ASSEMBLY 18
Jan. 24, 2012 | Assembly candidate Joel Young is in trouble with the law for a second time in the last 10 months after an aide for Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan filed a police report charging him with threatening him at an Oakland bar and spitting in his eye.
The Jan. 14 incident reported Tuesday by the Oakland Tribune says Kaplan’s communication director Jason Overman told police Young threatened him at the Make Westing in downtown Oakland and spat in Overman’s eye.
“You just wait until my campaign is over. I’m going to find you and beat your (expletive) (expletive), you (expletive),” Overman said recounting Young’s comments to him that night.
The embattled Oakland assembly candidate insinuated Overman is jealous of his relationship with his girlfriend.
Young told the Trib, “None of that is true. If I wasn’t a candidate for the Assembly, I doubt Jason would be doing this.”
According to the Tribune, the argument stemmed from a conversation Overman had with Young’s girlfriend, a local politico named Keesa Ocampo, detailing Young’s episode with domestic violence last March. Young was accused of striking Jennifer Juarez, a then-girlfriend in the face after she found him in bed with another woman.
In numerous conversation with Juarez last year, she told The Citizen, Ocampo was aware of the details surrounding Young and the domestic violence case. According, to Young, Ocampo was his girlfriend before meeting Juarez in late 2010 and after the criminal allegations surfaced in the spring of 2011.
Ocampo is mentioned in court papers as the woman who repeatedly calls Juarez’s cell phone to talk her out of pursuing with domestic violence charges against Young. Ocampo also is mentioned in filings as attempting to dissuade another former girlfriend of Young’s from supporting Juarez’s case.
Those who know both Young and Ocampo, have in the past described her as a political opportunist looking to gain power from a potential win by Young in his assembly race this June against Rob Bonta, Abel Guillen and Kathy Neal.
Ocampo’s background includes working for women’s advocacy groups in the East Bay and San Mateo. She was listed as a member of the “Women for Joel Young” committee that was hastily formed last year by Oakland Councilwoman Desley Brooks and Oakland School Trustee Alice Spearman to defend against critics of the domestic violence charges lodged against Young.
In an interview last year, Juarez told The Citizen, the end of Young’s previous relationship with Ocampo overlapped with the beginning of her own which started sometime in October 2010.
Oveman was a former district staff member for state Sen. Ellen Corbett before hooking on with Kaplan last year. Insiders say despite his slight build and Bob’s Big Boy haircut, Overman can be temperamental, at times.
After the Jan. 14 confrontation with Young, Overman says he will file a restraining order against Young. It would be the second such request against Young since May. Juarez was initially granted a temporary restraining order against Young last spring. Young followed nearly a month later with a similar request against Juarez. Both were ultimately dismissed to allow Juarez to pursue a civil suit against Young of which has never been filed.
ebcitizen.com 
Yeah how about the little short oakland council dude that got the DUI from Highway Patrol and his good friend the Gov… over tunred it! Wow really!!! He should have ordered him to AA….! Instead of allowing him to remain in his current position!
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It's time to Occupy our governmental offices at all level's. We the people in our communities need to understand the power of voting! And not allow unqualified people to gain access to office power. It only hurts our communities in the long run! Let's come together and take a real stand and VOTE….Go OBAMA!!!!! 2012!!!
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I agree its time out for foolishness! The big question is “Who's running our City governments etc…….! They should be categorized as Actor's and get nominated for Oscar's! Mr. Young aka councilman to be, when will you stop falling for everything and stand for something!
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It's a real shame that our so called public figures or public servants aren't held accountable for their very silly, childish like antics. We have communities dying and being destroyed by the very thing Young keeps getting involved in. We really need to hold these politicians or political wanna be's to a higher standard! And let's focus on changing the world not abusing authority and power for personal gain!
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Fundraising doesn't tell the whole story. Young has done fairly well in that department but likely has no chance in the primary. And Bonta's lead at the inconclusive Democratic endorsement meeting was due largely to votes from the City of Alameda Democratic Club, one of the few clubs that successfully navigated the complex new endorsement process.
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Interesting a neophyte Councilman from Alameda would be the frontrunner? What exactly has Mr. Bonta accomplished in his short time on City Council?
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Thank you for reading. I'm currently working on an article for the East Bay Express for next month on this race.
As for who's on first, do you mean who's in first place? I'm not sure about that answer, honestly. We'll get a good snapshot though on Jan. 31 when campaign fundraising figures are official.
My sense is by that yardstick it will show Alameda Councilman Rob Bonta as a strong contender. He also received the most votes from Democratic Party leaders last weekend.
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Could you supply the reader with some organizational chart so that they might get some feeling for “who's on first”
After reading everything, is it any wonder our local “leaders” are in such disarray.
Really now, these folks are gonna fix things and clear up the financial mess in our city, county, and state?
Just last week, I needed some new tires. I asked around, looked on Yelp, called, and finally settled on a long time independent Oakland dealer located on the corner of 50th and International Blvd.
When I compare how efficient, clean, orderly and productive that tire shop is run, and compare it to the antics I see in your column, it is easy to see why city, county, state governments are such a mess.
I seriously doubt any of the names mentioned in your article could run anything as well as this long time Oakland businessman runs his tire business. (without any help from the government.
You just want to tell all those people listed in your article to GO AWAY.
If we weren't forced to give them money, most of them wouldn't be employable in a normal business.
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