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| Center: Bryan Parker and Bishop Bob Jackson. |
OAKLAND | MAYOR | Not many people know Oakland mayoral candidate Bryan Parker was once on the path to the priesthood.
Parker attended the seminary as a teenager and although he maintained his faith, he later became disillusioned by the Catholic Church, and reversed course.
Therefore, it’s no surprise Parker was one of three candidates who received the backing Tuesday from 200 of Oakland’s most influential pastors. Although, the group did not suggest a 1-2-3 order for voters in the ranked-choice voting election this fall, Joe Tuman received the most votes, followed by Parker and Dan Siegel.
However, the selection also came with some guidance from above.
When it came to Parker’s endorsement, well-know Bishop Bob Jackson of Oakland’s Acts Full Gospel Church said, “We prayed on it, evaluated performance, and in the end, were guided by Proverbs 29:2, which says, ‘When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people mourn.'”
However, it begs to question: is Bishop Bob saying Mayor Jean Quan is backed by the Devil?
UPDATE: A correction was made to reflect Joe Tuman received the most votes from the group of Oakland pastor.
ebcitizen.com 
Amen 3:51, Amen.
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The pastors better start praying for their candidates because they have no chance right now. Every poll has Kaplan and Quan, in that order, with no other candidates even close.
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“more money to the police even as Oakland's violent crime rate has come down to near record low levels.”
Downward blip in violence reflects national trend for which no good explanation is available. Nothing Oakland has done brought it down; unless Oakland does some new, productive things, like real community policing, as in Richmond, the murders will go up again.
Police cost are high in Oakland because OPD officers are among the highest paid in the country. The high pay was a policy decision made by some of those currently hanging out in city hall.
“92% of its officers live outside the city of Oakland”
Little can be done about this. State law prevents requiring cops live locally. Cops, like other citizens, have the right to live where they want to live. Most cops don't live in the cities where they work for good reason, cost of living and not wanting to have their families murdered by local thugs who find out where they reside.
“Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton doesn't need more Oakland tax payer money”
Then stop shopping there. Stop voting for pols who make the decisions to overpay Oakland cops.
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Every single candidate in the race advocates for more money to the police even as Oakland's violent crime rate has come down to near record low levels. There were no homicdes in Oakland in August, with one homicide so far in September.
Why are Oakland Mayoral candidates intent on giving more of Oakland's general fund to a police department where 92% of its officers live outside the city of Oakland? Why squander such a huge percentage of Oakland's general fund when roads are falling apart, street medians and parks go without maintence, sewers crumble and much of Oakland's infrastructure looks tired and neglected.
Joe Tuman, Libby Shaft, and now Rebecca Kapland need to stop pandering to the police department and acknowledge that crime is way down with the current number of officers. Oakland needs to build itself up and create a well maintained city not continue to give away the general fund to suburban cities where most of these officers reside. The Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton doesn't need more Oakland tax payer money being funneled to it via the large salaries of Oakland police officers living in the suburbs.
Oakland needs to keep the money in Oakland for the betterment of Oakland.
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This is why God instructed me not the attend that mayoral forum sponsored by the Acts Full Gospel Church. All the candidates the pastors endorsed attended Oakland Pride, a LGBT festival where they set up a booth to promote the very sins God detested. So it be known they are all wicked and the pastors are fakes. — Peter Liu
http://oaklandwiki.org/Peter_Y._Liu
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The pastors and those candidates they endorsed are all hell bound. All the candidates attend Oakland Pride, a gay festival. So it be known they are all wicked and the pastors are fakes, God is not with them.
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Kaplan may be smart but she's been very ineffective. I still remember when she attempted to court Tesla to set up shop in Oakland. She also tried to get American Apperal to locate in Oakland with no luck.
Also, the stunt she pulled by calling the media to a garbage filled area didn't do Oakland any good. Kaplan served that stereotype of what Oakland is “suppose to be” on a piping hot plate to the serial Oakland haters.
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Kaplan has run for the at large seat twice and won by large margins both times. She is liked by most of Oaktown, but obviously not by the loser above.
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As an interested Oakland observer and resident (and native), I wonder less about the latest polls than why anyone would vote for Jean Quan, Rebecca Kaplan, Libby Schaaf or anyone else who has been in an office in city hall for many years of policy and implementation failure in Oakland.
I see very little of political merit in Kaplan. She comes across to me as something of a privileged loser. With a two or three million dollar education from some of the most exclusive and expensive universities and finishing schools for the elites, her work history is pretty meager. AC Transit Board–what do they pay beside buying your lunch on meeting days. Oakland City Council–they get a fancy office, perks and staff but the pay is a measly $75K. And what, exactly, has Kaplan done in Oakland that makes her such a promising candidate for mayor? Sure beats me.
Maybe it's her hairstyle and fashion sense. An article in last week's 48 Hills makes that case. The backward baseball cap thing? That was old hat two decades ago.
Why do we Oaklanders keep on voting for such losers?
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“You definitely are a political consultant of a candidate…”
Yo's right on as usual boss. Us gangstas jus' luv runnin' fo' sherif.
