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Re: California Democrats seeking to replace Barbara Lee debate approach to crime

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On 29 Nov 2021, AlleyCat <alleycatsucksdick@trump.org> posted some
news:so3ik2$ild$59@news.dns-netz.com: 

> Tucker Carlsberg wrote
> 
>> Send the pickup truck boys there with shotguns to clean it all out.

California Democratic candidates vying for Rep. Barbara Lee's (D-CA) 
congressional seat will be tasked with addressing a surge in crime across 
multiple cities.

California's 12th Congressional District is considered to have some of the 
most crime-ridden areas in the Golden State, with Oakland consistently 
ranking as one of the most dangerous cities in the nation. A report this 
year from MoneyGreek analyzed FBI crime statistics from 2021 and ranked 
Oakland as the 11th most dangerous United States city to live in.

The narrative that violence controls the streets of Oakland has long 
plagued California lawmakers and can be expected to be a priority for 
candidates as they work to establish their message on crime ahead of the 
2024 election.

The current candidates include Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board 
Director Lateefah Simon, Dr. Jennifer Tran, an ethnic studies professor at 
California State University East Bay, and Tim Sanchez, a local businessman 
and entrepreneur.

Lateefah Simon

Simon, 46, has a long track record of working in the criminal justice 
field, having played a key role in operating Back on Track, a program to 
reduce recidivism among young adults charged with low-level offenses. When 
Vice President Kamala Harris was the San Francisco District Attorney, she 
selected Simon to lead the initiative.

"There needs to be a voice of someone who was a teen mom, who has been 
housing insecure, and was in the juvenile justice system," Simon said in 
an interview with San Francisco Chronicle, pointing to a need for someone 
with her experience in Congress. Simon had her first daughter at 18, and 
she recognized the "government wasn't working for people like her," 
according to her campaign site.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) selected Simon as a senior adviser on police 
reform, and in that role, she aimed to increase measures around police 
responses to those who want to participate in protests and demonstrations, 
according to a 2020 press release.

Simon was appointed by then-Governor Jerry Brown to serve on the Board of 
Trustees for California State University to discuss racial justice in 
education. In 2016, Simon was elected to serve on the BART Board of 
Directors for District 7, and she became president of the board in 2020.

Simon appears to be the current favorite in Democratic circles, announcing 
early on and bringing in major endorsements. EMILYs List, "the nation's 
largest resource dedicated to electing Democratic pro-choice women to 
office," endorsed Simon in May. Other prominent supporters include Lt. 
Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who is running to replace Newsom in 2026, Attorney 
General Rob Bonta, 10 members of the state legislature, and more than a 
dozen former and present elected members of District 12.

"I've spent my life fighting for those folks, and I will work to take our 
shared stories and experiences to the halls of Congress so I can continue 
our fight," Simon said in a campaign announcement. "That's how we make 
change on a national level. And that's why I'm running for this seat.

Dr. Jennifer Tran

A California State University, East Bay professor and Oakland resident is 
the most recent candidate to join the congressional race. Dr. Tran is an 
educator, small business leader, and community organizer, working with 
elected officials to support law enforcement and the district through 
various programs.

"Just seeing our communities in crisis like this and the upcoming budget 
cuts that are going to affect our communities, whether it's social 
services or public safety or small businesses, I'm running because our 
communities are in crisis and they can't wait," Tran told the Washington 
Examiner.

Tran said she will tackle the district's rise in criminal activity by 
having a comprehensive and coordinated approach to public safety, meaning 
she'll work with multiple departments across different levels to address 
crime.

"I've been working with our local elected officials to also support our 
law enforcement at multiple levels as well as MACRO [The Mobile Assistance 
Community Responders of Oakland] to support our communities with 
nonviolent emergency responses," Tran said.

"And our city is in deficit and this is affecting the decisions we make 
and we shouldn't have to choose between social services and our public 
safety."

Tran urged funds to be used as an incentive to boost police staffing 
numbers, along with providing new technology and modernizing 
investigations for officers, to reduce crime in the East Bay.

