FYI the city doesn’t read the comments. They told the ncpc chairs that a few weeks ago.

And they DEFINITELY can’t read them if we can’t even post them, and we can’t even use the platform to inform eachother as a community anymore, that’s the problem. More and more policies attacking law abiding citizens, while they get more and more lax with the criminals, and then have to gall to wonder why so many individuals and business and leaving town.

😂😂😂

Thanks, "GoodSamaritan". I hope it's a positive sign that someone's listening, that others (namely yourself, so far) are being allowed to comment on this ticket.

Both complaints about parking and buildings however, amount to complaints against the individuals who own those buildings and vehicles, complaints that can have legal consequences for them (however inconsistently enforced). I don't think anyone should be allowed to make anonymous legal complaints against others. It's an approach that invites false, malicious, and/or revenge-motivated complaints, as well as undermining trust and harmony in the community.

Unless a vehicle is causing a real problem, I say we should leave it alone. Parking is restricted in too many places, and any agency taking ticket money from people has a serious conflict of interest and incentive for abuse, if they get any of the money they're taking.

When there's not enough parking, largely because of unnecessary restrictions imposed in part to benefit some narrow special interest at the expense of everyone else, and in part to tax people more, the alternative to committing minor parking violations is to waste time driving around burning more gas and causing more congestion and potential accidents.

The annoyances caused by people misparking need to be weighed against all the extra pollution, injuries and deaths, the enforcement costs, etc., associated with trying to punish it.

With buildings, issues should be left up to the owner's discretion unless they are violating someone else's rights. The concept of "blight" is a subjective standard prone to classist abuse, and complaints.

If graffiti on a building bothers you greatly, you can always offer to the owner to buy some paint and help them paint it over. Don't try to make the owner, or the general public, pay to enforce your aesthetic preferences.

All the resources wasted on this kind of stuff – trying to police how other individuals use public space, how they maintain their own property – means fewer resources for the priorities that virtually everyone agrees on: Violent crime, burglaries, car and bike thefts, infrastructure maintenance, care for city trees, etc.

When too many things – too many people – are criminalized, when our lives are over-regulated, it tears a society apart. I believe it's one reason there is so much bitter partisanship, people trying to control government so they can use it against others and/or to benefit themselves.

Oops, left off the end of a sentence – meant to write,

"The concept of 'blight' is a subjective standard prone to classist abuse, and complaints motivated by desire to protect or increase property values."

Alright you’ve completely lost me. Maybe you live in utopia. area, but none of this is based in bay sort of grounded reality. I want to write more but I can’t even respond to this kind of unsubstantiated optimism and unplaced faith. Good luck trying to make Oakland whatever you want it to be, I’m going to continue to report criminal activity

Oh and I’m pretty sure this is just Pamela Price’s burner account. So good luck with your policies, they don’t f-info work.

No one cares what you think Starchild You don't live in the city of Oakland. Start a blog.This isn't the appropriate place for your crazy ideas.

Your opinions are duly noted, but you two don't speak for everyone. A public forum where people are weighing in with requests for the use of taxpayer resources is an excellent place to discuss these priorities. I'm well aware that the NIMBY mentality tends to be over-represented on sites where people go to complain about stuff, and I think it's important for other voices to be heard.

And no "GoodSamaritin", I'm not Pamela Price. Very ironic you should complain about her, when it is your preference for enforcing parking and aesthetic standards and stuff that's taking resources away from fighting real crime.

Your Biblical namesake by the way, wasn't motivated by obeying the law, but by helping someone in need, and they did it by personally lending a hand, not by forcing laws and regulations on them.

What I'm talking about is just live and let live, respect for everyone's individual rights, and devoting resources to what we can pretty much all agree on rather than weaponizing government against others in the community to fight divisive culture wars. That's not crazy. Some might call it common sense, or even dare I say traditional American values.

What's CRAZY is the vast criminal and regulatory system and sn|tching culture we've got now. Look around and see the results. The neighbor vs. neighbor approach doesn't work.

It's unsubstantiated optimism about the efficacy of coercion, and misplaced faith in its ability to solve problems, to believe that a punitive, divisive, neighbor vs. neighbor approach will make Oakland a better place.

Nevertheless, I'm glad if we can at least agree about the importance of allowing the public to weigh in here, and the need for more transparency and responsiveness in how complaints are responded to.

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Gotta love “big word” scholars trying to dictate how the city operates…..those poor criminals, won’t somebody think of them?

Go stand on a soapbox on a corner if you so badly need a place to preach your ideals, this isn’t the place.

If someone was standing on a soapbox on a corner in your neighborhood saying the kind of things I'm saying, "Good Samaritin", somehow I'll bet you'd be complaining about it.

You should be careful talking about "criminals" as if when we hear that word we should just throw reason and common sense out the window and focus on making people suffer.

With the vast criminal justice and regulatory systems in place, YOU could be the next one criminalized, for something you're doing that you value, and your neighbors could be sn|tching on YOU.

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D – By the way, who are the NCPC chairs and who told them the city doesn't read the comments? Were they speaking for all city agencies, or just theirs?

No response so far from anyone with SeeClickFix.com or with the Oakland city government.

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