The Journal took a look at Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums yesterday, with a piece about how his lofty promises of building a model city have run into the realities of governing a broke-ass burg with aging infrastructure and a high crime rate. The story manages to be simultaneously too mean and too kind, which is no mean feat. On the one hand, as part of his graf comparing Dellums to the messiah who came before him, WSJ reporter Bobby White writes, “Oakland’s homicide rate during Mr. Brown’s eight years as mayor was 30% lower than the prior eight years.” But everyone knows that the homicide rate slid al around the country during the same period, and when it started to rise again in Oakland, it started under Brown’s tenure. (And don’t get us started on the reporter’s decision to quote cop union head Bob Valladon as if he were the voice of the ordinary Oakland citizen.)
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