When Oaklanders vote in the April 15 special election, they won’t just choose a new mayor and District 2 council member — they’ll also decide on Measure A, a proposed sales tax increase.
We need to reject this tax. Unfortunately, the level of dysfunction is so deep in Oakland the only full bankruptcy can shock the heart of this patient. A State administrator would take over and the Council would be stripped of all fiscal decision-making power. This is unfortunately what Oakland needs.
There's no assurance that Oakland has any commitment to long-term accountability so the only solution is an outside takeover. It's too late for anything else and it will have to happen down the road. I would say the same for San Francisco.
This is a joke right? Another band-aid solution that kicks the can down the road is deja vu all over again for Oakland. The case against the tax increase listed here far outweighs the case for the tax. Oakland needs an independent administrator to come and make the hard decisions the city council is incapable of making.
Absolutely NOT. These idiots on the City Council have no idea how to balance a budget.
We cannot reward progressive liberal policies with more taxation. We are truly in an economic doom loop and need to not only cut the fat out of the budget but cut the muscle and start shaving bone. NO NEW TAXES. The City Council should be looking for ways to REDUCE taxes.
Why should we agree to another tax increase? So our leaders can continue mismanaging our money? I have no problem contributing more—if I had confidence it would be spent wisely to benefit the citizens. But look around: despite already paying more than most, our schools are underfunded, our parks neglected, our emergency services stretched thin, our roads crumbling, and homelessness worsening. Meanwhile, personal safety is at an all-time low. We have a major problem and this beautiful city is being ruined. Giving them more money won’t fix the problem. They are the problem!!
A big reason the sales tax is unpopular in Oakland is that it's regressive and penalizes residents for shopping in their neighborhoods. I think Loren Taylor does deserve a shot at being mayor, although good luck working with that city council.
There's no connection between parks, libraries, homelessness and police and fire. Yet those first three matters are bundled into a legislative funding bill as a form of extortion intended to increase spending for the dysfunctional Police Department (no funds for homeless people unless you fund the police), to which the bulk of the city's budget goes. There is no indication that any money will ever trickle down to Parks, libraries, and homeless people. The backup for the City of Oakland Budget reflects total city 2024-2024 fiscal year expenditures of $851.60 million. Justin Johnson, Oakland City Administrator, "Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25 First Quarter (Q1) Revenue and Expenditures (R&E)," Report (11/08/2024). pp. 2. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/143qXoP5k2ft_YqLy-yvIPlBmmWtT16DE Attachment A to this report has two difference sums for the police expenditure: FY 2024-25 Adjusted Budget ($318.88) and FY 2024-25
Thirty seven percent of the budget (37%) at any one time is consumed by 25% of the personnel. Defunding means dismantling and transforming direct police service relative to the penal work police actually do and redirecting funding to health/social work that police are not fit to do. The police engage in very little crime fighting, e.g. 1 crime per officer per year. Kappeler, Victor E. Ph.D, "How Much Crime Fighting Do ‘Crime Fighters’ Really Do?" ( Eastern Kentucky University, 2013).
Crime rates have been dropping irrespective of the amount of policing. Latter and Li, "New FBI Data: Violent Crime Still Falling :2018 drop extends decades-long trend, but rapes rise for lo sixth straight year," (The Marshall Project, 09.30.2019).
The police are trained to indiscriminately use unlimited force anytime, any place. The use of police for non-violent, non-criminal administrative, social work, and health matters, for which the police are not qualified, is poor public policy, putting everyone at risk (especially disfavored minorities).
When your sole tool is a hammer, everyone looks like a nail. Defund and radically transform consistent with the above statistical data.
We need to reject this tax. Unfortunately, the level of dysfunction is so deep in Oakland the only full bankruptcy can shock the heart of this patient. A State administrator would take over and the Council would be stripped of all fiscal decision-making power. This is unfortunately what Oakland needs.
There's no assurance that Oakland has any commitment to long-term accountability so the only solution is an outside takeover. It's too late for anything else and it will have to happen down the road. I would say the same for San Francisco.
This is a joke right? Another band-aid solution that kicks the can down the road is deja vu all over again for Oakland. The case against the tax increase listed here far outweighs the case for the tax. Oakland needs an independent administrator to come and make the hard decisions the city council is incapable of making.
