Dellums' "No Comment" Changes to a Comment

The Bey mob – who will be charged with killing journalist Chauncey Bailey and two or more other, unrelated victims – filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 24, 2006. But in bankruptcy papers, Yusuf Bey IV noted mayor Ron Dellums "has even pointed out his official support of me continuing in my father's successful pattern of running the business." Dellums gave Bey a letter to the bankruptcy court saying the Bey mob's bakery "has established itself as an integral part of the community, and its loss would be distressing to untold numbers of Oakland citizens. Not only has the bakery been a source of nutritional, additive-free baked goods, but it has also provided stability by way of employment to many of our residents." (Oakland Tribune, Aug. 7, 2007)

Contacted last week by the Chronicle about these statements, Dellums' office said the mayor has no comment.

Later, though, KGO news reported that Dellums' letter of support for the Bey mob went to the judge "just two weeks before the big raid [the day after the murder of Bailey], long after Bey's warrant for assault with a deadly weapon, nearly a year and a half after his indictment for the liquor store melée." (KGO, Aug. 6, 2007) It is not clear how much earlier Dellums signed the letter.

Last week Dellums' communications person said the mayor had no comment. On Aug. 6, she offered a comment after the shocking information discovered by KGO. Karen Stevenson said, "We get hundreds of requests daily for support letters for businesses and organizations throughout the city and we just have a sort of standard letter that goes out and we did provide a letter to the Bakery."

Many people have observed how detached Dellums is from his job as mayor. So who does his work for him? At the least, it appears that the highly paid executives added to the mayor's office know little or nothing about the Bey mob despite its ugly presence on the Oakland scene for two decades.

At the worst, Dellums or his staff knew who the Bey mob were and did not care about their crimes against ordinary folks.

KGO reports that "angry words were exchanged inside City Hall today after finding out the referral letter Dellums signed had not been properly vetted." Instead of squabbling over who made a political blunder, City Hall officials should be rethinking the policy of deliberately understaffing the police department.

Oakland is engulfed in violence, disruption, and disrespect by thugs like the Bey mob. They are a tiny percentage of the population, but for lack of public safety from City Hall, they rule the streets. Here is the occasion to admit the mistake of helping thug Bey, then produce a solid plan to get Oakland the 1,100 police officers we need instead of today's 700-some.

Instead, Dellums held a press conference to acknowledge that the California Highway Patrol will send in a few officers – the number is undisclosed but only a portion of the 100 alloted for all of California under the aid program – for three months at most. That was the only specific measure, although Dellums went on about social programs, county parole supervision of felons, more mental health services, and other vague measures.

Mayor Dellums denouncing critics who expect results. Councilmember Quan, lead campaigner for the Measure Y fiasco, admires. Not visible but also at the press conference was the executive director of Youth UpRising, the agency that places youth members in gutter rapper music videos.

Dellums even trotted out perennial City Hall groupie Don Link to back up Dellums' demand that residents do more. "Everyone needs to get involved in this process for it to be successful. They could get involved in neighborhood watch." (San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 10, 2007) Oakland residents are great at being "eyes and ears," but City Hall consumes Measure Y and other taxes without providing enough police hands to respond. Link blustered about Dellums' announcement, "This is a commitment that something will be done and we will be successful." On the other hand, Link opposes residents when they organize as they did in February 2006 by thousands to demand real action.

"There is no simple solution, no silver bullet, no easy answer," Dellums said. (Oakland Tribune, Aug. 10, 2007) No one asked the Lone Ranger to ride into town, but the mayor's flippant remark about "no silver bullet" is an evasion. The single most important thing that City Hall can do is set a goal of at least 1,100 police and begin implementing a plan to get them.

Update: A week later, Dellums regurgitated the same rhetoric at an Oakland Athletics baseball game. "There is no silver bullet," he repeated. Referring to the police, he said, "They can't do this alone," calling the community a key element of public safety. Oakland has plenty of willing eyes and ears; it is police hands we need. Dellums slandered peaceful neighborhoods, too: "A safe city is not a city that is locked down. A safe city is a city that offers hope and opportunity." (Oakland Tribune, Aug. 16, 2007) Dellums thus implied that a neighborhood enjoying calm and safety somehow stands in opposition to hope and opportunity.

However, it appears futile to expect the mayor and his high-level courtiers to do the right thing. Nor has any councilmember stepped forward. We must get that first councilmember who will break with the discredited mix of understaffing the police department, preaching narrow-minded reliance on social programs, and privatizing government by means of grants and "loans" to Your Black Muslim Bakery, Youth UpRising, PUEBLO, and a host of lesser parasites whose work ranges from sincere but ineffective to outright murderous.