmless, rather nice, interesting man, who loves to converse—and conversation includes listening. Like I mentioned earlier, I’m sure there are things I can learn from Rebecca and Carroll, and there are things they can learn from me. It’s really their loss that they won’t, and it’s also somewhat irresponsible, because they’re public officials, paid by us taxpayers, and I should think they have a duty to meet with me. (Incidentally, Council Member Noel Gallo has agreed to Zoom with us, and while he’s not running for Mayor—yet—he’s an important part of Oakland government.)
So if you want to get together for coffee, tea, wine, beer, kombucha, pot, water or anything else, let me know. It’s an honor and privilege to meet my fellow Oaklanders and share a meeting of minds.
I urge everyone to watch this 30-minute documentary, which was shared with me by a friend. It’s as strong an indictment of our current irresponsible city regime as I can imagine. It asks the question, Is Oakland beyond repair? The videographer thinks it is; I disagree.
Steve Heimoff