Vote Kamala Harris, President Adam Schiff, U.S. Senate Lateefah Simon, Congress
Vote ‘NO’ on Mayoral Recall and D.A. Recall
(See page 16 for Voter Guide)
Oakland Post “Where there is no vision, the people perish...” Proverbs 29:18
Weekly Edition. Edition. October 30 - November 5, 2024
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OPD Says Homicides Fell By 33% and Violent Crime By 19% in 2024
‘Yet some media refuse to report it because it doesn’t fit their Oakland script,’ says Paul Cobb
Alameda County Court House. Courtesy photo. By Ken Epstein Oakland has seen a “huge drop” in the numbers of homicides and violent crimes, including aggravated assaults, rapes, and robberies, according to journalists reporting on a new police report. The Oakland Police Department’s most recent crime report
indicates that homicides in Oakland are down by 33% compared with the same time last year. Throughout Oakland, 67 homicides occurred so far this year, while at the same point in 2023, there were 100 homicides. The number of violent crimes has declined by 19% in the city in 2024 compared with same time last year. “This is not an accident,” said Mayor Sheng Thao, quoted in Oaklandside, speaking at a press conference. “This is by design. We have reversed a four-year trend of higher crime and more homicides.” Local reporters point to the magnitude of the decline in crime. Jaime Omar Yassin, a popular independent online reporter published as the Oakland Observer, wrote on X: “Going into (the) election, Oakland hasn’t had a murder in three weeks, only one Continued on page 16
Congresswoman Barbara Lee. File photo.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee Reflects on Historic Moment Less Than One Week from Election Day
Special to The Post
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-12) today released a piece on Medium reflecting on Vice President Kamala Harris’ historic presidential campaign 50 years after Lee worked on the presidential campaign of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm: “As Election Day approaches, I’m reflecting on a few dates and numbers that mean something to me. Zero: the number of Black members in Congress 56 years ago. Next Congress, we hope to swear in over
60 members in the Congressional Black Caucus. Three: The number of Black women to ever serve in the United States Senate since the first Congress in 1789. Two: The number of Black women that will be elected to the Senate this year alone if we do our job. 1972: The first time a Black woman, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, ran for president in one of the major political parties of the United States. Zero: the number of Black womContinued on page 16
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s Open Letter to Philip Dreyfuss, Recall Election’s Primary Funder
Special to the Post
Publishers note: Oaklanders Defending Democracy, a group opposing the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, shared an open letter she wrote to Philip Dreyfuss of Farallon Capital, a coal hedge fund. According to Thao’s supporters, “Dreyfuss is the primary funder of the recall effort to remove her from office. He has not explained his motivations or answered one question about why he's funding the recall or what his agenda is for Oakland. “All we know about him is his firm has invested over $2 billion in coal since 2022. Farallon Capital is a global hedge fund with $39 billion capital under management, headquartered in San
Francisco, the supporters say. The effort to recall Mayor Sheng Thao was built on top of an argument about a crime wave, pinning the blame for it on a newly elected mayor. Now that crime has dropped massively, recall proponents are left with no compelling argument. Oct. 30 Dear Philip Dreyfuss, We haven’t met. As you know, I’m the Mayor of Oakland, elected in 2022 to serve and protect this city. Since stepping into office, I’ve tackled rising crime, homelessness, and budget challenges head-on, working tirelessly for Oakland’s future. You are a hedge-fund manager
Continued on page 16
Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan. Courtesy photo.
Pamela Price Appoints Deputy D.A. Jennifer Kassan as New Director of Community Support Bureau
Special to The Post
On Monday, District Attorney Pamela Price announced Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Kassan as the new director of the Community Support Bureau. Kassan has over 25 years of experience as an attorney and advisor for mission-driven enterprises including benefit corporations, lowprofit limited liability companies, nonprofits, cooperatives, hybrid or-
ganizations, investment funds, and purpose trusts. Working in the D.A.’s new administration since 2023, Kassan was most recently assigned to the Organized Retail Theft Prosecution team. Kassan has a master’s degree in City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. She received a National Science Foundation Fellowship from Yale Law School, and graduated from Yale Law School in 1995. She earned her B.A. in Psychology with a minor emphasis in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley. Kassan’s education, extensive legal background, list of notable accomplishments and impressive resume includes helping to found and lead multiple organizations to support community wealth building including: • Community Ventures, a nonprofit organization that promotes locally-based community economic development, • the Sustainable Economies Law Center, a nonprofit that provides legal information, training, and representation to support sustainable economies • the Force for Good Fund, a nonprofit impact investment fund • Crowdfund Main Street, a licensed portal for regulation crowdfunding • Opportunity Main Street, a Continued on page 16
Oakland Awarded $28 Million Grant from Governor Newsom to Sustain LongTerm Solutions Addressing Homelessness
By Post Staff
Governor Gavin Newsom announced the City of Oakland has won a$28,446,565.83 grant as part of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) grant program. This program provides flexible grant funding to help communities support people experiencing homelessness by creating permanent
housing, rental and move-in assistance, case management services, and rental subsidies, among other eligible uses. Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and the Oakland City Administrator’s Office staff held a press conference today to discuss the grant and the City’s successful implementing of the Mayor’s Executive Order on the Encampment Management Policy.
