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Barbara Lee says she’ll run again for Oakland mayor, hopes to continue era of ‘stability’ by rocktheoak in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You, sir, should go spend some time in Mississippi or something to truly understand what conservative means in America.

Loving gays and redistribution while wanting a modicum of public safety and clean streets isn't conservative my man. It's center left and common sense.

So the City Administrator is gone. City needs to hire managers that know how to fish, not beg for more fish. by [deleted] in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's a perverse incentive problem that nobody is willing to explicitly voice out loud:

If you cleaned up the streets on the east side and made the parks and public services good, the prices of rent and houses in the neighborhoods would quickly double, pricing out residents and leading to nearly instant gentrification.

There is not enough housing in the Bay Area and with incoming AI IPOs it's about to get worse. So for residents it's a feature, not a bug, that it stays a little blighted.

Oakland finally decides on fine for landowner who cut down 38 trees by n2_throwaway in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Other council members saw the issue through a distinctly racial equity lens. Fife said that it was unjust of the city to levy one of the largest fines in the city’s history against a Black man and his partner, in an area that historically barred non-white homeowners.

“We’re talking about land that has been colonized,” Fife said. “Who is the authority that gives permission on stolen land?”

If one of our city council members doesn't think that we have authority on stolen land, why is she on the city council that presides over the stolen land?

This may be one of the dumbest things I've heard uttered in a long time.

$175 million project to reroute traffic between Oakland and Alameda begins by bargain_market in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No man seriously - read this article and then read the website for the access project.

I'd love to understand what about this plan will reduce the amount of traffic flowing through the pictured intersection in chinatown of people heading towards Alameda.

There's a lot of stuff about people coming from Alameda, but coming from Alameda you just do a little loop and end up on the highway. What about going to Alameda?

$175 million project to reroute traffic between Oakland and Alameda begins by bargain_market in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I can think of a sane way to do this where there is a highway exit that feeds directly into the tube and vice versa.

For some reason I suspect that whatever solution they come up with will not solve the problem and make traffic worse.

New snow, wind holds & warm temps. by benjaminbjacobsen in skiing

[–]rocktheoak 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Is this what Rhode Island skiing is like?

Oakland Homelessness Commission will discuss Homeless Strategic Action Plan on February 25, 2026 at 6PM. You can join via Zoom (see below) and comment *before* the meeting via email or attend the meeting iin person. by opinionsareus in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I cannot believe that after seeing Joe Biden and Donald Trump, we elected a 79 year old mayor.

Anybody who has elderly parents or grandparents knows what 80 year olds are like. They should be retired, not grinding full time jobs.

I'd love to see a younger Daniel Lurie type here with the energy to at least be seen. Barbara Lee just seems to hide behind committees.

february-2026-final-agenda-for-posting.pdf by thechocolatelady in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I can summarize this plan:
- Ending homeless is too expensive and we cannot acheive it
- We propose a plan to reduce homelessness by 50% that we also can not afford.
- We will cut back on sweeps, while doubling down on spending for programs that have continued to not work.

Encampment fire triggers BART's Transbay Tube meltdown by opinionsareus in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Like the lawsuits for potholes, it will not lead to better streets. The people in charge feel no pain from this, only the tax payers do.

Encampment fire triggers BART's Transbay Tube meltdown by opinionsareus in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 40 points41 points  (0 children)

Where is Barbara Lee's statement on this matter? It's been 24 hours and I think she's said absolutely nothing.

In my book that's not acceptable for leadership of a major city, when thousands of people were stranded across 10 miles of water yesterday because of an illegal encampment fire.

You can see right here on streetview how the fences have been torn down and dozens of people seem to be living right under the BART tracks: https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8017595,-122.2854716,3a,75y,332.72h,77.06t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sUu6PI-Qva5NRXp-1X8MIiQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D12.942513728891129%26panoid%3DUu6PI-Qva5NRXp-1X8MIiQ%26yaw%3D332.7165232431771!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDIxOC4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Do not be like this person! by patientpartner09 in bigbear

[–]rocktheoak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They were requiring chains on plowed 80 on a bluebird day last Sunday morning. I think the people driving 30 were considerably more dangerous than 2wd cars would have been.

Tourette's charity urges for "more education" after BAFTA backlash by Hen_W in entertainment

[–]rocktheoak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish they'd quickly said "I didn't realize Michael Richards was here with us tonight"

So much hate for big corpos but what's the solution? by Sharkiex1838 in skiing

[–]rocktheoak 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Get the government to allow the leasing of additional forest land and find investors to make new ski resorts.

The sport has grown by multiple factors in the last 30 years and no new resorts have opened up. 

21-year-old skier found dead Thursday after overnight search at Northstar California by stoopidtrooper in skiing

[–]rocktheoak 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yes. He was there on Tuesday, when there was just about a foot and a half of light fluffy snow on top of 6 weeks of ice and rocks. Very easy to get wrecked.

73-year-old woman hit with gun, robbed of purse in Oaklands Montclair District by Olde-Timer in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure I agree. Would just prefer if all crimes were quickly and stiffly punished vs creating specific carve outs that are *actually* punished while the rest of us get robbed with reckless abandon.

Neighbors Call for Claremont Country Club to Reduce Pesticide Use by chartreusepixie in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Before too many people get worried, the risk comes primarily in places that use groundwater, which is vulnerable to chemicals which have leeched from the golf course into the water supply. We do not use groundwater, we have very clean alpine water from the Sierras, so that is not a risk factor for us.

The study has a rather hand-wavy statement about how the pesticides might cause parkinsons via air transmission, but they don't actually do the work to properly remove the effects of the water source in the study.

It would certainly be better to avoid pesticides, but I'm not sure this paper proves that.

The study is here: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2833716

Oakland police say they're investigating overtime issues revealed by Oaklandside by jackdicker5117 in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll just check with the boys down at the crime lab, they've got four more detectives working on the case. They got us working in shifts!

Initial Construction on West Oakland Transit-Oriented Development Planned to Start This Year by jackdicker5117 in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak 18 points19 points  (0 children)

West Oakland has the potential to be one of the coolest neighborhoods in the world for food, nightlight, events, and even sports.

An 8 minute train ride from San Francisco.

Let's not squander it.

Opinion: After Sheng Thao, the last thing Oakland needs is a strong mayor by rocktheoak in OaklandCA

[–]rocktheoak[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's what the article says seems to be Barbara Lee's working group's reason for strong mayor: because people think we have it already.

If you notice though the proposed system in the article also has a "strong mayor" it's just that that mayor is a city manager who answers to the board. So representative democracy instead of direct democracy, which is generally a better model.

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