The Oakland City Council voted yesterday to put a parcel tax on the November ballot to beef up the understaffed Police Department. The tax, which would start at $113 a year and rise to $276 annually, would fund the hiring of 105 cops and 75 police services technicians. Councilmembers Ignacio De la Fuente and Desley Brooks opposed the motion. According to the Trib, De la Fuente explained his opposition in an email to Oakland residents: the previous cop tax, Measure Y, hasn’t been implemented, and there’s too much wasteful spending at City Hall to justify asking the public for more tax money. We’ve heard a lot of talk lately about the ghastly violence on Oakland’s streets, the grim financial straits of local residents, and serious allegations of nepotism among the city’s most powerful bureaucrats. Come November, we’ll finally see which of these factors prevails.
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