Oak to Ninth Referendum Committee Drops Suit
The Oakland Tribune is reporting that the Oak to Ninth Referendum Committee has agreed to drop their lawsuit against the City regarding the City's refusal to count the signatures of the referendum petition because of "incorrect" documents attached to the petition.

Whether or not you're for or against the Oak to Ninth project of 3100 units on the waterfront, the issue here is how our City Government handled the PEOPLE's request for a vote on the issue. Why is/was the City so afraid of a vote by the PEOPLE? And why is it the Referendum Committee's fault that the City provided the wrong documents?

Last time I checked "Democracy" meant government for the people, by the people. If enough people wanted a vote on the issue, why was our very own government so against it? Oh, because they don't want it to get to a vote. Because Oakland isn't really a government for the PEOPLE - just select People.

For me, another key issue is which documents were truly approved by City Council? I was there that night and it was not at all clear. Obviously it wasn't a few days later when the Referendum Committee received the documents from the City. Were the staffers fired that provided the incorrect documents? Why did they provide the incorrect documents? Most likely not because they meant to screw things up for the Referendum Committee, but more likely because no one was quite sure what the correct documents were until the Developer provided them. But wouldn't that be a conflict of interest?!

And why did the Oak to Ninth Referendum Committee give up the battle? MONEY. With the economy as crap as it is, who can afford to keep bank rolling a legal battle against a Developer with seemingly unlimited coffers. And yes, the Developer indemnified the City and has bankrolled all of the legal action. The City isn't out any money, just it's soul that it sold...

Let's look at it another way. Let's say a doctor gives you a prescription. You think you know what you are being prescribed and when you get the written prescription and have it filled, you then are permanently disabled as a result of taking the wrong medication. Oh, but wait, you took the wrong medication because you had the wrong prescription. You know the one that is now correct in your file. Too bad! It's your own fault that you took the wrong prescription because you didn't get the proper prescription. You sue the doctor, right? And that's what the Oak to Ninth Referendum did in suing the City, but who has deeper pockets?

I know lots of people here in the Jack London District are for the Oak to Ninth Project and I can't say that I'm 100% against it. But just the like the Jack London Square Redevelopment Project, I want to make sure that the people of Oakland and of California are getting a fair deal for giving up this public waterfront land that was supposed to belong to the PEOPLE. The same land that the public voted in a landslide vote to give money (Measure DD) to rehabilitate.
Posted 11/12/2007