Post News Group Endorsements
Ignacio De La Fuente
Gregory Hodge
Treva Reid
These five leading candidates represent different approaches to solving Oakland’s complex challenges. All are capable of leading the City of Oakland, although with varying promises, strategies and action plans which have been spelled out in the flood of brochures and media advertisements that you have received during this campaign season. The Publisher recommends a #1 or #2 vote for Mr. De La Fuente because of his undeniable experience and his forthright positions on hiring the formerly incarcerated, fighting crime and providing solutions for homelessness, as you rank the candidates according to your hopes and dreams for the Town (They are presented in alphabetical order, not in recommended ranked order.)
For Post Recommendations, go to Page 16
Oakland Post Loren Taylor
Sheng Thao
“Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
postnewsgroup.com
59th Year, No. 20
Weekly Edition. Edition. Nov. 2-8, 2022
Councilmember Loren Taylor Supports Rezoning ‘Portion’ of Mills College for Development
Press conference on July 19, 2022, at Oakland City Hall supports fight to save Mills College and calls for an independent state investigation of the merger with Northeastern University. “This merger was sudden, confusing and done with very little transparency,” said Councilmember Sheng Thao, a Mills graduate. Photo courtesy of the Office of Sheng Thao. By Ken Epstein
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District 6 Councilmember and candidate for mayor Loren Taylor says he is in favor of office buildings, retail and residential development on a “portion” of the 135-acre campus of Mills College at Northeastern, which is in his council
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sity real estate development, including condominiums and retail. While city staff did not say who had submitted the proposed zoning change, and Schaaf did not reply to questions from the Post, Taylor did discuss his position in a text to the Post.
“I am not opposed to rezoning a portion of the site — not all of it. (I) need to better explore the plan of the current zoning to have a definitive response,” he told the Post in a text. “There have been several proposals submitted to my understanding, from affordable housing to small footprint corContinued on Page 18
Everyone Deserves a Good Education, Everyone Deserves a Chance for Success
By Seth Steward
in
district. The proposed zoning change came to light two weeks in ago in a report to City Council. Buried in a draft plan for future housing in Oakland, submitted to City Council by Mayor Libby Schaaf’s Administration, is a map of zoning changes that would allow for higher den-
Photo courtesy of the Office of Sheng Thao.
Where can you go to gain an award-winning education to become an entrepreneur, take general education classes so you can transfer to a four-year institution like U.C. Berkeley or learn the skills necessary to become an ironworker or a sheet metal worker? Composed of four institutions: Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College and Merritt College, the Peralta Community College District is the institution for everyone. Everyone deserves a good education, and everyone deserves a chance to be successful. And it is because of the opportunities this institution affords that I want to be a part of it. That’s why I am running for
Opinion
Seth Steward. Photo courtesy of the author.
election to the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees to represent Area 7 in California. My name is on the ballot in the general election on Nov. 8, 2022. Thanks to the excellent teachers and staff at Peralta,
our schools boast awardwinning academic success and high marks for outstanding achievements. Peralta has demonstrated improved student success every year for the past five years. Unfortunately, in 2020, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC), placed Peralta on probation status due to poor fiscal management. In January, the colleges were upgraded to “warning,” a less severe sanction than “probation.” Last year, the Alameda County Grand Jury made some critical findings about the Peralta Board of Trustees which included interfering with the formal hiring process, harsh treatment of employees involving racially insensitive comments, and
secret meetings violating participatory governance. Peralta’s financial underpinnings remain under stress and with five Chancellors in three years, leadership that has been inconsistent. Peralta remains an amazing institution with profound problems desperate for new leadership. I am keenly aware of the transformational opportunity the Peralta Colleges offers to disadvantaged communities. My own education catapulted my life in ways my family could not imagine. Raised by a single mother, my brother and I learned the values of service, excellence and fairness. As a policy leader, attorney, veteran, and teacher, I see it as my duty to bring these valContinued on Page 18
Community Coalition Says ‘No’ to Coal Money in Oakland Mayor’s Race By Post Staff
No Coal in Oakland, a grassroots coalition of community, faith, and environmental justice groups are denouncing an attempt by coal terminal developers to influence the Oakland mayor’s race with over $600,000 of out-of-town money. Rallying last Thursday at developer Phil Tagami’s office at the Rotunda Building at 300 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland, the coalition pledged to continue to resist efforts to build a coal terminal in West Oakland and to protect the health and well-being of the community. Scheduled speakers at the rally included Margaret Gordon, West Oakland environmental activist; Igor Tregub, Sierra Club; Julia Dowell, SF Baykeeper; representatives of 350 Bay Area; Georgia Wal-
Rally at the Rotunda building to protest at the Rotunda Building at 300 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland on Oct. 27, 2022. Photo courtesy of No Coal in Oakland.
