Oakland News: Occupy Oakland Still There, Public Safety Meetup Sunday

A lot of Oakland News to share on Saturday, so let’s get to it before you go out to the Grand Lake Farmers Market.

Occupy Oakland / Occupy Wall Street

Defying the City of Oakland’s order, as of this writing, Occupy Oakland / Occupy Wall Street is still squatting at Frank Ogawa Plaza, or what we informally call City Hall Plaza. And while some of the 100 tents are gone, most notably one belonging to Dorothy King, the owner of Everett And Jones BBQ, the vast majority are still there.

But with the City of Oakland’s order to vacate because Occupy Oakland / Occupy Wall Street is “violating a number of laws” from drug use and possession, to trash, to even public sex (which is a joke, because unless your talking about a scene like the one in Crank with Jason Statham and Amy Smart, that’s really a story of someone looking at a couple, who may be in a quasi-private setting, like a tent in the plaza.), the organization now has a legal sword of damocles over its head. No one, except the Oakland Police and the Mayor of Oakland, has any idea when the physical eviction action will happen.

This Twitter tweet by famed sports agent and friend Leigh Steinberg is interesting:

@SteinbergSports Leigh Steinberg
Feels like deja vu,”People’s Park” in 1969 if police clear “Occupy Oakland” site nearby,memories “Stop Draft Wk” when SB President@Berkeley
5 minutes ago via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Undo Retweet Reply

I can’t let that pass because while the words “People’s Park” mean something to Leigh and myself, that may not be the case for you. Briefly, People’s Park is (still) a patch of land just a few feet off Telegraph Avenue, bounded by Haste and Bowditch streets and Dwight Way in Berkeley.

In 1969, the National Guard and Berkeley Poice were called in to move students out of the park after a range of protests. Berkeley students wanted the public park to be a place for rally and meeting – the University and the State of California in the form of then-Governor Ronald Reagan, trying to squelch student protest actions, were angered by the opposition to their plans to develop buildings on the park. In the resulting melee, Cal Student James Rector was shot by the police.

(This video, where Governor Reagan’s ranting on about psychedelic images, is classic.)

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, while now Oakland’s chief political authority figure, is also for all practical purposes, a child of that era. That may be one reason for the delay in the eviction action and the, frankly, really good treatment Occupy Oakland / Occupy Wall Street has received from Oakland’s politicians.

But the problem is Occupy Oakland / Occupy Wall Street’s decision making process caused the bone-headed act of not negotiating with city leaders. That was the beginning of the end of Occupy Oakland / Occupy Wall Street as we came to know it.

But what’s not reported in the news, and I think because certain media types were pissed off over not getting the kind of unreasonable access they wanted, is that the Occupy Oakland / Occupy Wall Street organizers have been working to maintain the City Hall plaza in a way that the city requires.

The speaker in the video below (made October 17th) explains that Occupy Oakland / Occupy Wall Street is willing to work with the City of Oakland to make the Oscar Grant / Frank Ogama Plaza space available for other events. He also points out that smoking marijuana was common before Occupy Oakland / Occupy Wall Street.

He’s got a great point there. Also the woman at the 22 minute mark, makes the most sense of all. She says that the group has to have a strategy of negotiating and that she did not want to see a level of violence that none of them are prepared for.

And on that note, I have to get after Channel 5’s Robert Lyles for not reporting that the “local newsreporter” who had been attacked by a dog was trying to stick his camera person into the tents of the protestors, an obvious invasion of privacy.

So, whatever no-good, “local reporter” person that is, then claims he has a ‘public’ right to point his camera where he wants. Not true.

In fact, had I been the protestor with the dog, I’d have made sure my dog bit that guy right in the ass.

Moreover, some of those reporters are planted by Andrew Brietbart, a conservative blogger. In fact, it may have been that “local reporter,” the one who was violating tent privacy, who was a Brietbart plant.

Now, with all this, I have to make a point: not at least trying to raise money to help pay for city services is an affront to Oakland taxpayers. The harsh fact is that many of the Occupy Oakland / Occupy Wall Street people don’t pay anything other than sales taxes to the City of Oakland, and that’s for those who buy something. Many are unemployed and can’t afford to spend money at any place – money that would wind up back into city coffers The hard fact is that the working taxpayer of the City of Oakland’s paying for this occupation.

The Occupy Oakland / Occupy Wall Street person would say “Well, dude, if we had a job, we’d be one of those taxpaying people.” And thus, in part, the reason for protest.

Oakland Councilmembers Pat Kernighan and Libby Schaaf’s Sunday Event

A press release from both Oakland City Councilmembers Pat Kernighan (District Two) and Libby Schaaf (District Four):

Oakland, CA — Oakland City Councilmembers Libby Schaaf and Pat Kernighan are hosting a free talk by national crime expert Franklin E. Zimring this Sunday, October 23rd from 3 – 5pm at St. Lawrence O’Toole Church, 3725 High Street in Oakland. Zimring is a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. He authored “The Great American Crime Decline” and will be presenting from his latest book: “The City that Became Safe: New York’s Lessons for Urban Crime and Its Control,” along with his thoughts about Oakland. New York’s 80% drop in crime over 20 years represents the largest crime decline on record. Zimring will take questions from the public following his presentation.

“We want to inform public dialogue about Oakland’s approach to crime fighting with what’s been proven in similar cities,” says Councilmember Libby Schaaf. “If New York can reduce crime by 80 percent, so can Oakland.”

Councilmember Kernighan adds, “We’re hoping to move Oakland towards a more unified and informed crime policy. New York is an inspirational model and Zimring’s insights into what exactly made it succeed should help Oakland.”

Oakland Raiders Carson Palmer Will Not Start

Unless Oakland Raiders Head Coach Hue Jackon’s planted some kind of chip in his brain, Carson Palmer, the newest Oakland Raider and former Cincinnati Bengals Quaterback is not going to get the start against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. He just got to Oakland on Wednesday, and didn’t even know he was going to be an Oakland Raider a week ago. Give him time.

Twitter Tweet On Spending Priorities In Oakland

This says it all:

@kokorae Nyko Hackett
#Oakland City Council parcel tax budget $5.1m for OPD but only $900k for our YOUTH?? #FAIL huge f’ing fail. These are our leaders y’all. SMH

Oakland Museum’s Day of the Dead Community Event

Tomorrow from noon to 4:30, the Oakland Museum will host its Day of the Dead Community Event. it’s a mid-day celebration of The Day of The Dead, with music, food, dance, and ceremonies marking the occasion to honor the dead.

The museum encourages you to take BART, as it’s one block from Lake Merritt BART Station. If you must drive, use Alco Park Garage at 1220 Jackson Street at 12th Street.

Stay tuned.

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