Alameda County Judge Blasts Defendants Over Delay in West Oakland Fire Trial
Criminal charges announced this week are related to the August 2023 scrap metal fire at Radius Recycling Inc., formerly Schnitzer Steel. Photo courtesy of Oaklandside. Special to The Post District Attorney Pamela Price announced that a hearing was held on Oct. 30, in the criminal prosecution of the Radius Recycling/ Schnitzer Steel involving a fire at the West Oakland facility on Aug. 9-10, 2023. Radius Recycling and two of its corporate managers were indicted by the Alameda County criminal Grand Jury in June 2024. Judge Kimberly Lowell excoriated the Radius Recycling/ Schnitzer Steel defendants in court for causing delays in the prosecu-
tion of this case. Since the defendants first appeared in court on July 23, they have obtained three extensions of the arraignment date. The court made it clear that the defendants will not receive any more extensions on their arraignment and plea. Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price agreed with the court that defendants should not get preferential treatment. Price and her team expressed appreciation to the court for making it clear that future delays by Radius will not be Continued on page 16
61st Year, No. 44
Oakland Students Reflect on Their Journey Voting for the First Time in Local Elections
Oakland Youth Vote signage encouraging students to register to vote in the local school board director races. Photo by Magaly Muñoz. By Magaly Muñoz In less than a week, Oakland students will have crossed the final step in their five-year journey to voting in local school board elections. The energy that the teens have had over the last year has been “nothing short of exciting,” many have said. In 2020, the measure that allowed youth voting, Measure QQ, passed with 68% of the vote but was delayed for four years at the
county level while the Alameda Registrar of Voters figured out a plan to implement the right voting software that recognized teen voters. Students wanted a voice in district decisions that directly impacted them, such as school closures, which was what prompted the fight for teen voting. Other problems that students raised concerns with involved Continued on page 16
Special to The Post Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced today that her office charged three people in connection with multiple organized retail theft crimes stemming from a sophisticated criminal enterprise operating at the Oakland Coliseum Flea Market from March 26, 2023, through April 17, 2024. The charges against Octavio Ambriz Valle, 52, Devora Ambriz Valle, 49, and Felipe Del Toro Trejo, 54, include multiple felony counts of possessing stolen property and organized retail theft in
concert. It is alleged that the trio of vendors possessed stolen property valued at $348,466 from nine different retailers, including Kohl’s, Macy’s, PetSmart, Sephora, Sunglass Hut, TJX, Target, Walgreens, and Walmart. Last year, the District Attorney’s Office successfully completed and received a $2 million grant from the California Department of Justice to combat organized retail theft. Price added another $2 million to bolster the Organized Retail Crime Alameda (ORCA) Continued on page 16
D.A. Price Charges Coliseum Flea Market Vendors in Organized Retail Theft Case
San Francisco Foundation Celebrates 76th Anniversary
By Conway Jones
The San Francisco Foundation celebrated the 76th anniversary of its founding in1964 on Thursday, Oct. 24, at The Pearl in San Francisco. Over 150 people came together with members of the SFF community whose intent was to fulfill the promise of the Bay: democracy, racial equity, affordable housing, and more. A fireside chat featured SFF CEO Fred Blackwell, in conversation with KQED Chief Content Officer and SFF Trustee Holly Kernan. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it: the past couple years have been tough. From uncertainty about the future of our nation, to ongoing wars and violence globally, to Supreme Court decisions that rolled back decades of work on racial equity and reproductive rights – it’s easy to become cynical and fatigued,” said Blackwell. “Resolve is what is necessary to keep us moving forward in the face of attacks on DEI and affirmative action, of an economy that undervalues arts and caretaking, of a housing shortage that keeps too many of our neighbors sleeping in the streets,” he continued. Poetry was provided by
San Francisco Foundation CEO Fred Blackwell, SFF Programs Vice President Raquiba Labrie and Gay Plair Cobb, trustee emerita at the foundation’s 76th anniversary at The Pearl in San Francisco. Photo by Conway Jones. Youth Speaks, and a musical performance by Audiopharmacy, a world-renowned hip-hop ensemble and cultural community arts collective. The San Francisco Foundation is one of the largest community foundations in the United States. Its mission is to mobilize community leaders, nonprofits, government agencies, and donors to advance racial equity, diversity, and economic opportunity.