You’ve probably heard about Oakland paying voters money they can then donate to candidates of their choice. The program, colloquially called Democracy Dollars (cute!) but formally known as the “Oakland Fair Elections Act,” was approved overwhelmingly by voters in 2022 as Measure W.

I wrote last week about a ranting, cursing shoplifter at Whole Foods whom I saw leaving with her arms full of pilfered food, and how a store manager told me the same woman stole from the store every single day, but they were unable to do anything about it, for a bunch of reasons.

Dear Voter: I’m sure you consider yourself a good human being. You are fair-minded and don’t judge people on their skin color or sexual orientation. You support abortion and science, and would never vote for a Republican. You’re an idealist. You think that Black people have had a raw deal in America and it’s time for some reparative justice. You agree with Bobby Kennedy: “Some people see things as they are and say, 'why?' I dream things that never were and say, 'why not?' "

The most outrageous thing I heard yesterday was when Cat Brooks was interviewed on TV about the stunning announcement that “The California Highway Patrol has recovered 414 stolen vehicles, made 181 arrests, and seized over 30 crime-linked firearms in the East Bay as part of undercover sting operations and law enforcement surges over the past 8 weeks.”

When the pandemic shut down my gym, for exercise I took to taking 6 or 7 mile walks around town. One of my favorite hikes was down to Jack London Square from Uptown, from where I’d head south, along the Bay Trail past KTVU, then turn inland toward Lake Merritt and home. Along the way, on the Estuary, behind the Jack London Aquatic Center, were five or six big sailboats moored at the foot of a dock.