Absolutely NOT. These idiots on the City Council have no idea how to balance a budget.
We cannot reward progressive liberal policies with more taxation. We are truly in an economic doom loop and need to not only cut the fat out of the budget but cut the muscle and start shaving bone. NO NEW TAXES. The City Council should be looking for ways to REDUCE taxes.
Why should we agree to another tax increase? So our leaders can continue mismanaging our money? I have no problem contributing more—if I had confidence it would be spent wisely to benefit the citizens. But look around: despite already paying more than most, our schools are underfunded, our parks neglected, our emergency services stretched thin, our roads crumbling, and homelessness worsening. Meanwhile, personal safety is at an all-time low. We have a major problem and this beautiful city is being ruined. Giving them more money won’t fix the problem. They are the problem!!
I will never vote for sales tax increases. Find another way to solve Oakland’s problems.
A big reason the sales tax is unpopular in Oakland is that it's regressive and penalizes residents for shopping in their neighborhoods. I think Loren Taylor does deserve a shot at being mayor, although good luck working with that city council.
There's no connection between parks, libraries, homelessness and police and fire. Yet those first three matters are bundled into a legislative funding bill as a form of extortion intended to increase spending for the dysfunctional Police Department (no funds for homeless people unless you fund the police), to which the bulk of the city's budget goes. There is no indication that any money will ever trickle down to Parks, libraries, and homeless people. The backup for the City of Oakland Budget reflects total city 2024-2024 fiscal year expenditures of $851.60 million. Justin Johnson, Oakland City Administrator, "Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25 First Quarter (Q1) Revenue and Expenditures (R&E)," Report (11/08/2024). pp. 2. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/143qXoP5k2ft_YqLy-yvIPlBmmWtT16DE Attachment A to this report has two difference sums for the police expenditure: FY 2024-25 Adjusted Budget ($318.88) and FY 2024-25
Q1 Year- End Estimate ($370.77). Just using the $318.88 reflects 37.44% of the budget. According to the City's 2023 report there are 5,007.24 persons employed by the city government, of which 1311 are police, or 25%. Jestin Johnson, "Semi-Annual Staffing Report June 2023," (06/08/23) https://oakland.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=12096817&GUID=45AE41E9-9104-4AF8-A7B2-A81A3CE35FB4.
Thirty seven percent of the budget (37%) at any one time is consumed by 25% of the personnel. Defunding means dismantling and transforming direct police service relative to the penal work police actually do and redirecting funding to health/social work that police are not fit to do. The police engage in very little crime fighting, e.g. 1 crime per officer per year. Kappeler, Victor E. Ph.D, "How Much Crime Fighting Do ‘Crime Fighters’ Really Do?" ( Eastern Kentucky University, 2013).
https://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/how-much-crime-fighting-do-%E2%80%98crime-fighters%E2%80%99-really-do
https://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/so-you-want-be-crime-fighter-not-so-fast#_ga=2.55304172.653556305.1592478355-1613989569.1592478355
Crime rates have been dropping irrespective of the amount of policing. Latter and Li, "New FBI Data: Violent Crime Still Falling :2018 drop extends decades-long trend, but rapes rise for lo sixth straight year," (The Marshall Project, 09.30.2019).
By JAMILES LARTEY and WEIHUA LI
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2019/09/30/new-fbi-data-violent-crime-still-falling#:~:text=FBI%20data%20released%20Monday%20suggests,by%203.9%20percent%20in%202018.&text=Property%20crime%20rates%20continued%20to,following%20a%20decades-long%20trend.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/crime-rates-largest-us-cities-continue-drop
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/crime-2018-final-analysis
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/10/17/facts-about-crime-in-the-u-s/%3famp=1
https://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=dcdetail&iid=245
The police are trained to indiscriminately use unlimited force anytime, any place. The use of police for non-violent, non-criminal administrative, social work, and health matters, for which the police are not qualified, is poor public policy, putting everyone at risk (especially disfavored minorities).
When your sole tool is a hammer, everyone looks like a nail. Defund and radically transform consistent with the above statistical data.