When I was mayor of Oakland, I built a lot of good things. I liked redevelopment. Didn't quite understand it; seemed kind of magical. It was the money that you…
Nobody who is concerned about stable and responsible state, county or city budgeting can ignore the issues presented by public pensions. Whether it’s Governor Brown’s recent proposal, San Francisco’s recent…
In our last post, we talked about David Kennedy’s violence reduction strategy, sometimes known as the “Ceasefire” program. Guess what? We actually started a Kennedy-inspired violence-reduction program here in Oakland.…
For the last several weeks, much of the political talk in Oakland has centered around Occupy Oakland, the encampment, responses by the mayor, police and city council, and whether the…
Dear Oaklanders, Tomorrow, October 29 at 10:00 a.m. at 1148 E. 18th Street, Suite 10, Make Oakland Better Now! co-hosts the kickoff meeting for two critical signature gathering campaigns, one…
In our first post on this subject, we provided some of the remarkable crime reduction figures from Professor Franklin Zimring’s study of New York City. Today, we will review some…
No one who watched the eviction of demonstrators from Frank Ogawa Plaza can feel good about the way this situation was handled. Nor can anyone fail to be stunned and…
Nearly everyone in Oakland has opinions about crime and how to reduce it. Often public discussions in Oakland about these subjects devolve into an ideological conflict. Some think more police…
There is so much going on in Oakland right now, and so many opportunities to Make Oakland Better Now! First, the ballot measures: Ballots are on their way to your…
If you follow MOBN!'s postings, you almost certainly share our deep concern about public safety in Oakland. And the odds are you want to learn more about what we can…
