You Tell Us: To combat violence, put love into action
Pastors of Oakland and many more are joining forces to fight against the long trend of violence. They have been meeting and doing more than praying. They are actually putting faith to work.
Tag Archives: Op-Ed
You Tell Us: My mother’s work deserves dignity
After my mother migrated from the Philippines with my father in 1983, she became employed as a domestic worker. She has worked in private households and in caregiving facilities. Since I was 5 years old,...
You Tell Us: Meatless Monday, a resolution that can make a world of difference
It's never been easier to eat with a conscience. The Oakland Unified School District is participating in Meatless Monday; local restaurants like Italian Colors, Mezze and Boca Nova offer Meatless Monday menus; and we have...
You Tell Us: Vote yes on Measure A1
If you read the Measure A1 Expenditure Plan, you will see that, by law, the money must be used for animal care, children’s educational programs and maintaining the zoo’s affordability. It does specify that money...
You Tell Us: Vote no on Measure A1
I enjoy the zoo, and I truly appreciate how the East Bay Zoological Society transformed it into a special East Bay destination. But their agenda for the zoo conflicts with the preservation of open space...
You Tell Us: Exie could be your neighbor. She’s mine.
At the Food Bank, we haven’t seen signs of an economic recovery. FY 2012 marked the first time we responded to more than 40,000 calls from people whose pantries were empty. People are lining up...
You Tell Us: Tough love
I got a lot of love for my last op-ed, The Oakland Diss (thank you for your kind words). But I also received a lot of flak. I was called “delusional” and “naive.” I got...
You Tell Us: The Oakland Diss
It’s like we are the Boo Radley of the neighborhood, and nobody even dares to knock on our door because some guy one time told a friend that people in Oakland hate puppies and practice...
You Tell Us: Time to get on board with BRT for Oakland
On Tuesday, Oakland is poised to make history with AC Transit. Specifically, International Blvd. is in a position to gain over $150 million of investment, bring in over 300 new, full-time jobs, improve safety from...
You Tell Us: Oakland can’t afford the risk of the pension bond refinance deal
Besides obligating all of us to a big financial risk that a city as poor as Oakland cannot handle, it is not OK to burden younger and future residents and businesses with the huge retirement...
You Tell Us: Is Goldman Sachs holding Oakland hostage?
One of the largest banks on the planet, Goldman Sachs refuses to let the City of Oakland refinance the municipal bonds it owns. Holding onto these “toxic assets” has allowed the company to pocket almost...
You Tell Us: Local food banks can’t shoulder $33 billion in food assistance cuts
The burden of $33 billion in federal assistance being shifted to a network of non-profits is nothing short of preposterous. That $33 billion is equal to the budget of nearly every food bank in America,...
You Tell Us: Questioning the medical marijuana crackdown in California
Going forward, raids on places like Oaksterdam will likely continue, but it is unclear for how much longer they will be tolerated by the public. The raid on Oaksterdam was met with a great deal...
You Tell Us: Are gentrification and media attention good for Oakland?
It’s good to see Oakland in a positive light, and to get excited about new opportunities in our city, but do extreme media representations fuel change that is beneficial to the whole community or just...
You Tell Us: Recall campaigns agree to disagree, but why?
Here, to me, is the best current illustration of Oakland's fractious politics. The people who want to recall Mayor Jean Quan can't even agree to run a single campaign. There are two separate campaigns collecting...
You Tell Us: Don’t raid the Occupy Oakland encampment
Permitting a permanent encampment is a far better solution than waging war on the Occupy Oakland supporters. Looking back to history, during the Great Depression we had Hoovervilles that lasted for years. Central Park was...
