Staying alert in tough times
Many who have never visited don’t know that Oakland is one of the most beautiful, desirable places to live in the U.S. The city is lovely, the Mediterranean climate one of the best in the world and the people are diverse and interesting.
Despite all it has going for it, Oakland, as much of the country, has big budget problems. One of them involves the number of police officers. City residents were asked to vote for additional police in 2004 and pay for this with a new parcel tax. That legislation, Measure Y, passed and promised to increase police officer numbers to 803.
Only in the next few weeks, after four years, will the promised count be achieved. This came about as a result of intense public upset and pressure on the mayor and city council.
Understanding how government does, and doesn’t, work, it comes as no surprise that Oakland citizens are yet again faced with adding another parcel tax simply to avoid decreasing the police census. Many in the city have little or no faith that the new money will be spent wisely and effectively. Included in this group are the Oakland City Council President and others who are against this measure because they believe that fully staffing the police department is a basic government function. We will know the outcome on November 4th.
It is an economic reality that tough times lead to more crime. No matter how much we love Oakland, it is incumbent upon us to stay current about what is happening in our community. To this end, Oakland has an excellent, online tool to track criminal activity by location and type at the Oakland Police Department’s CrimeWatch .