Please Someone Run Against Jane Brunner
This article does a good job describing the increasingly crowded field in this year’s Oakland City Council race. I was disappointed, though not surprised, to see that neo-socialist Jane Brunner is still running unopposed.
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Oakland Teachers Union Plans Theater of the Absurd
I was discouraged, but not surprised, to see this article indicating that the Oakland Teachers Union still appears to have little interest in helping solve the problems at the Oakland School District.
West Oakland 99 Cents Only Store Opponents Are Cheaters
Check out this article in today’s Oakland Tribune. Here is the critical part:
A long-running debate in the West Oakland community, opponents of the discount retailer preferred to have that space devoted to the Mandela Foods Cooperative….
“We asked BRIDGE to restrict the square footage that 99 Cents devotes to the sale of produce, dairy and meat to 50 square feet,” said Mandela Marketplace project manager Wells Lawson, so it wouldn’t compete with the community-based fresh-food retailer.
So, to paraphrase, let’s help West Oakland residents get sorely needed fresh food by preventing stores from having more than 50 sq feet of space for it.
Why Oaklanders Should Vote No on Measure G
When I think of liberal guilt, I always picture it as an ashen-faced bearded man, sort of in the mold of Karl Marx. Well, the bearded man of Oakland’s election February 5 is Measure G.
This measure purports not to raise taxes, while extending indefinitely a previously temporary $195-per-parcel tax on nearly every property owner in the city. What the measure really does is helps to assuage people’s liberal guilt by throwing money at a problem which money cannot solve.
I spent about an hour at the new 99c Only store. Dozens of people there, buying everything from produce and milk to toys for their kids. Everyone looked very happy to finally have a reasonable business enterprise in their midst.
West Oakland Welcomes 99c Only Stores!
This morning at 8AM West Oakland gets its new 99c Only Store [press release]. The store is on Seventh Avenue, just across from the West Oakland BART station. When I came home from work today, I could see there were already people lining up there to get iPods and scooters for 99c at the grand opening.
This store is a miracle of capitalism in a decimated area of liquor stores and section 8 housing. The folks wanting to open the “Mandela Collective,” a joke enterprise which will undoubtedly fail, did everything in their power to stop 99c Only from coming to town.
Bank of America’s New ATMs Suck
Tonight I went to my local BofA branch to deposit a refund check I received from my insurance carrier in the mail when I got home from work. I discovered that they no longer allow you to put your check in an envelope and deposit it at the ATM. Instead, there’s a slot where you’re supposed to insert the check so the machine can scan it. Here’s a link to an article about the new ATMs.
Recalling Dellums Will Not Help
A number of people have called for Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums to resign or be recalled, thinking this will somehow solve the city’s problems.
In truth, removing Dellums, or any city politician for that matter, will have little effect, for the simple reason that whoever takes the job will do exactly the same sorts of things that Dellums has done. Oakland faces problems that the government cannot solve. They are problems which drive well-meaning people to suggest solutions such as increased school funding, more police, social programs, affordable housing, etc. They are also problems which none of these policies can solve.
Oakland’s Silly Mortgage Workshop
This past weekend Oakland held what can at best be called a completely worthless forum on the so-called mortgage crisis.
Not to suggest that the mortgage crisis isn’t real. The statistics show that numerous East Bay residents took out risky subprime mortgages and will pay the consequences either through high payments or foreclosure.