SF Bay View: No on Measure Y Campaign

Education Not Incarceration Coalition launches ‘No on Measure Y’ campaign: No more cops!

Oakland – The Education Not Incarceration Coalition, along with local Oakland groups and concerned community members, is currently mobilizing to defeat Measure Y, the November ballot initiative that puts funding police ahead of funding programs.

Recently approved by majority vote of the Oakland City Council, Measure Y would direct 60 percent of newly raised taxes to hire more police officers in Oakland. The ENI coalition challenges the idea that more police will address the root causes of violence in Oakland.

“Increasing police presence within our city will not curb violence nor make anyone safer,” said Aaron Shurman, local organizer. He points out that between 1995 and 1996 the Oakland police force fell from roughly 500 to 450. The homicide rate also decreased from 153 to 102. From 1999 to 2000, the number of police in Oakland increased from roughly 500 to 600. The homicide rate also increased from 68 to 85.

“True violence prevention begins by investing in the people of our communities,” said Wilson Riles Jr., former Oakland City Council member. “We know that what builds strong, safe communities are the investments we make in education and other basic social services,” he added.

“We need to break from the national obsession with throwing more police at our social problems, and Oakland can lead the way,” said Allegra Williams, a college student from Oakland and a member of ENI. “We must reprioritize the way Oakland invests in the future of our children by creating policies that redirect resources from incarceration to education,” she added.

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
(ACORN) will be hosting No on Measure Y outreach
on Saturdays from 10am to 2pm and phonebanks on
Wednesdays from 10am to 2pm. ACORN is located at 3166
Fruitvale Avenue, cross-street is Pleasant, just below
the 580 and MacArthur, in the Dimond District.

For more information, call (510) 530-2448 or visit http://www.noonmeasurey.org. These websites are also relevant: Education Not Incarceration Coalition http://www.ednotinc.org, KPFA http://www.kpfa.org, Military Out of Our Schools! http://www.militaryfreeschools.org, Proyecto Linguistico http://www.hermandad.com, and Fast for Education http://www.
fast4education.org.