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Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
Weekly Edition. Edition. December 21 - 28, 2022
postnewsgroup.com
59th Year, No. 28
Questioning the Wisdom of The Oakland Mayoral Election Recall
NAACP Demands Voter Education, Recount in Oakland Mayor’s Race Congresswoman Barbara Lee Dee Mphafi delivers remarks at a World AIDS Day event hosted by the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) in Washington, D.C., on December 2, 2022. State Department Photo by Ron Przysucha
Former Oakland mayoral candidate Seneca Scott, NAACP member Dr. Allie Whitehurst, Acts Full Gospel Church leader Bishop Bob Jackson, NAACP President Cynthia Adams, and Oakland resident Richard Breaux, with community elders at NAACP press conference at Acts Full Gospel Church.
By Carla Thomas By Carla Thomas At a December 20 press conference held outside Acts Full Gospel Church, the Oakland branch of the NAACP called for immediate action in voter education and a recount of the ballots in last month’s mayoral election. Organizers charged that the Alameda County Registrar of Voters failed to adequately inform the public, especially senior citizens and marginalized members of the community, how ranked-choice votes would be counted. Although Oakland has had ranked-choice voting for several years, this is the first time, the organizers say, that there were five choices compared to a maximum of three choices in previous years. In the November 8 election, Mayor-elect Sheng Thao beat her closest competitor, Loren Taylor, by about 700 votes. About two dozen people came out to Acts Full Gospel Church at 1034 66th St. in East Oakland to hear an urgent call to action in support of seniors concerned about the ranked-choice voting processes and a request that a recount of the mayoral ballots should be paid for
by the City of Oakland and the Alameda County Office of the Registrar of Voters. The recount would cost approximately $21,000 a day. Among the speakers at the press conference were NAACP President Cynthia Adams, educator Dr. Allie Whitehurst, former Oakland mayoral candidate Seneca Scott, and longtime voter Richard Breaux, an Oakland resident of 70 years. Breaux said ranked choice voting causes “confusion,” comparing the process to the activity of “guessing how many jellybeans are in the jar.” “I have been an Oakland voter since 1968,” said Breaux. “I have not missed a city, county or any election, but the first year of ranked-choice voting, my ballot was dismissed because I chose the same candidate for the three categories.” Breaux explained that logically choosing the same candidate should have helped, but it did the opposite, resulting in an ‘overvote,’ a term the organizers say was not readily understood. An ‘overvote,’ which is not counted, occurs Continued on Page 12
Rep. Barbara Lee Honors Ron Dellums by Including $5 Million for STEM Fellowship in Defense Department Bill
Post Staff Congresswoman Barbara Lee announced that she included authorized amended language in the Defense Department’s budget that establishes funding for a program for students from underserved communities to pursue careers in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics). Ronald V. Dellums, former Oakland Mayor, also served as Chairman of the Congressional Armed Services Committee. She submitted the following language to SEC.1083: SEC. 1083. Ronald V. Dellums Memorial Fellowship in STEM. Section 4093(f) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: “(3) In coordination with the efforts under paragraph (2), the Secretary of Defense shall additionally establish a program, which shall be known as the ‘Ronald V. Dellums Memorial Fellowship in STEM,’ to provide financial assistance under this section to at least 30 students from communities that are underrepresented in the Department of Defense STEM work-
Ronald V. Dellums / Flickr.
force, not fewer of 50% of whom shall attend historically Black colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions.” As part of such program, the Secretary shall establish an internship program that provides each student who is awarded a fellowship under this paragraph with an internship in an organization or element of the Department of Defense, and to the extent practicable, each such student shall be paired with a mid-level or a seniorlevel official of the relevant organization or element of the Department of Defense who shall serve as a mentor during the internship.”
Richard Johnson distributed sleeping bags at homeless encampments underneath freeways in West Oakland to help residents combat the extremely cold temperatures. Johnson, of the Formerly Incarcerated Giving Back organization, announced that he and Maryan Mitchell would continue to distribute sleeping bags, blankets and toiletries for men and women. Photo by Jonathan ‘Fitness’ Jones.
