I always have to chuckle when I hear a political candidate answer a question by saying, “I will involve the community in determining what to do.”
Nearly always it’s “progressive” candidates who talk that way, at least in Oakland. Whenever I hear such blather, I know that the candidate has no idea what to do and is just deflecting the question. But they can’t come out and say so, because they would sound stupid. So instead, they get all democracyish by saying that they need to hear what “the community” wants before they make a policy decision.
Well, this is bunk. It’s the blind leading the blind. Why run for office if you have no opinion—and strong opinion, at that—about what to do to fix our problems? Whether it’s a school issue, or a parcel tax measure, or a policing decision, there are multiple problems with “asking the community.”
Who is “the community” you’re allegedly asking? In a place like Oakland, you get these small, local individuals and groups that have nothing better to do than go to City Council or Police Commission meetings. It’s the same people time after time—the council members know them well. They’re always super-progressive (whatever that means), usually anti-police, often people of color, and their politics do not represent the majority of the people of Oakland. Yet they have an outsized influence on our politics. When politicians talk about “the community” they’re talking about a tiny but zealous cadre of radicals.
Speaking for myself, I want candidates who have spent years analyzing issues and who have come up with solutions. Electeds are supposed to be leaders, not pollsters. I don’t want some council member meeting with a select group of activists asking them if Oakland should hire more cops. I want my electeds to know the right thing to do. Then let them educate the public. That’s leadership!
So the next time you hear a candidate saying she’ll ask “the community” what it wants done, know that you’re seeing an incompetent, cowardly individual who wants to get elected—not to solve problems, but to get re-elected.
Steve Heimoff