January 6, 2012
First, I need to thank the hundreds of Oaklanders who contributed to the annual Toy Drive…
yes, we made our goal! In the last days before Christmas many people came with toys and
checks and the Santa Rosa firefighters donated a large truck of toys; so we will have a small
reserve for next year. You can bet Santa is going to do some off season discount shopping in
preparation for next year. We especially thank the many volunteers who allowed us to take
the toy drive out into the neighborhoods of our 100 blocks to include families who would not
have known about the effort otherwise and the Allen Temple Church which stepped up to
provide toys to hundreds of families who had not registered in East Oakland.
Veteran Police Officers and their Oakland Kids program serve holiday dinner at
the Edes Senior Center.
As Mayor I was invited to dozens of celebrations for the holidays and tried to make as many
as possible. In a city that speaks over 130 languages, the variety of customs and ways of
celebrating is amazing. In January the many community observances of the Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the Lunar New Year give us more ways to reflect on
community and values.
This is generally a time to evaluate the past year and to roll out plans for the next. During the
next month we will release several reports and plans in strategic areas.
- Because of last week’s court decision on redevelopment we will be looking at major
cuts in those programs very quickly if a legislative fix is not reached. - We are also undergoing a major review of the near decade- long federal monitoring of
the Police Department. In October the judge issued a highly critical report; at that
time I and the City Administrator agreed to become directly involved. Since then City
Administrator Deanna Santana, interim Police Chief Howard Jordan, and my office
have been working on changes in department policies and procedures. We will be
going back to court on January 26. - Because of the above, we will probably push the annual state of the City report a few
weeks back into February.
Public Safety will continue to be a priority. The year ended with the fatal shooting of another
young child– 5-year-old Gabriel Martinez Jr. Even one murder is unacceptable, but three
innocent children who were caught in the crossfire during 2011–all of whom were killed in or
just meters outside of the 100 blocks–is unconscionable. Unfortunately, this is why the focus
is on the 100 blocks, the 5% of the city where 92% of violent crimes are committed. This
month we will roll out more information on the collaborative efforts of law enforcement
partners, faith community, school and neighborhood leaders.
Our children deserve a better, safer Oakland. We start the year with many of this year’s MLK
Day events focusing on reducing the violence. This year we have seen the beginning of a
change in the relations between the community and the police. Organizations like Oakland
Community Organizations have stepped forward join us in organizing in the 100 blocks while
Probation and other agencies have agreed to prioritize these areas. We can and must make a
difference, please join us.
Mayor Jean Quan
