An Oakland activist has accused progressive mayor Sheng Thao of killing the Californian city and predicts the last four big corporations still headquartered downtown will leave in months.
Steve Heimoff, president of Coalition for a Better Oakland, lamented that the city had become ‘a garbage dump of crime, filth and inhumanity’.
He made the grim prediction following the news that Kaiser, PG&E, Clorox and Blue Shield are plowing $10 million of their own cash into added security measures for their employees.
The money will pay for private police and ‘buddy-escorts’ to accompany workers who don’t feel safe heading out for lunch amid the rampant crime in the downtown area.
‘It will not shock me if, in the next six months, four of Oakland’s biggest employers—announce they’re leaving town, bringing their thousands of employees with them and administering the final death blow to our beleaguered city,’ Heimoff wrote.
Steve Heimoff, president of Coalition for a Better Oakland, claims Kaiser, PG&E, Clorox and Blue Shield will leave Oakland in six months amid rampant crime
He accused progressive mayor Sheng Thao of killing the Californian city
He made the grim prediction following the news that Kaiser, PG&E, Clorox and Blue Shield are plowing $10 million of their own cash into added security measures for their employees
‘Sadly, everyone knows it won’t work: too little too late. But when the companies finally bail out of town, they’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, at least we tried.”
The ‘most infuriating’ thing about the situation was Thao’s self-congratulations following the big four’s announcement, Heimoff said.
‘Thao has practically broken her arm patting herself on the back for her sagacious leadership, when the reality is this: Sheng Thao, you and your woke colleagues on the City Council got us into this epidemic of crime,’ He added.
Police in the Californian city recorded recorded 3,690 robberies and 17,256 burglaries in 2023, many of the victims were downtown office workers.
The area has continued to record a spike in crime since Thao took office in 2023.
The Democrat mayor has previously been mocked for suggesting that life-coaching could be the secret to solving her city’s soaring crime.
Between 2021 and 2023, there was a 21 percent increase in violent crime, a 38 percent increase in robberies and a 45 percent increase in vehicle thefts between 2021 and 2023, per police data.
The violence has seen an exodus of big name brands, including a profitable In-N-Out Burger forced to close amid safety concerns from customers.
The money will pay for private police and ‘buddy-escorts’ to accompany workers who don’t feel sage heading out for lunch amid the rampant crime in the downtown area
Police investigate a multiple shooting and homicide at a gas station in Oakland, Calif., on Jan. 23, 2023
A thief breaks into a car outside the Shell gas station on Hegenberger Road before leaning into the vehicle to snatch items, then escapes in a waiting vehicle
‘Thao, every time a business shuts down or leaves Oakland, your fingerprints are all over the murder weapon,’ Heimoff added.
‘We will neither forgive you nor forget your crimes. No matter how much you pretend to be a born-again police supporter, we know you’re not.
‘You’re an ambitious, hustling politician who thinks you can fool most of the people most of the time. We’re going to show you that you can’t get away with it.’
This latest announcement from the four remain for suggests they are not immune to the impact of the soaring crime.
Their funding will pay for eight off-duty officers and one sergeant to do overtime patrols on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p., CBS reports.
‘I did not think I would ever be in the business of security and safety. And I hope not to be for very long,’ Paul Markovich, President and CEO of Blue Shield of California told the outlet.
The money will also pay to fund more buddy escorts to walk people to their cars, transit hubs, or even to collect lunch.
‘To have off-duty police officers patrolling key areas of Downtown Oakland that obviously is going to increase the safety for everyone who’s in those areas. So that’s a benefit I think to the community,’ said Markovich.
Oakland’s only In-N-Out Burger restaurant announced it will close after 18 years amid safety concerns
A Taco Bell in downtown Oakland which no longer allows customers inside due to safety concerns
Employers will also pay for ride services and public transport to ensure their workers can commute safely.
Markovich said the employers also will pay for ride services and public transportation so their workers can get to work safely.
Heimoff is not alone in his criticism, with California governor Gavin Newsom also slamming the mayor for failing to get a grip on crime.
Newsom reportedly blasted Thao for not applying to funds set aside to tackle retail crime in the Bay Area.
In September, the governor’s administration approved over $267 million to be given to local police departments and the offices of district attorneys in the state to battle against organized retail theft.
The 55 awardees used it to create task forces, hire and train new staff and obtain new technologies.