The Honorable Jean Quan ATM

As early as her terms on the Oakland school board, Jean Quan loved to get signs with her name onto buildings. How about adding the Bank of America ATM on MacArthur Blvd. at 39th Ave? It has become the site of repeated armed robberies. For example, V. reported to a neighborhood list:

On July 14th at 6 p.m. in broad daylight I was robbed at gunpoint. I parked on 39th Avenue at the corner of Macarthur just out of view from most of the foot traffic. I withdrew some money and returned to my car. As I was turning the corner onto 39th Ave., two kids around 15 to 16 walked towards me heading from 39th to Macarthur and asked if I had a light. I said no and continued to my car. As I was grabbing my keys, I saw them continue to walk towards me.

One of them said, "Gimme all your money. Gimme your whole wallet or I'll shoot you." He got about half a foot away from me and pulled out a handgun. I said nothing. I pulled out my wallet and handed it over. They continued to ask for all of my money. I pulled out everything that was left in my pockets. I told them that was all I had. They pestered me a little more, then gave up and walked off towards Masterson st. I uttered a swear word under my breath. The other one turned around and said, "Whatchu say?! Whatchu say?!"

I wasn't sure if they were going to shoot me just for the fun of it, so I walked back around the corner to the ATM hoping they wouldn't follow. No one had seen or heard a thing. (Maxwell Park email list, July 16, 2012, excerpt)

Site of frequent armed robberies

Two weeks later on July 28, 2012, a woman who just moved from Los Angeles to Oakland went to the same ATM at 9:30 p.m. When she returned to her car – parked right in front of the ATM on MacArthur Blvd – a man grabbed her and put a gun to her head.

Last October, a man shot at a middle-aged Asian woman in the Laurel shopping district when she resisted his robbery. It was 2 p.m. on a busy day. It is believed the woman had used the ATM shortly before the event. Authorities shut down the I-580 freeway for several hours after the fleeing robber hid in the shoulder brush of the freeway.

Since she took a city council seat in 2003, Jean Quan has diverted millions of dollars from public safety, instead bestowing grants on her favored "nonprofit" social programs. In 2004 she campaigned hard for the Measure Y parcel tax, insisting the revenues would increase the police force to a guaranteed 802 officers. Except for a few brief months under mayor Dellums, that never happened. In fact, for most of the years since Measure Y, police staffing has been below the 739 officers we had before the new taxes were levied. The police force today is approximately 644 officers.

There was a time when OPD could respond to the robberies at this ATM with detective and stakeout work, apprehending the thugs and sending a message to other robbers. Even in tight economic times, priorities matter. In Oakland public safety needs to become priority one all by itself. Under mayor Quan safety comes last.

V. was robbed in mid-July, just when the City announced another round of grants to so-called anti-violence programs, the part of Measure Y that Quan guards like a mother hen. One agency that is actually pro-criminal, Youth UpRising, received three separate grants totaling $340,000. Furthermore, the City has committed to the grants for the next three years, reinforcing the sense of entitlement so evident among the poverty pimps who manage failures like Youth UpRising.

So how about it; let's memorialize The Honorable Jean Quan Crime Promotion ATM.

However, a mile or two away, the ATMs in the center of the Dimond district are notorious for armed robberies, too. You might have your own candidate. There is no shortage of repeat crime locations in Oakland.

Proposed honor for mayor Quan