Joint Statement from Bay Area Groups on Community Safety Following Election Results

Today, Bay Rising, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Filipino Advocates for Justice, Lift Up Contra Costa, Oakland Rising, San Francisco Rising, Silicon Valley Rising, and Urban Peace Movement put forward this statement:

Regardless of where we live in the Bay Area, how much money we make, or the color of our skin, we all deserve to be safe in our homes, schools, and communities. As the dust settles, and as we’ve navigated our grief and rage at the election results nationally and statewide, we know that our work to create true community safety across the Bay Area continues. We also know that our collective power is undeniable.

Here’s the reality: corporate billionaires and authoritarian bullies poured money into ballot measures and campaigns around California – and right here in the Bay Area. They lied, stoked fear, and exploited our concerns around community safety.

Due to fear mongering and our opponents’ focus on the problems rather than on actual solutions, the campaigns to recall Alameda County DA Pam Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao have been successful. Statewide, voters’ support of Prop. 36 will gut funding for crime prevention, support for crime survivors, and drug treatment. At the same time, the rhetoric around criminalizing immigrants continues to stoke fear and division, while distracting from real solutions that address community safety for all. Meanwhile, Californians also voted to continue allowing slavery in the form of forcing unpaid work on people in prison. Voters did not pass Prop. 5, which was a critical measure to address the housing crisis that would make it easier to fund housing and infrastructure projects.

These losses at the ballot box are hard and many of us are still reeling from them. Hot takes and news analyses are mistakenly concluding that California and the Bay Area are reversing course on the work to end mass incarceration. But make no mistake – while Californians may have voted in agreement of problems and concerns, those election results do not give us real solutions.

The billionaire big box stores that funded Prop. 36 – like Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and Target – don’t actually care about whether our communities and even their employees are safe. They care about their bottom line. Our elected officials – at the state and local levels – that joined forces with these corporate bullies need to be accountable to us on community safety. We are committed to holding them accountable and continuing to advocate for real solutions.

There are bright spots: Oakland voters passed Measure NN, which renews an existing measure that funds violence reduction services and community policing. And in San Francisco, it appears that voters agreed on the need to ensure housing for seniors, working families, and people with disabilities (Prop G), while voting down Prop. F, which would unnecessarily add more money to the SF Police Department’s $800 million annual budget. In the South Bay, voters approved Sunnyvale’s Measure E, a solution that invests in building a new main library—a safe, accessible space that serves as a hub for education, community, and support services. They also elected Betty Duong, a proven advocate for affordable housing, working people, and small businesses, in spite of the fast food industry and Big Real Estate pouring in nearly a million dollars to attack her.

Community safety and ending mass incarceration go hand in hand – despite the lies and disinformation from the corporate billionaires and bullies. In the short-term, we need immediate, proactive solutions such as protecting and expanding funding for community violence intervention and victim services, getting illegal guns off our streets, and lowering response times from emergency services.

Our communities also need robust, holistic safety solutions like prevention, and trauma-informed healing and care – not more police and jails. We have to stop over-funding the failed approaches of the past while underfunding the things our communities need, including safe and affordable housing, good jobs, and quality public education.

The Bay Area is known for cultivating hope, healing, community, and innovative solutions in times of challenges and fear, and we can bring the same approach to tackling the issue of community safety. It’s time for us to turn toward true, lasting solutions – not scare tactics or failed fixes – to make the Bay Area safe for us all.

###

Category: UpdatesTag: 2024 elections, community safety, Oakland, recall, San Francisco, San Jose