Comments on: Where to learn about the budget. The other budget.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 05:11:04 +0000

Yes, I hear the Mayans portend the end of an Oakland era…

By: Robert

Robert — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 23:11:36 +0000

there is hope that in 2012 things may change

By: len

len — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 16:53:52 +0000

california needs some blue dog democrats and some moderate republicans, but it appears that can’t happen the way districts are gerrymandered.

By: Ralph

Ralph — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:17:57 +0000

len, that line about the Democratic party is my favorite line from the interview.

By: len

len — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 03:54:06 +0000

Interview with Gray Davis in the chron the other day was an eye opener. I assumed he’d be beating up on the terminator.

”
“Q: It seems ironic at the least that fiscal management was a theme of the
recall campaign and now it’s like deja vu. How do you feel about that?

A: I never believed in pointing fingers, even when in office and I’m certainly
not going to do it now. The public and the people in Sacramento need to realize
that what they fund depends on revenues coming from the economy and the economy
is going to have ups and downs. Not to take that fluctuation into account when
making one-, two- or five-year plans is ridiculous.

You have to keep your eye on how the overall economy is going and not just
whether ends meet in the current year. It’s a totally foreign concept in the
Democratic Party; they just think the economy happens.”

-len raphael
desmond st

By: Ralph

Ralph — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:08:10 +0000

jackie, what will truly change the schools are the parents. Lincoln Elem has some of the highest test scores in Oakalnd. Parents demand that their children do well.

The more we can do to bring middle class families who value education to Oakland the easier it will be for us to change OUSD.

By: jackie

jackie — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:03:25 +0000

actually, what I think would draw more people, more families to Oakland is fixing the SCHOOLS, not the streets.

I can deal with a pot hole if my kids are getting an excellent public education. Instead, we have a system where by some estimates more kids drop out or fail out of high school than graduate.

I’m currently just a young-20-something here in Oakland, and I love living here. However, when I think about having a family, I know for sure I don’t want them in Oakland’s schools.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:04:59 +0000

You might want to re-read what I wrote about spending and taxes – but I suppose it’s simply easier for you to be flippant.

By: David

David — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:27:04 +0000

Actually spending does have something to do with taxes. Eventually they have to match up somewhere.

but whatever.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:11:50 +0000

I don’t think it’s bewildering at all. Salaries, benefits and pensions have risen to unsustainable levels – but that’s a union issue. Eventually, every municipality (and the state) will have no choice but to address this fact. Beyond that, cities were never meant to provide social services like we see today. Oakland’s government elite appears to think this is their first priority.

In any event, spending has nothing to do with whether our taxes are too high or not. I agree that in California we do not receive good value for our tax dollar – but I’d happily pay higher taxes if it meant we got good schools, safe neighborhoods, well-maintained parks and a coherent public transit policy. Instead, we get Honduran gangs, non-violent people jailed for possesion of marijuana and a water system designed for a population less than 1/2 of what we have today.