Update on Patrick McCullough's run for Oakland's District One seat

[Steyr_223]

I did a search and did not see this posted already.

Run! Patrick! Run!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/07/BAVV10GDA0.DTL&hw=Patrick+McCullough&sn=002&sc=425

Activist takes on Brunner for Oakland council

Christopher Heredia, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Jane Brunner
http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2008/05/07/ba_janebrunner.jpg

Patrick McCullough
http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2008/05/07/ba_59thstreet18_215.jpg


As Patrick McCullough sees North Oakland, not much has changed in the 14 years he's lived there. He has fought persistently to get drug dealers and gun-wielding gangsters off his section of 59th Street, but blocks around him are still terrorized by the threat of crime.

The 53-year-old electronics technician, who is running for City Council, lays much of the blame for North Oakland's inertia at the feet of District One incumbent Jane Brunner, who is seeking her fourth term on the City Council in the June 3 primary.

"She's been there a long time and hasn't shown the leadership and initiative to bring about the improvements we need, particularly with regard to public safety," said McCullough, who made headlines in 2005 for shooting a 15-year-old boy during a confrontation outside his home, in what police described as an act of self-defense.

While he is considered a longshot, McCullough plans to meet one-on-one with voters and at candidate forums to share his ideas for improving city government - including reducing city employee salary costs and putting the savings into public safety.

Brunner, an employment lawyer who has lived in the district for more than 20 years, brushes off her opponent's criticism. She notes how she has publicly put pressure on Police Chief Wayne Tucker to hire more police officers and to develop a detailed plan for crime reduction, backing that up with millions of dollars for officer recruitment.

"I've accomplished a lot on the council, and there's a lot more to be done," said Brunner, 60.

"I've been working nonstop with the Police Department to address crime," said Brunner, who also touts her office's reputation for quickly responding to constituent concerns - whether they be about a broken street light or a park in need of a new play structure.

"It's easy to say you're going to do something different," she said. "It's harder to say exactly what your program is. These are hard times. It takes seasoned people to implement changes."

If re-elected, Brunner said, she will continue to support Tucker's geographic police deployment, which has made three captains responsible for bringing down crime in their respective districts.

She also is considering asking property owners whether they would be willing to tax themselves to hire police officers above the 803 authorized for the force under the Measure Y parcel tax approved by voters in 2004.

McCullough, who has called for bringing the department to 1,000 officers, says his grassroots campaign has appeal with many voters with whom he has spoken. And until voters elect new leaders with fresh ideas for making the city safer, businesses and customers will not want to come to Oakland, he says.

"I'm aware of what's going on in the community," he said. "I will continue to point to Brunner's record. She has stated her intent to improve things, but the improvement hasn't materialized. All my life, I've accomplished a lot with little resources."
District One - North Oakland

Jane Brunner

-- Age: 60

-- Occupation: City councilwoman, 1997-present; employment lawyer

-- Accomplishments: Advocated for extra money to hire police officers; funding for affordable housing; use of solar energy by local businesses and city buildings

-- Family: Married, two adult children

-- Campaign: Increase police staffing and violence prevention programs; bring jobs and green industry to Oakland; create a business assistance center; work to increase funding for and improve quality of education at public schools

-- Web site: JaneBrunnerforcouncil.com

Patrick McCullough

-- Age: 53

-- Occupation: electronics technician, lawyer

-- Family: Married with one child

-- Campaign: Expand Police Department to 1,000 officers, cut upper-management salaries and impose a two-year freeze on all city employee salaries; provide a tax break to new businesses; increase job training programs.

-- Web site: Pat4Oakland.com

E-mail Christopher Heredia at cheredia@sfchronicle.com.

[CCWFacts]

He is also pro-CCW issuance. He'll never make a public statement about that, and I'm not saying he's going to make Oakland "shall-issue", but he's at least favorable to the idea. If the city council had a few of him, Oakland PD would issue a lot more CCWs.

[1911_sfca]

He's very pro-CCW (and it's public knowledge he has one himself), and pro-law and order through individual responsibility. We should support him big time.

