2018 Oakland Mayoral And City Council Candidate Questionnaire by Zennie62Media
This 20-question questionnaire was designed to give Oaklanders a chance to evaluate, at once, the plans and philosophies of all of the participants in the Oakland Mayoral Race and the Oakland City Council Race for District 2, District 4, and District 6.
This is 2018 Oakland Mayoral Election Candidate Nancy Sidebotham
1. Candidate’s Full Name and current occupation Nancy Sidebotham, Tax Preparer
2. Why are you running for office in Oakland? Because Oakland is on a downhill spiral with no leadership and needs an about face.
3. Have you held an elected position before? If so, please describe. No
4. Have you ever served on a public board or commission? If so, please list assignments. Yes, CPAB (Community Policing Advisory Board). Board member and Chair of the Resource Committee.
5. What endorsements have you received? If so, please list them. My endorsements are all from the residents in Oakland and Planned Parenthood Mira Monte (PPRAM).
Oakland Management Related Questions
6. What are your top six Oakland Budget priorities, and why? 1. Complete Audit of the City and Port 2) Infrastructure 3) City Staff pay equal to surrounding jurisdictions 4) Hiring qualified people for the jobs and stop nepotism 5) Stop supporting non governmental services at the expense of a well run city & 6) Hire Oakland to work for Oakland.
7. There is a projected deficit for the City of Oakland through 2020. Residents want to close the budget gap via raising revenues. What would you do to raise more money for the City of Oakland? Stop paying outrageous salaries to administrative and executive staff as well as reduce the positions while hiring staff to actually do the work in the departments. Work to finalize the Oversight of OPD, which is long overdue. Start empowering the Department of Economic Development to change Oakland’s image and work to attract businesses to Oakland which will also increase the sales tax base and bring jobs. Do away with ordinances that bar all seeking to do business (such as Big Box stores) here in Oakland but also keep the health and welfare of it’s citizens at the forefront.
8. How do you propose to solve the problem of the City of Oakland’s under-funded pension liability? Oakland owes over $85 Million and can’t support the required needs of the City already. Oakland depends on Grants and gouging of the property owners through their property
taxes to sustain itself as well as being a major cause of gentrification. Stop the game of giving “friends” forgiveness of debts owed along with oversight and non-payment of rents agreed to. Oakland has made terrible decisions over the years due to back room deals and this has cost the residents dearly. Bottom line at this point in time I would answer “PRAY FOR IT!”.
Oakland Police-Related Questions
9. Does Oakland need to hire more police officers or reduce the number we have – please explain your answer.
10. Do you support the work of the current Oakland Police Chief, or is a change needed? Please explain. No, I do not. Our current Chief is rarely here, yet has done some work to bring about positive change in the department. I would hire our next chief from within ODP – one who knows Oakland, it’s cultures and has the respect of the Community and the “Rank and File”.
11. Unreported “use-of-force” incidents are a major Oakland Police problem. How do you propose to solve it? If it is unreported how do we know it is a problem? AND to take this a step further: With the Oversight and the directives being implemented regarding all functions and how they relate to the community, is an on going implementation and education. Oakland is very involved in the Community Policing philosophy and working with the neighborhoods, faith based community, merchants, schools etc. What is perceived to be happening in other parts of the country is not happening in Oakland and those incidents are reflected with training, outreach and daily actions with the community and city staff.
12. The Oakland Police Department is in its 13th year of federal oversight. What’s your plan to get OPD away from federal government watch? OPD has been in compliance except for the fact that the oversight team keeps changing the players , so that the playing filed is in constant re-invention. Besides that the courts are hurting for money so why would they agree to settle when they reap in $1 Million a year?
13. The Oakland Police Department disproportionately stops more people of color, than whites. What’s your plan to stop this problem? This is a stupid question as to who does one think is doing the law breaking anyway? Parents, parent or guardians need to start with proper raising of the children in their care. There is no cause and effect but instead constant pointing of fingers to the system which is born from lack of discipline from the home that carries into the schools. That is why OUSD is a giant babysitting institution with little to no ability to teach…while all suffer due to a few!
Homelessness, Affordable Housing, Quality of Life In Oakland
14. What’s your plan to stop or curb homelessness in Oakland? Won’t happen anytime soon! Read “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand (written in the 50’s) and we are living it right now….it is only going to get worse as automation takes over. Alameda County needs to do their job that our taxes pay for (and is their legislative responsibility). Other cities need to take on their responsibility and stop dumping on Oakland.
15. What’s your plan to cause more affordable housing to be built in Oakland? Oakland does not need housing so much as it needs infrastructure revamping. Population control needs to be addressed and not make it easier for people, without addressing the elephant in the – room killing off the planet!
16. What’s your plan to stop or curb illegal dumping in Oakland? People need to start turning in the perpetrators…we should put a bounty on illegal dumping with a sizable reward to start the process..WM needs to reduce it’s fees and stop asking what City one comes from when one takes trash to the dump.
Economic Development In Oakland
17. Share with us your economic development plan and policy for Oakland. Until the culture of thievery stops, businesses will continue to black ball Oakland as a location to do business. Negate the ordinance blocking big box businesses. By creating a credible REAL sales tax base, the City will have some room for debt retirement, planning and executing of service responsibilities as well as reconfiguring the financial foundation of community development. in this manner economic sector stimulus can occur.
18. What industry should Oakland focus on developing, and why? Oakland needs a separate industrial business park where those doing everyday/24 hour business are ot threatened by residents threatening them with lawsuits for fear of medical issues. Manufacturing etc have bee shipped abroad at the expense of jobs in the USA and greed for the top 1%. This will bring Sales Taxes into the City coffers and desperately needed jobs before automation takes over!
The Coliseum and The Sports Industry in Oakland.
(A special section because Oakland has a multi-billion-dollar facility called The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Complex.)
19. Where should the Oakland A’s new ballpark be: Coliseum or Howard Terminal? Pick one and make it happen!
20. What should the future of the Oakland Coliseum be, and do you have a plan to share with Oaklanders? If the A’s move to Howard Terminal then this area should be an industrial business park from San Leandro Blvd, Hegenberger, airport, to High Street…you have the railway system, 880, airport, and lot’s of land unencumbered by residential concerns. This would be a win win for the truckers and alleviate the impact to West Oakland. I do have a more detailed plan which emphasizes the fiscal impact and economic justice of this design.