Gunfire for the Seniors

At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, 2007, shooting erupted at the corner of MacArthur Blvd. and High Street. One couple in their car happened to be stopped at the light there. They report, "We heard three gunshots. We saw an Afro-American male wearing a red and white striped polo shirt rushing west down MacArthur from the corner. He was ducking and running, probably from the gunshots. We freaked out and did a quick (and dangerous) U-turn, heading back down High Street." Police later reported that an Afro-American male in black clothing robbed the gas station on the northeast corner of the intersection.

Across the street from this Oakland "wild West" scene is a lot where councilmember Jean Quan is promoting a five-story, 115-unit monolith of apartments for seniors. A great majority of the neighbors and the merchants of the adjacent Laurel shopping district oppose Quan's zone-busting proposal.

Isn't this typical of Oakland city councilmembers: they ignore the public safety crisis in a city that has only half a police department while they scramble to help landowners and developers stuff ill-advised schemes down our throats. In this case, seniors would quickly learn that they are prisoners in their apartments, at least as soon as dusk falls.