Open Forums

A Letter to Mayor Libby Schaaf and the Oakland City Council From the Oakland Privacy Working Group.   American law enforcement uses a lethal amount of force against a citizen every eight hours, killing on average 3.2 people a day in 2015. In July, at least 121 citizens were reported as killed by police, putting us on pace to reach 1,100 by years end. These facts are relevant because the Oakland Police Department (OPD) will again participate in Urban Shield in September. We ask that OPD refrain from participation in … Continued

If it’s not the Oakland Police, it’s Berkeley’s. They just can’t help themselves. Actually, they don’t care a whit. Make that give a shit. They are not the ones who will have to pay the settlements or face any consequences for their illegal and unconstitutional actions, so why should they? As the local Berkeleyside newspaper reports Attorneys representing 14 people struck and jabbed by police batons, clubbed, beaten, teargassed, slammed to the ground, fired on with “less lethal” projectiles or arrested during December protests in Berkeley related to the “Black Lives … Continued

As the Contra Costa Times notes: FOUR YEARS AFTER HE BECAME THE FACE OF THE LOCAL OCCUPY MOVEMENT, SCOTT OLSEN IS ENTERING PERHAPS AN EVEN MORE LEFT-LEANING ARENA.  The Iraq War veteran announced this week that he is running for an open seat on the KPFA Local Station Board under the banner United for Community Radio. Here is the UCR Platform: KPFA and Pacifica are irreplaceable, strategic and transformative resources for amplifying the voices of millions who are overlooked, marginalized or silenced by corporate media in the face of police … Continued

Check it out! The artwork of three outdoor painters is woven together with a sound track to provide a first hand view of the Occupy Oakland and Occupy San Francisco encampments. The artists are Jessica Joy Jirsa, Anthony Holdsworth and John Paul Marcelo. The time span is October, 2011 through early December, 2011. Music courtesy of Greg Landau Productions.         59270

Oakland held two vigils/memorials for Sandra Bland today, Wednesday, July 22nd. The first, from Noon until 1:00 PM, is being held all week at that same time (Thursday and Friday), and happens at Oscar Grant Plaza at the interesection of 14th & Broadway. The second was held at and around the Rockridge Bart beginning at 5:00 PM. Below are some tweetpics from that event. Late today the Texas District Attorney in charge of the investigation into her death told the Bland family that the autopsy was “defective” and that authorities … Continued

It probably happens all the time. It probably happens all over. An out-of-the-limelight negotiation, some winks and nods, a few shrugs, a quiet vote and a developer ends up with a prime piece of previously publicly owned land on the cheap. This time it happened in Oakland, and this time, one time, it didn’t happen. The not happening began with deliberate action to violate the law on the part of City officials, proceeded to astroturf, a surprise direct action, eight million dollars of “sweetener” and ultimately a leaked document. Here’s … Continued

At 1:00 AM on July 1st, 2015 the Berkeley City Council tabled four ordinances that would have criminalized Berkeley’s homeless. They were up against an extremely upset, rather large crowd that had stubbornly stuck around beyond the witching hour, determined not to go down without a  fight long into the even wee-er hours of the morning. Linda Maio, sponsor of the ordinance package, relunctantly acceded to Mayor Tom Bates’ request to table and adjourn after acknowledging the fierce opposition but saying “Something has to change!” The confusion and consternation had … Continued

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE MEMBERS OF THE OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL FROM THE OAKLAND PRIVACY WORKING GROUP. We are deeply concerned that the Oakland City Council is, as it was with the Domain Awareness Center, voting to allocate funds for a system that it has not debated, has not gotten public input on, is not what it is represented to be, and is troubling in its civil liberties implications. We are referring to the $150,000 line item for ‘Predictive Policing’ software that is included in the Mayor’s budget proposal. It … Continued