photo: ingridtaylar/ BY-SA

Sadly this is not a breakfast burrito of news, just a wrap-up of the week so far in Oakland and Alameda County as a whole.

There's been a lot of news this week, and not all of it good. Starting with the downbeat (and moving on to the relatively brighter):

Alameda County Leaders Say "The Worst is Yet to Come".

No one can accuse politicians in Alameda County of being possessed of brainless optimism. Not when they host economic forums with the title "The Worst is Yet to Come". County Supervisor Keith Carson's office issued a press release on the forum to share the gloom and doom:

[Carson], who chairs the Budget Workgroup, said Alameda County has been proactive over the last several years in streamlining its operations – and therefore has been able to avoid some of the drastic cuts seen in other counties. This year, he said, Alameda County may be forced into making cuts that will be nothing short of devastating to County residents, including families and children.

“Board members, Administration, Management and Labor have all made major sacrifices to keep our budget in balance, but those cuts are now beginning to have a visible impact upon the safety net and upon those who have nowhere else to turn for help,’’ Carson said.

Ticket The Poor!

Meanwhile, in Oakland, the hunt for revenue seems to have led the bureaucracy* down some dark, narrow streets: to ticket the cars forced to park halfway on the sidewalk that is. Yet it turns out parking officers (who are called Traffic Wardens in England, which is much cooler, I wish I was British sometimes) ACTUALLY HAVE SOULS. Well some of them at any rate, since they have begun speaking out on the unfairness of the practice. It seems that the Parking Enforcement brass sent them out to ticket in poor neighborhoods but left the richer parts of town unscathed. Which makes absolutely no sense when you stop to think about it. As the old proverb goes: you can't get blood from a stone, but you can totally get $60 from anyone living in Piedmont just for asking.

Safety Zone Dance

And it's not like the poor parts of town have it easy. City Attorney John Russo filed a civil lawsuit seeking an injunction against the North Side Oakland gang. Injunctions are a popular tactic in cities with big gang problems like Los Angeles. The injunction would create a safety zone that borders the up and coming hipster mecca Temescal. Not to be cynical about it. (Looking at the map I see that the Cold Gunnaz gang apparently runs my old neighborhood- just two blocks away from Children's Hospital. Classy.)

By now you're wondering where that "brighter news" I promised is.

Fighting Immigration Fraud

John Russo's been a busy bee this week, as his office is hosting an Immigration Workshop this Saturday at Oakland's City Hall. Free private consultations with immigration attorneys will be available to the first 200 people who show up starting at 10 AM. It seems that a company called American Legal Sevices has been ripping off immigrant families, and while the City Attorney has filed suit his office is also taking steps to make sure the immigrant community has the information it needs to fight the fraud.

Dance Party Safety

Finally, Berkeley went and had itself a riot last night. (You: "Hey! I thought you said we we're gonna end on an up note!" Me: "It's Berkeley, different rules.") Apparently an on-campus dance party turned into an occupation of Durant Hall which then turned into a riot on Telegraph involving more than 200 people and six law enforcement agencies. With the tensions on campus getting higher as the budget cuts are felt more deeply, we might be seeing more of this. Maybe someone should fix the state or something.