XPost: alt.california, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: harris.intellectual@failures.com   
      
   JJ Jenkins, who owns three bars in Oakland, got the text message in the   
   early hours of the morning.   
      
   The bartender at Smitty’s, the popular watering hole Jenkins owns near Lake   
   Merritt, wrote to say the place had closed early that night, Juneteenth,   
   after a shooting.   
      
   The violence, in which 14 people were shot a few blocks away, propelled a   
   handful of onlookers into the club to seek safety and shelter. And now the   
   area was overrun by police cruisers toggling their lights and sirens — no   
   one’s idea of a breezy holiday night. It was one of the city’s biggest mass   
   shootings in years.   
      
   For Jenkins, who has lived and worked in Oakland for more than three   
   decades, the violence capped off what has been the darkest time he’s lived   
   through there — notable for a city that has seen its share of ups and downs.   
   The next day, Mayor Sheng Thao’s house was raided by the FBI, sending   
   Oakland’s political system into a tizzy.   
      
   “It’s chaos,” Jenkins said. “Every time I think the pendulum has swung,   
   something like Juneteenth (shooting) happens. And I don’t think it’s done   
   yet. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”   
      
   Oakland has seen it all — the crime and drug wave of the ’90s, budgetary   
   woes on and off for years, a catastrophic fire in the hills that was one of   
   the worst urban infernos in American history — but many residents say its   
   current slate of challenges could top them all. In interviews, community   
   members described the city as the most chaotic and unpredictable they’ve   
   ever seen, saying they are staggered by the number and complexity of its   
   problems.   
      
   A budget crisis has tied up business in City Hall, as policymakers and   
   staffers struggled to close a $292 million deficit over the next two years   
   without cutting critical staffing in fire, police and other departments.   
   Downtown remains a faded image of what it was before the pandemic, with slow   
   foot traffic and restaurant and bar closures continuing to reverberate.   
   Public safety is a top concern, after crime rose significantly in 2023,   
   although there are some signs of improvement this year, especially in   
   violent crimes such as homicides. Adding insult to injury was the city’s   
   abandonment by three professional sports teams in the last five years.   
      
   And then there was the one-two punch of the mayor’s opponents successfully   
   certifying a November recall of her, on June 18, and the raid two days   
   later, with Thao suddenly entangled in an investigation and political   
   enemies circling. The mayor has not been charged with or accused of any   
   crimes.   
      
   “Oakland is in a crisis,” wrote Elihu Harris, who served as Oakland’s   
   mayor   
   between 1991 and 1999 — a period marked by concerns about crime, blight and   
   drug use — in an email. “Many of these problems are not new. They continue   
   to evolve. They require ideas and renewed commitment to a plan of execution.   
   The city must get beyond finger-pointing and the blame game as soon as   
   possible.”   
      
   Harris’ suggestion? A city-wide charette — a series of roundtable   
   discussions between community members, public groups and other stakeholders.   
      
      
   Down but never out   
   Oakland is acutely sensitive to its portrayal by outsiders, including the   
   national and international media, which has shone a harsh light on issues   
   like crime, at times appearing to be motivated by political partisanship.   
      
   And what often gets lost among the negative coverage are the things that   
   make Oakland a desirable place to live, from its location to its climate to   
   its rich and diverse cultural life.   
      
   Oakland’s already sky-high residential housing market, which cooled some   
   when interest rates climbed, is back on the rise. Downtown boosters remain   
   hopeful of a turnaround, with stately historic buildings awaiting new   
   tenants and leases, after the pandemic emptied out workplaces across the   
   country. The city’s arts scene — which has birthed countless musicians,   
   visual artists, actors, writers and others — routinely punches above its   
   weight, and a new film incentive initiative is raising hopes for more local   
   productions and their economic benefits.   
      
   Even the yearslong exodus of sports teams is giving way to new players.   
   Oakland attracted a minor league team, the Ballers, to the city by helping   
   quickly rehabilitate a historic playing field in West Oakland. Since   
   Raimondi Park opened in early June, the team has been drawing spirited   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)