u/LazarusRiley

Today, at her state of the city address, Barbara Lee was publicly embarrassed and effectively disavowed by the unions that begged her to come to Oakland and backed her for mayor (just as they backed Sheng Thao). They not only picketed outside city hall prior to the session, but they also hijacked the comment period (as they often do) and effectively made the event about them and their contract dispute.

She thought (or was told) that she could come to a crisis-ridden city and not have to take any difficult positions, make people unhappy, or implement personnel changes. Her brand alone would suffice for real policy proposals.

And now, with the election less than a month away, the unions are attacking her, the one measure she has stumped for (Measure E) has failed spectacularly, and journalists are starting to notice that Oakland is still flailing compared to San Francisco.

She will probably still get re-elected, but I don't think it will be much of a voter mandate.

What do others think?

"Jose Jesus Rodriguez, 34, was arrested on suspicion of stabbing five people, one fatally, in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood Monday night...Rodriguez was sent to prison after he was convicted for stabbing an Uber driver and a garbage collector in 2019. He was released on parole in 2023."

It is the epitome of political naïveté and empty posturing to think that Piedmont's economic or social diversity somehow affects me.

Meanwhile, the mayor and her city administrator having secret meetings with Buffy Wicks and her wealthy north Oakland neighbors about traffic diverters is something that actually affects me and everyone who doesn't live in the north Oakland bubble.

People dump garbage (like, whole apartments) near the east Oakland park I volunteer at on a weekly basis. The mayor and her city administrator have never offered to meet with anyone about that problem, even though there are three schools and two daycare centers within walking distance.

Piedmont isn't the problem. The problem is that certain districts and neighborhoods (many of which already function like their own governments) suck up the lion's share of city time and resources, while everyone else flounders.

Forget the random enclave surrounded by Oakland. Let's end the yawning divide in economic development, cleanliness, and services delivery between our wealthy enclave neighborhoods and neighborhoods that are 5+ miles away from city hall.

I know that they're adjusting some schedules in August, but it feels like several lines have been reduced without officially being reduced. The NL bus has so many cancelled trips on the app now that it is basically a twice an hour line now. The 57 will also have sporadic trip cancellations.

Is it just me? Are other lines across AlCo and CCCo also seeing lots of random trip cancellations every day?

Update:

I just remembered that Oakland Councilmember Charlene Wang is on the Oakland/AC Transit Interagency Committee. If you ride a line that goes through Oakland or live in Oakland, and your line is experiencing sudden service degradation, email her office at district2@oaklandca.gov

I just did, and she replied and said that they will likely add this to the next agenda. So do reach out if it makes sense!

"Steven Falk, a former city administrator, worked with an independent group on an alternative proposal to create a strong council-manager form of government. His group has discussed the behested payment issue several times and identified it as one of the major problems with a strong mayor system, he told us. With the council-manager system, Falk said, you don’t have this issue."