By Richard Johnson People go to the polls to vote for many of the issues that affect their daily lives and safety. However, it gets really complicated and dicey when the vote does not play out as expected. It reminds me of the George Bush v. Al Gore theatrics in 2000 when the call was made to confirm Bush over Gore when clearly it wasn’t the case. In Oakland’s elections last month, Councilmember Sheng Thao came back from an apparent loss to overtake Councilmember Loren Taylor using ranked-choice vote counting. A recount is being called for by the NAACP and other voters because they feel it is not conceivable that someone can come from behind and win narrowly. To me, this scenario opens a can of worms because there’s nothing tangible to support a recount. Don’t get me wrong, recounts are a part of the approved voting process when it is not only feasible, but necessary. At the same time, we, as voters, can’t run down every rabbit hole when we think malfeasance is at work. If that be the case, the entire voting operation becomes suspect. In my opinion, recounts are utilized when there is the appearance of underhanded dealings and not simply when we do not like the
results. What if, for instance, the recount does not render a favorable decision, what do we do then? Apologize and move on! When the election process is tainted, it calls into question the entire voting process. I agree that if there’s any shred of evidence that the election was somehow corrupt, then by all means a recount is certainly called for. But, suggesting that Mayor-elect Sheng Thao won a come-from-behind-victory that might have been corrupted, is wrong any way you dress it up. The mayor’s race was definitely a long battle, and the victor came out ahead. But what if it had been the other way around? Chances are Thao would’ve been called a sore loser making erroneous accusations about the voting process. I’m sure that many would agree with this analysis. It’s certainly the people’s right to question the outcome of elections. The key rests with the evidence, not on assumptions and presumptions that the count was in error. Let’s not rush to judgment until the race is deemed in error with credible evidence. There’s an old Asian proverb that says, “A man who cannot tolerate small misfortunes can never accomplish great things.” We, as a progressive community, accept the truth and move forward.
Alameda County’s New D.A. Interrupts Plan to Holy Names University Says it Will Redirect Funding on Eve of Taking Office Close; Local Leaders Want Campus to Remain Center for Higher Ed
HNU’s site could become a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) campus, said Post Publisher Paul Cobb
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley (left). Pamela Price will be sworn in as Alameda County district attorney in January. Post file photos.
By Post Staff
Aerial view of Holy Names University.
By Ken Epstein Holy Names University (HNU), which has served Oakland for 154 years, earning deep respect as one of the nation’s most diverse postsecondary educational centers, offering bachelors’ degrees, training teachers, social workers, and nurses, announced this week it will close permanently at the end
of next semester, leaving the city with no major university since the recent loss of Mills College. Responding to the news, HNU students and staff spoke at Tuesday’s Oakland City Council meeting, seeking to rescue the city’s higher-education pipeline. The council, passing a resolution authored by Councilmember Carroll Fife and Vice Mayor Rebecca
Kaplan, went on record calling for the university to work with the Oakland community to ensure that the beautiful 60-acre campus can become a home for another university, rather than be sold to a real estate developer to build an exclusive residential enclave. HNU’s administration, mostly silent as news and rumors about Continued on Page 12
Outgoing Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley attempted to redirect about 20% of the office’s 2023 budget to a nonprofit and a program she has interests in, The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Wednesday. The county had been inclined to approve the $20 million transfer for domestic abuse victims and their loved ones at the Alameda County Family Justice Center and the CARES Navigation Center, which keeps low-level offenders out of the prison system, when the plan was discovered. “I am very concerned about such a large transfer of resources from my office,” incoming D.A. Pamela Price wrote in an email to O’Malley on Dec. 16 that was later
shared with The Chronicle. Price, the first Black person elected to serve as the county D.A., will take office on Jan. 3, 2023. According to a statement obtained by The Chronicle, O’Malley had neither requested nor consulted Price about the proposed allocation. Staff had already recommended that the Alameda County Board of Supervisors approve the request at its Tuesday meeting. The money O’Malley wanted to use would have come from a Consumer and Environmental Trust account within general county funds, The Chronicle reported. “Those funds are from settlements of cases on behalf of Alameda residents,” Price said in her statement to The Chronicle. “They are meant to support the
work around consumer and environmental protection of Alameda residents.” She said a predicted recession would impact families who face unfair evictions, price gouging and potential wage theft and the County needed to be prepared to step in. O’Malley had earmarked the money to expand the CARES Navigation Center and support the Alameda County Family Justice Center, which is overseen by the county but supported by a nonprofit that O’Malley heads. O’Malley spokesperson Angela Ruggiero told The Chronicle that the outgoing D.A. intends to continue her involvement in the nonprofit after she retires. According to the agenda notes, O’Malley withdrew the request for the fund transfer by Monday without comment, The Chronicle reported. The current year’s budget for the D.A.’s office is $92 million, so the proposed allocation by O’Malley would have been a substantial reduction in the amount of funding Price might have expected when her tenure began. The San Francisco Chronicle and SFist were sources for this report.