Supervisor Nate Miley blasts Oakland City Council following Little Saigon murder: 'Lawlessness in Oakland must stop'
Supporters/opponents of Berkeley's Measure L, the $650 million affordable housing bond, begin fundraising
CITY/COUNTY NEWS
OAKLAND
—NOT GOING TO TAKE ANYMORE—Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley issued a blunt condemnation of the Oakland City Council’s inability to quell violence on its streets.
—Precipitated by the murder of Dr. Lili Xu this week in Oakland’s Little Saigon neighborhood, Miley called on Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas to call an emergency meeting to “address lawlessness in the City of Oakland.”
—Miley, whose supervisorial district overlaps with parts of East Oakland, once famously described a pervasive “culture of lawlessness” in Oakland. Miley has never shied away from speaking his mind, but the statement posted Wednesday morning on Twitter is a whole new level of exasperation from the long-time Oakland and county official.
—Speaking of the Oakland City Council, Miley said, “Their lack of a comprehensive public safety plan for this City is disgraceful!”
—On relations between the City Council and police: “The Council’s historical failure to support Oakland Police Department for enforcement of the law is an example of the ‘chickens coming home to roost’ with this continued public safety crisis in our city.”
—The last comment appears to be a reference to members of the Oakland City Council who attempted to significantly defund OPD in 2020. One of those defund OPD councilmembers was Bas, who is now outspoken about the violence occurring recently in Little Saigon.
—What makes Miley statement notable is how personal he makes it, while also throwing in a reference from the 1976 film Network. “I am tired of paying high taxes and not getting core services; like public safety. It angers me! I wish you would get angry and say you are mad as hell, and you are not going to take it anymore. Lawlessness in Oakland must stop.”
—So, what’s going on here? It’s likely there’s an Oakland mayoral election angle at the root of Miley’s statement, although he’s not running for anything this fall.
—As noted, Miley has long supported law enforcement and has characterized the city as lawless many times before. Cueing up the public safety issue in this manner certainly helps the narrative being put out there by mayoral candidate Ignacio De La Fuente.
—Here’s another clue! A few months back, De La Fuente opened his campaign with a lengthy screed that was brimming with unnecessary exclamation points! Notice there’s several exclamation points in Miley’s statement!
ELECTION 2022
Days until Election Day: 76.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
—MONEYBALL—Large Form 497 contributions filed Tuesday through Wednesday afternoon. *-local city maximum campaign contribution.
COUNTY
—Terry Wiley (Alameda County District Attorney), Derek Benham of Oakland, $1,000.
—Stewart Chen (AC Transit-Ward 3), Kelsey Chen of Alameda, $2,000; Neo Autoworks, $1,000.
CITIES
—Julie Roche (Hayward City Council), U.A. Local 342 PAC, $1,620*.
—Mony Nop (Livermore Mayor), Brian Toy of Livermore, $950, $107.72, $107.72. John Marchand (Livermore Mayor), David Haubert for Supervisor 2024, $1,000.
—Friends of Oakland Public Schools-Yes on Measure H, (Oakland USD parcel tax renewal), Wickman Development and Construction, $2,500.
—Committee for an Affordable and Resilient Berkeley - Yes on Measure L, (Housing/infrastructure bond), Sophie Hahn, $5,000; Gordon Wozniak, $3,500, $1,500, Raymond Yep of Berkeley, $1,000. Berkeleyans for Better Planning No on Measure L, (Housing/infrastructure bond), James McGrath of Berkeley, $1,000; Dean Metzger of Berkeley, $1,000.
STATE SENATE/ASSEMBLY
—Lily Mei (10th State Senate District), Bohong, Inc. of Santa Clara, $3,000; Hai Yan Yu of San Jose, $2,500; Shi Xiaohong of Fremont, $1,000; Linda Anderson of Fremont, $1,000; Chen Yang Sunny Shen of Fremont, $1,000, $500.
—Shawn Kumagai (20th Assembly District), LGBT Caucus Leadership Fund, $4,900; Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association PAC, $4,900
—Buffy Wicks (14th Assembly District), Sunnova Energy of Houston, $2,000; Doctors Company Political Action Cmte, $1,500; Californians Allied for Patient Protection PAC, $1,000. Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (16th Assembly District), AT&T Services Inc. and its Affiliates, $1,500; Sunpower Corporation, $1,000.
—HOUSEKEEPING—I’m taking the rest of the week off from publishing a full newsletter to allow some extra time to work on a few election stories for the next month and candidate spotlight features. In the meantime, I’ll maintain the campaign finance data each day and perhaps a few small blurbs.
—Also, this week look out for the Season 5 premiere of the East Bay Insiders podcast. Co-host Shawn Wilson and I will preview the November election season. Oakland mayoral candidate Seneca Scott will join the podcast next week. Later next month, another aspiring Oakland mayoral candidate, Loren Taylor, is tentatively scheduled to come on the show.