[Steyr_223]

http://pat4oakland.com/

Welcome to my website

I'm running for the District 1 Oakland City Council seat because I believe my presence on the council will lead to improvement for our city.

Oakland needs to replace city officials who have not performed well in solving our problems and the issues facing us.

The issues that most affect our lives, particularly crime and the budget deficit, are out of control after incumbent Jane Brunner's eleven and a half years of representing us.

After voting to freeze police hiring in 2002, Brunner sat in office while Oakland became the fourth most dangerous city in the country. Now, murders are 50% higher than at the same time last year.

I want to change that.

For more details on why I'm running and what I intend to do, I invite you to look around the website. You can also sign up for email notices, volunteer, or make a contribution.

I hope to hear from you!


- Pat McCullough

[Steyr_223]

A frequently asked question

Since I announced my candidacy for City Council, a number of concerned voters have asked me to clarify what happened on the widely reported day, in February 2005, when I shot and wounded a teenager in self-defense. This is my answer to that question.

* * *
A recurring theme in citizen involvement with neighborhood crime is the fear of retaliation by wrongdoers. In high-crime neighborhoods such as mine was in 2005, residents are reluctant to get involved. They won't tell a drug dealer or user to stop. Often, they are afraid even to look at miscreants, preferring the safety of closed window blinds and drapes. After a crime actually occurs, people don't want to be seen talking to the police or to reporters. Witnesses feel intimidated and don't come forward.

It is the most frustrating of standard behaviors and serves to perpetuate crime and encourage the belief among criminals that they likely will not be caught. I have defied that standard. Knowing that the perpetrators would only return repeatedly unless there was intervention, I felt that the burden of reporting crime fell upon my shoulders.

Though I have tried to secretly report street crime, I have found it usually impossible to effectively do so unless the total event unfolds directly in front of my window, something that has seldom happened. Dispatchers want a description of the people who may be walking or running away, or just out of sight of my window view.

So sometimes, I would open my living room blinds or step outside to see what was going on in order to report it or take pictures. Sometimes, I walked right up to drug dealers and users and politely told them they were being watched and that their actions would be reported to the police. When people hung out to sell or use drugs or gamble, I, too, would "hang out" on my front steps, either alone or talking to neighbors, while I stared at the wrongdoers.

When police officers came to the street, I'd approach and engage them in conversation, sometimes pointing out people and places involved in crime. Several times I invited the police to use my vantage point to conduct surveillance.

My boldness did not go unnoticed. Dealers, thugs of all kinds and their associates took to looking and pointing at my home as they walked or drove by. A mother of one gang member asked me if I was concerned for my family's safety. At community meetings, I was sometimes warned that others in the room wanted to beat or otherwise harm me. Occasionally someone would yell a profanity at me, followed by, "We're gonna get you!"

Neighbors and the law enforcement community noticed, too. They spoke to me about the danger and the threat of reprisal. They warned me to take precautions in order to be prepared to defend myself and my family. Several police officers advised me to arm myself.

Despite several robberies, shootings and killings in the neighborhood, I didn't immediately take that advice. I have martial arts training, including conflict avoidance techniques, and felt I could stay safe simply by being aware of my surroundings.

But one night a bullet fired from the park struck my home. I was mobbed in a local Laundromat. And the night my son was born, two guys attempted to assault me (they were scared off when I loudly commanded them to stay away).

One day, as my wife was parking the car in our driveway with our young son in tow, a young man approached and yelled an obscenity at her. I walked over to talk to the youth as he sat on top of a park table. Our conversation was calm and surprisingly polite, and he even offered to apologize to my wife, an offer I declined with an exhortation to not repeat the act.

As we shook hands and I turned to leave, I recognized a throng of at least 10 known neighborhood thugs trotting our way. I backed away, bluffing nonchalance, and made it home safely.

An Imminent Threat

Crime, and my reporting of it, continued.

A few months later I saw the young man again. It was late at night. He was standing at the foot of my driveway with his hands in his coat pockets, accompanied by another young male on the other side of the driveway and a third, larger teenager walking up my driveway towards me.