lace, Marlay’ja, Youth vs. Apocalypse; Communities for a Better Environment; and SEIU 1021. This summer, only a few months after City Attorney
Barbara Parker’s announcement that a deal was in the works to end the lawsuit over the West Gateway terminal and ensure a ‘no coal’ future, the developers backed out of
settlement negotiations. Last week, the Los Angeles-based financier, Jonathan Brooks, contributed another Continued on Page 18
Civil rights attorney Pamela Price (left) and Families Advocating for the Seriously Mentally Ill (FASMI) family member Kimberly Graves
Mental Illness is Not a Crime By Pamela Price
The Alameda County District Attorney’s office processes about 43,000 cases per year. Of those, about 69% of those cases are prosecuted, sometimes more. The current model pushes most people down the path of conviction and incarceration. According to the DA’s office, from 2009 to 2017, only 229 cases were referred to Behavioral Health Court. That averages just over two cases per month a year. That’s 24+ cases per year diverted out of about 30,000 cases prosecuted per year. Or 229 referrals out of 270,000 cases. Worse yet, in times of crisis, our vulnerable loved ones are met with excessive force, which too often becomes deadly force. In fact, the only pathway that
seems to be roadblock-free is the path to Santa Rita County jail. Alameda County leads the state in involuntary commitments, referred to as ‘5150’ holds requiring psychiatric hospitalizations for 72 hours for individuals who might pose a danger to themselves or others or are gravely disabled. The current DA’s Office set the stage for our Behavioral Health Court to have a trickle of success. The referral criteria is a restrictive roadblock instead of a pathway. This pathway to help people suffering from mental illness could be so much more effective if we use it. If I am elected, my administration will implement the following solutions: 1. Our approach to mental illness is that it is not a crime. Continued on Page 18
“Revealing the True Person” By Richard Johnson
In my discussions and presentations to others about the conditions of incarcerated persons who are returning to their home communities, I found that the mere mention of the word incarceration instinctively caused some to envision the worst meaning: this person obviously did something illegal and went to jail for it. We must understand that no one is perfect and everyone is subject to illegalities at some point in their lives, especially for some who have made more than one mistake and is carted off to prison or jail once caught. The Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back (FIGB) speaks volumes for those who have been disenfranchised as a direct result of being in that class who spent some time behind bars be it days, weeks, months, years or decades. This class will forever be stained for life with this label of being locked away for whatever legal infraction. This fact, whether we acknowledge it or not, is not limited to just a few. Nearly every household has been impacted by someone fitting the description of the formerly incarcerated. That is the narrative of the reality of what is based on the truth all over this nation. It is
Opinion
Richard Johnson
not limited to any particular culture, religion or belief. However, for minorities the brunt of incarceration has certainly disrupted them the most. Statistics clearly show this by acknowledging our past while shaping our future in the form of giving back to the community. Giving back helps to cleanse at least emotionally the areas of our past misdeeds. Giving back is just one aspect of bridging the separation from wrong to right. Without some form of integrity in our lives we become shells of our potential humanity. As members of the FIGB, we reintegrate not only our present being but equally our mental self to activities and experiences that we were denied as we lay dormant behind the Continued on Page 18