"And we want our police officers to do their job," Tran said. "We want 
them to do their job in a way that doesn't reproduce the harm against our 
black and brown communities. And at the same time, the victims of violence 
are needing support and need support in an expedient manner."

Tran is focused on change locally, noting that while asking for federal 
resources is important, the funding has not been allocated to the 12th 
district in the past, pointing to President Biden's Community Violence 
Intervention Strategies. As part of a 2021 DOJ program in an effort to 
reduce violent crime, Tran said that the funds went to 15 cities across 
the country but not in northern California.

California lawmakers have focused heavily on the fentanyl crisis this 
year. The illicit drug continues to take lives nationwide, and candidates 
will likely face pressure over the issue. Nearly 6,000 Californians died 
from fentanyl-related overdose deaths in 2021, according to the state's 
department of public health. There is no sign of the crisis diminishing 
this year. San Francisco, which borders the 12th district, has received 
help from the California National Guard issued by Newsom to combat the 
city's fentanyl epidemic.

Tran said that as the President of the Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of 
Commerce she has heard stories from diverse communities, stressing the 
importance of individuals having a "space in which people do not feel 
judged, in which they are feeling validated and they are feeling seen."

Tran, who worked on the Oakland Community Policing Advisory Board, said 
many believe having police officers respond to nonviolent emergencies is 
extremely costly. Instead, Tran wants to address public safety through an 
environmental and community-building lens, ending the polarization between 
law enforcement and community members.

"How about we have community ambassadors like Chinatown, how about we have 
funding for beautification ... so that our neighborhood is more 
attractive," Tran said, adding that shared vision can help reduce crime.

Tim Sanchez

Tim Sanchez, 53, declared his candidacy in March, focusing his campaign on 
measures such as expanding healthcare and supporting 13 justices on the 
Supreme Court.

If elected to the 12th Congressional District, Sanchez writes on his 
campaign site, he will push for common sense gun safety laws, including 
background checks and an assault weapons ban. That legislation has been a 
high priority for Democratic lawmakers in California.

Last year, the California legislature passed two strict bills to promote 
more civil oversight regarding assault weapons. The Firearm Industry 
Responsibility Act, which will take effect in July, regulates the firearm 
industry. The act bans the manufacture, sale, or importation of guns or 
firearm-related products that are "abnormally dangerous and likely to 
cause an unreasonable risk of harm to public health and safety." A Senate 
bill went into effect at the start of the year where private civil suits 
can enforce violations of the state assault weapons ban.

Sanchez, like his fellow Democratic contender Simon, is focused on 
criminal justice reform. The new congressional hopeful wants to pass 
reform "that removes qualified immunity for cops" and hopes the change 
will fund "a mental health responder force trained to deal with incidents 
that require a different approach," according to this campaign site.

Another aspect of criminal justice Sanchez hopes to explore is ending 
"cash bail for non-violent offenders who have been sitting in jails for 
years awaiting their turn to have their day in court." The California 
Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that setting bail at an amount too high, which 
the individual cannot afford, is unconstitutional.

Sanchez received an endorsement from the Bold PAC guided by Rep. Linda 
Sanchez and the House Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

Sanchez told the San Francisco Chronicle in a May interview that he does 
not support criminalizing individuals living on the street. Sanchez said 
he also wants to find a way to advocate on behalf of small businesses and 
those experiencing homelessness.

California's 12th District is located in the coastal area of Alameda 
County and includes the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, Alameda, 
Albany, Piedmont, and most of San Leandro. The district was shifted to 
encompass the former geography of the 13th district in the 2020 
redistricting.

Original Location: California Democrats seeking to replace Barbara Lee 
debate approach to crime

https://gazette.com/news/wex/california-democrats-seeking-to-replace-
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Re: California Democrats seeking to replace Barbara Lee debate approach to crime Newsom is an idiot <ignorant.liberals@splcenter.org> - 2023-06-12 21:44 +0200

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