Outsted Oakland demorat mayor Sheng Thao (left).
Oakland, California has been under demorat rule for decades. As a result, crime, homelessness, and overall decay is on the rise within the city.
Mayor Sheng Thao, who started her term in January 2023, was recalled this past November by nearly 65% of the voters. She leaves behind a mess of a city in which many are now calling a “zombie apocalypse.”
Thanks to feckless leadership, Oakland now has a massive graveyard of abandoned cars and illegal dumping. Check it out:
Abandoned cars along UPRR in Oakland.
From the Daily Mail:
Oakland likened to ‘zombie apocalypse movie’ thanks to horrifying trend
“Oakland has been compared to a ‘zombie apocalypse film’ as the crime-ridden city has seen a recent up-tick in a horrifying trend where abandoned cars are left along the Union Pacific Railroad.
A massive ‘graveyard’ of ditched vehicles, including GMC and Ford pickup trucks, cargo vans, sedans and Chevrolet Tahoes have consumed the area for years, but recently, the problem has only grown worse.
The area has been plagued by illegal dumping, leading officials and angry residents to speak up about the issue, which they say depicts a set from a ‘zombie apocalypse film,’ the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Oakland residents are determined to make the illegal dumping ground a high priority for the struggling city. Oakland officials, who have been trying to tackle the surging issue for some time now, told the outlet they don’t have access to enough resources to fight the trend.
What’s more is there is an issue with the location of the dumped cars, as it is technically owned by multiple parties – Union Pacific, Caltrans and Alameda County. Union Pacific said it previously cleaned up the area in November, and plans to clear the impacted spot out again next week, the Chronicle reported. Meg Siffring, a spokesperson for Union Pacific, told the outlet the company is currently ‘working on a plan’ with the county and city to clean up the cars.
Meanwhile, the Oakland Police Department said they have towed stranded vehicles, arrested people and installed barriers to try to fight the rising trend.
Despite the department’s best efforts, the police union said they can’t fully clear the slew of vehicles because towing abandoned cars in the city is a job for the transportation department.
Although they came in to help, Oakland Police Sgt. Tim Dolan said progress has decreased since the transportation department took over because of training requirements and a heavy workload.
‘It’s mind-boggling,’ Dolan said. ‘It’s an ongoing issue. But it’s just gotten out of control over the last few years.’
The city previously implemented surveillance cameras in dumping hotspots in 2022 in a bid to catch those abandoning the cars and other items in the junkyards. A total of 457 incidents were caught on camera from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, but only 59 were given citations, the outlet reported. The city was unable to issue more citations because 23 percent of the vehicles did not have license plates on them.”
Read the whole story here.
City Councilmember Kevin Jenkins is the interim mayor until voters choose a new mayor in an April special election.
As of Monday, eleven candidates have filed campaign account paperwork to run for Oakland mayor in April, including former Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D), Johnny Gatlin, Wendy Adams, Tyron Jordan (D), Peter Liu (famous for his anti-semitic comments in a mass email), Mindy Pechenuk (a Trump supporter) Fabian Robinson (his Instagram profile shows him with Gavin Newsom), Derrick Soo, Elizabeth Swaney (an American who competed for Hungary in the 2018 Winter Olympics), Loren Taylor (D), Renia Webb (who has the endorsements of the founders of Moms Demand Action) and Larry Lionel Young Jr.
Choose wisely this time, Oakland:
DCG
Had reason to do business in downtown Oakland 20 yrs ago. It was a scary, burnt-out place back then. Today, it’s worse & I’d never ever return for any reason…same with San Francisco.