Comments on: Whose streets? Oakland’s shadow government presses City Hall to end the occupation

By: Butterfly

Butterfly — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 16:14:40 +0000

Would you like to see who is behind New City America? His name is Marco Li Mandri. Read http://media.sdreader.com/pdf/kessler-sd-follow-u…

By: ann nomura

ann nomura — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:02:01 +0000

The Oakland Chamber of Commerce has a long history of bullying grassroots organizations. When the Dimond neighborhood fought for a "Hotel and Motel Ordinance" to regulate and clear up the motels on the MacArthur corridor the Chamber tried to kill it. The council wouldn't even vote until a specific exemption was written in for Triple A rated hotels and motels, so the big motels down by the airport would not be subject to any city regulation. Once the Chamber got their members exempted, they supported the regulation. Mayor Quan takes personal credit for closing the Hillcrest using this regulation. Oakland City Council and Mayor Quan still can't take a pee without the Chamber's permission.

By: CrowBolt in Oakland

CrowBolt in Oakland — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:38:09 +0000

Excellent FACTUAL article!!! It's so refreshing, particularly given the crap that has passed for mainstream journalism about the Occupation. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

By: Anna Edmondson

Anna Edmondson — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:00:45 +0000

This was a highly informative piece. Thank you! I'll be curious to hear what my real estate friends think of this one. Now, I like to think of myself as a city planner/activist so what I'm interested in is ideas for how to "re-occupy" Oakland's downtown public spaces, e.g. Oscar Grant Plaza in long-term permanent ways that add vitality, music, life, like the day of the General Strike when it felt so alive, joyful and interesting. Yes, this is a short-term concern regarding a much deeper systemic problem, but let's move to demonstrate small improvements that model our progressive ideals, not just our outrage.

By: MissOakland

MissOakland — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:36:51 +0000

I loved this very informative bit of real NEWS. This is what the news should be about! Congrats to the writers and researchers of this story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why can't the mainstream news corps tell deliver the news like this?????

By: Joseph From Berkeley

Joseph From Berkeley — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:32:27 +0000

…And the same *corporate* vandals that graffiti our residential neighborhoods with tacky, garish, and garishly lighted billboards that at night blanket the neighborhood with light pollution — unsightlyness that the rich would never allow in *their* residential neighborhoods — that *commerically* deface buildings and ruin the skyline in *our* neighborhoods.

By: Joseph From Berkeley

Joseph From Berkeley — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:31:41 +0000

GREAT AND HIGHLY INFORMATIVE ARTICLE!!

Thanks for droppin' science…!!

The Corporate Lamestream Media (C*L*M) never talks about *those* OUT-OF-TOWN *CORPORATE* VANDALS against public space and public commons truly put to use _by and for the people_!: indeed, public commons for human need over corporate greed.

The same *CORPORATE* VANDALS that steal people's homes through gentrification, non-enforcement of proper living-standard building codes, and predatory lending — and that destroy, especially, minority neighborhoods with resultant foreclosed empty homes, other empty and/or delapidated buildings and lots all left vacant for a decade or more, while thousands of people go homeless, until property values are driven down low enough to have the neighborhood officially certified as a "blighted area" and then for eminent domain (so that "buy low, sell high" development investment profits can be maximized) now even for *private* commercial development given all sorts of lavish tax breaks.

This is exactly an example of corporate greed that Occupy Oakland opposes and is fighting again.

By: blork

blork — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:54:27 +0000

remember Bastille day . . .

By: aguaynotas

aguaynotas — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:45:24 +0000

Good Lord. This thing needs to be in EVERYONE'S screen as soon as possible. It's creepy. Totally have to agree with SkDo, follow the $ and the thing will show it's ugly head -and how to kill it.
Ah, I remember the times when people thought that Keith Olbermann's comment of citizen's vs Koch (Walmart's deputys, anyone?) was taken as a foolish, populist rant.

Heh. Well we all know now that he was totally right, wasn't he…?

By: SkDo

SkDo — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 23:07:05 +0000

Excellent piece. The only thing I'd add is links to follow the $. Who is on their boards, and how many and which boards are each of them on? Any Wall Street publicly-traded corps then included on that list? (An Oakland council member in a public meeting to Oakland residents tried to claim that "Wall Street wasn't in Oakland, so why protest in Oakland?" Also, I guess Wells Fargo just beside City Hall isn't part of wall street. Who knew?)

By: fhallock

fhallock — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:50:00 +0000

This is a real example of the fraud that our government is involved in. The monied sources, the corporations form organizations the members of which are business executives ordering the mayor and police how to conduct the business of the people of Oakland. They all stand around at meetings with their hands in each others pockets.

By: @ReginaldJames

@ReginaldJames — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:07:40 +0000

Thank you for addressing one of the public/private partnerships that are driving further gentrification of Oakland. Sometime in 2009-10, a group of benches were removed from the AC Transit bus stop area above 12th STreet BART in front of 1333 Broadway. This was a popular waiting area for AC Transit buses, but it was removed in part of a larger strategy of removing young Black people from what was always assumed to be public space. However, as a ground plaque shows, permission to pass is "revocable." Earlier in 2011, security guards were hired to keep people off the space and protect Citibank and whatever other businesses are on that property.
The two BID's also hired a group of private, unarmed security guards called, "ambassadors" shortly after the murder of Oscar Grant and subsequent protests. These men–like the other security guards protecting property, largely African American, Latino and Southeast Asian–patrol the streets and have a direct line to police. I once argued with one, who wanted to be a police officer, who held the believe that "he (Oscar Grant) shouldn't have been resisting and followed the law." I'd only heard this viewpoint articulated by white men and SFGate Comment trolls. After the recent vandalism at the Nov. 2 demonstration, these "ambassadors" were upfront cleaning up–all powerful protectors of property.
Point being, a part of these BIDs gentrification strategy is hybrid security and I wouldn't be surprised if they sought to arm them sooner than later.

By: Chance

Chance — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 06:19:23 +0000

Superbly written and researched article, very enlightening. Occupy has acquired local flavor everywhere it has taken root, with students in London fighting budget cuts to universities, environmental focus in the Pac-west, etc. Naturally in Oakland racism is front and center as is made obvious by the immediate resort to police violence and the association of the movement to criminality.

Keep up the good work, bookmarked!