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The only problem I have with Joe Tuman is that he worked part-time for KPIX TV in SF which is by far the most anti-Oakland news station in the Bay Area and Joe never said a word about the n fair coverage towards Oakland.
Dana King also worked for KPIX TV for 15 years and was actually reading the anti-Oakland non-sense on the Teleprompter.
It would be ironic if KPIX TV ends up with two high ranking officials on Oakland city government.
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You definitely are a political consultant of a candidate, or a candidate, who didn't do well. Polls are a lot more sophisticated and accurate than you want to admit if done right, and this one was. Watch and learn in November as you or your candidate goes down in flames.
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“Maybe you should study the latest poll results…”
With regard to polls, and other matters having to do with the statistical analysis of data, the rule is “garbage in, garbage out.”
A recent study (by the Pew Foundation) makes a critical point. Telephone polls like the recent one made recently are able to sample less than 10% of likely voters. Even with a relatively large sample number (400) a poll of such a tiny portion of the electorate cannot be statistically meaningful.
I know, talking about matters of statistical validity isn't exciting to the ordinary newspaper reader or internet surfer.
Bottom line is that the poll means absolutely nothing. 90% of people, and this includes all voters, simply don't answer their phones and respond to telephone polls. If you're unemployed and bored and sitting around watching TV all day, sure you're more likely to respond to a poll than someone with a life.
It might thus be possible to conclude, with however limited statistical validity, that the poll suggests that Oakland's losers think that they will vote for Kaplan. That is, if they can remember what day it is when the election rolls around.
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Maybe you should study the latest poll results in todays paper that mirrored the last poll results. It has Kaplan in front, with Quan second. This poll was taken by a reputable pollster commissioned by a business group that didn't really want to see these results.
Yeah sure, you are so deeply involved in Oakland politics, you haven't even kept up. You must be either a candidate that didn't do well or his/her political consultant who can't face the facts. See ya loser!!!
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“The last poll taken you non politico. Try and keep up by reading will you.”
Sorry dude but I've been deeply involved in Oakland politics at the street level for many years. It's not at all the same as what you read on the internet or in our piss-poor media.
Try and write grammatically you quasi-literate. At the end of a question a literate person places a question mark.
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The last poll taken you non politico. Try and keep up by reading will you.
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“None of their candidates have a chance according to the polls.”
Which polls? Which god of polls do you believe in?
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I attended the forum and I have facts that Bryan Parker was not the first choice of the pastors. Joe Tuman was the first choice of the pastors. I find it really “slimy” that Bryan would try to deceive the public about this endorsement. And Dan Siegel didn't stay at the meeting to hear that he was in last place. Too bad the retraction didn't include a picture of Joe Tuman with the pastors.
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The Oakland pastors are a bunch of old sexists. What a group of losers. None of their candidates have a chance according to the polls.
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Whether the pastors have gotten their inspiration from Jesus, from Muhammad or from channeling Mickey Mouse, they've come to some very solid, practical conclusions. Tuman, Parker and Siegel are electable and are offering practical approaches to solving Oakland's problems which the other electable establishment candidates, with the exception of Courtney Ruby, are not.
Tuman has a real public safety plan. Public safety is a big problem in Oakland. No other candidate offers such a clear and practical plan. Tuman is a good communicator and a creative thinker.
Parker wants to provide 20K living wage jobs for Oakland. Oakland's un- and under-employed need at least this number of opportunities to get out of their economic holes. Parker has real business experience and management competence.
Siegel is inspirational and has many ideas about dealing with a number of Oakland's problems. Siegel speaks well and gets the juices flowing in his audiences–an important part of leadership that Oakland badly needs.
The pastors I've met among this group are caring, thoughtful practical people whatever they believe and however they spend their Sundays.
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The Oakland pastors mentioned have one important perspective unmentioned in this essential religion-mocking diatribe. The pastors know how much suffering in borne by Oakland's most-deprived citizens. They also have listened to the candidates who most clearly have spoken about tangible, practical approaches to dealing with the real social and economic problems in Oakland.
Martin Luther King Jr was also a man of religion who knew something about the reality of life at the bottom of American society. Too bad this shallow, flippant writer who was born just yesterday knows nothing of American history.
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Steve, please call or check with Bishop Bob Jackson on this. He will verify that there were point values assigned to each candidate (of the six who appeared) and that I received the most, followed second by Parker and third by Seigel. He will also confirm this was the rank order for the endorsement.
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Were there any men they interviewed that they didn't endorse?
And why did they chose 3 candidates with no chance to win?
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Please correct this story. The pastors read the vote count for each candidate and the vote was Joe Tuman (first place), Bryan Parker (second place) and Dan Siegel (third place). Tuman was the clear winner of this endorsement process–and to suggest that it was all equal simply mis-states the actual endorsement.
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It's the old,old boy's club.
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Couldn't find a woman they like, I guess.
“Evaluated performance?” What performance (at least from Tuman and, especially, Parker)?
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The Pastors also endorsed Joe Tuman and Dan Siegel on an equal footing as Bryan Parker.
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They did the same thing for Dellums. How did that work out? What a joke! Religion and politics should never mix.
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