Why Aimee Allison Matters

This guy doesn't live in Oakland, clearly does not understand anything about Oakland's issues. Oaklanders aren not anti-development at all; only Allison and her most extreme anti-business supporters think that stopping development is the way to go (Ron Dellums has repeatedly promised to accelerate development). Our issues are downtown revitalization, hiring enough police officers to have community policing, integrating the quarter of the population that has limited English ability, improving education, and increasing job growth (which has been high for a long time).

Aimee Allison's narrow, ideological campaign is being funded by the national Green Party and assisted by volunteers from San Francisco (who list "Love for Oakland" as an "optional" requirement on their websites). Get the hell out of our city and mind your own business - you know nothing aobut our issues (here's a hint: they aren't the same as SF's). Fortunately, Allison is trailing badly without any support within the district, and will be crushed Nov. 7.

Due largely to its own NIMBY policies, SF progressives, who have cleansed their city of poor people, now need to opine on East Bay issues because we actually still have some poor left. Note: Oakland politics is not just some extension of Burning Man, like SF is; we do things differently here. We actually have poor people and we actually have families. We're not a city of transients living out their political ideals before bailing to the suburbs, bitching about development while pushing gentrification with their artistic ways. We're a real place with normal, real people. We've ghad civilized politics until now, and we hope you'll all go home when Aimee gets hers handed to her.

The above commenters may be from Oakland but they haven't a clue about what is happening with Aimee A's campaign. I live in the district and have walked precincts and seen the level of support for her. The bizarre comments above reflect some hidden agendas and lack of any sense of reality.

Aimee may have support forom the Green Party, in the form of grassroots activists and volunteers, but her opponent has the funding of developers who certainly don't have the best interests of Oaklanders in mind. The incumbent's most recent campaign flyer claims she will 'stand up to developers' - an obvious ploy to reach the many voters who don't want Oakland (and the City Council) to be sold to the highest bidder. What's worse, a candidate with actual grassroots support and a progressive agenda based on the reality in the district and the city with some support from other progressives throughout the Bay Area, or the incumbent who is funded by corporate interests from outside the city? If the out of town developers have a right to make their pitch for the incumbent, the San Franciscans certainly have a right to offer Aimee Allison their support. Why the above commenters are threatened by that is beyond bizarre.

Aimee is the real deal. She's served her country by doing one of the most courageous things a person can do: standing up to oppression by resisting warmongering as a conscientious objector.

Just because Aimee is a drop-dead gorgeous, highly intelligent black woman, her critics want to pidgeon hole her as being a San Fran yuppie or something like that. Let me tell you something -- the only thing that Aimee is sold out to is the realization of peace and justice. She's got 10x the balls of most elected officials and she has proven time and again that will DO WHAT IS RIGHT even under tremendous criticism and pressure. The reason the critics are working so hard to bad mouth her is because she has the potential to lead at a very high level ---- how does President Allison sound?? If she ever does decide to do that, I believe that she will lead for the people and not for the plunderers.

She's already got my vote and support! I hope you give her yours.

We don't need carbetbaggers telling us who to vote for in our own district. You don't live here, you don't care about our lives, and you don't know our issues. Maybe Aimee is the right person for the job, maybe she isn't, but one thing is for sure that you locusts descending on our homes pushing your "anti-war" agenda (and who exactly is District 2 at war with?) need to mind your own business. The only reason you are here is because you think you can get a Green Party candidate elected, never mind the costs and never mind what else may be going on.

Take your money, machine politics, and your high and mighty attitudes and work on your own districts. Leave us alone!

Oakland is no doubt a left leaning city and I'm a green party member, so let me state that I have no intrinsic dislike of Allison. However, when her supporters get on here at indybay, make excuses about the homicidal "sideshows" happening in Oakland you get the feeling that neither she nor the left in general is ready to lead this beautiful but deeply troubled city. Oakland's murder rate is through the frickin roof--- if the left were in touch with the people in the flatlands they would know they want action (rightly or wrongly) including more police action, and not just a bunch leftist rhetoric.

I have no idea whether very many non-Oaklanders are volunteering for the campaigns of either of the candidates, but I do know that the majority of money that has been donated to finance Pat Kernighan's campaign IS coming from OUTSIDE of Oakland! Her campaign finance report is public record, and what it says is that Kernighan has to rely on corporations and wealthy individuals who can afford to make maximum donations of $600 each, in order to finance her campaign! And the significant majority of those maximum donations are from OUTSIDE of Oakland!

For example, Kernighan's most recent campaign finance report (July 1 through Sept. 30) shows that she took in $55,750.44, and that $43,800 of that came from those who gave maximum donations. And of that $43,800, $28,800 came from OUTSIDE of Oakland -- and only $15,000 came from within Oakland! That's right -- almost two to one, from OUTSIDE of Oakland!

Outsiders like the California Real Estate PAC of Los Angeles, Clear Channel Worldwide of San Antonio, TX, HFH Central Station Village of Los Angeles, Waste Management of Sacramento, the Vice-President of Solano Development, four individuals who work for Walnut Creek developer/builder Wilcox & Co., and three executives with Diamond Investment Properties of Palo Alto.

You want someone who's going to work on behalf of outside corporate interests, rather than the people of Oakland? Well, her name is Pat Kernighan, and if you somehow believe that if she gets elected to a full four-year term, that she'll then turn her back on all of her outside wealthy donors -- well, I have a bridge that I think you might also be interested in buying....

You can rattle off donors as much as you want, but Pat's support comes from within the district, not from know-nothing SFers. At least out-of-town developers have a stake in Oakland. Allison has thrown fundraisers in San Francisco! Every single neighborhood activist in the district has endorsed Pat. Virtually all of the candidates running in the 2005 election endorsed Pat, versus NOT ONE for Allison. Dellums has pointedly refused to endorse Allison.

The organizations providing manpower to AA are based in San Francisco, which has not been denied by anyone writing here (the author of the original post, of course, lives in SF). Pat may move to block the school land sale, but nobody thinks Pat is going to stop development; in fact, how could one do that yet realize Dellums' goal of increasing the population by 100,000?

Allison is either a tax evader or a liar, according to Matier & Ross's investigation of her non-payment of city business taxes. She waltzed through the contentious Inclusionary Zoning Council meeting to pass out some flyers, but didn't even stay to listen to the speakers. What kind of commitment is that? She is seriously lacking in the leadership skills needed for this important position.

The writer does live in Oakland - in Aimee's district, FYI, in response to the first comment. The dellums.blogspot poster doesnt have a lot of time on his hands does he?

yikes ... cant fix typos on here very easily...

the dellums.blogspot MUST have a lot of time on his hands to attack good people ... that's what i meant to say

I know the writer and he lives in the District. Sorry to disappoint you ...