I’ll have a new post next Monday, Jan. 6. I’ve had to lay low over the holidays, due to this damned disease I have and also to a bad cold I caught that’s wrecking my throat. It’s not COVID or the flu because I’m vaccinated against both. Maybe RSV?
Anyhow, I needed some down time. Besides, locally there’s not a whole lot going on anyway. We’re in an interregnum in both Oakland and Alameda County until we select a new Mayor and District Attorney, respectively. Crime is down, but it’s important to emphasize that this is true across every city in America, so don’t believe the self-serving braggadocio from politicians that in Oakland it’s due to their brilliant policies. They speak of Ceasefire, and while that program may be partially responsible, it certainly doesn’t explain crime reductions elsewhere. Remember, proximity is not causality; Ceasefire happened at the same time as the crime reduction, but that doesn’t mean the former caused the latter. We may never fully understand what national trends are responsible for the drift of crime downward across the country; certainly the demise of COVID is a major factor. And it may well be that, from the East Coast to the West Coast, Americans are sick and tired of the brazenness of criminals and have demanded, of their governing officials, greater policing and tougher sentencing. And let’s not forget Gavin Newson sending Oakland all those CHP officers and surveillance cameras. So Ceasefire? Maybe, maybe not. Sheng Thao tried to keep her job by crowing about Ceasefire, but it didn’t work. Fortunately.
Anyhow, Happy 2025! Here’s hoping Oakland will shake off its fentanyl-like addiction to racialized politics. Can we do it? Not if Barbara Lee is our next mayor. She’ll simply do what she’s been doing for 25 years: stoking divisions between the races. That’s the last thing we need!
Steve Heimoff