The larger youth asked me if I had "called the cops" on him for selling drugs, and I replied that I had. In the ensuing attack I was tripped, kicked, and pummeled while the big guy, who had leapt onto my back, repeatedly tried to smash my head into the pavement.

I received bruises and stitches. The larger man - the only assailant I could identify by name, because he lived across the street - was issued a citation to appear in court on a misdemeanor charge. For an assault that could have resulted in my being beaten to death, leaving my son fatherless and my wife a widow, my assailant was given nothing more than a ticket.

Hearing about the attack, outraged citizens throughout the Bay Area complained about this lenient treatment, and the District Attorney soon charged the assault as a felony. I was granted a temporary restraining order against my assailant - one which he often violated during the ensuing days before his trial.

One night, during a break in the trial, he was killed by another thug; after he died, rock cocaine was found in his pocket. (A side note: His brother later blamed me for his death, claiming I necessitated his move to a more hazardous location to sell drugs.)

A Bad Start to a Shopping Trip

Crime in the neighborhood continued, and still, I continued reporting it to the police. But now, having been victimized by an assault that could have killed me, and continuing to receive new and escalating threats, I heeded the advice I had received earlier from police and others: I armed myself.

One afternoon, about a year later, I photographed people smoking dope and shooting dice across the street from my home, and phoned the police. One of the smokers, fleeing after noticing my actions, yelled: "We're going to bust out your windows!" That night, as I sat working at my computer, a large chunk of concrete sailed through my front picture window, shattering glass and landing on the couch where members of my family often sit or nap.

The notorious event by which many people know of me happened on a dull afternoon in February. After a long workweek, I began Friday evening by watching cartoons for an hour with my son, Patrick. At about 5 o'clock, I prepared to leave for Chinatown to buy fresh crab for dinner. As was my practice, I first looked out the window to make sure there was no trouble on the street; my trips out had often been delayed while I called the police to report some crime.

I was pleased to see that everything outside was calm: just a few pedestrians and a light drizzle. I'd come to love the rain; it tended to keep the streets clear of troublemakers. As I bid my goodbyes, I picked up my outfit, which now consisted of my cell phone, wallet, keys, and the new addition - my pistol.

Locking the security gate that protected our front door, I noticed a dozen or so young people walking on the sidewalk bordering my house, headed in the direction of Shattuck Avenue. As I stepped into my driveway and began to unlock my car door, one of them shouted, "There's the snitch!"

I turned to see a boy, who looked about 16, coming towards me. I told him to leave my property. But he came closer and swung at me, hitting me in the mouth. I punched him in the chest, nearly knocking him down. After that, rocks and a large tree branch rained down on me.

As the group circled in on me, the boy ran over to another group of a few young males, yelling, "Give me the pistol! Let me have the pistol!" In response, a slender young male lifted his jersey, exposing the handle of a gun in his waistband. The boy - I later found out his name was Melvin - put his right hand on the gun handle.

Fearing for my life, I drew my pistol and fired once, striking him in the shoulder. The entire mob ran to the corner of Shattuck, where my assailant collapsed. (The bullet, I found out later, entered his shoulder and exited his back.)

An ambulance soon arrived and drove him to a hospital, where he would be treated and, two days later, released. Meanwhile, a crowd of more than 50 people had gathered, angry and yelling, some of them threatening to kill me. I and a neighbor stood guard, waiting until police arrived. My wife and son were driven to a hotel for their safety; I was driven to jail.

A Resolve to Stay in Oakland

None of the assailants was arrested or charged with a crime. In court acting as my own attorney, I exposed their two celebrity attorneys as having misrepresented the facts to the judge. The judge immediately granted me a restraining order against Melvin and his mother, who after the incident repeatedly threatened me.

The District Attorney concluded that I acted in self-defense. I was not charged with any crime. Although my new team of attorneys was prepared to fight any legal claim or lawsuit against me by the youth�s mother, my insurance company instead decided - without my prior knowledge - to simply settle the matter.

[Steyr_223]

Crime is still bad on some adjoining streets, but my street has for the most part been relatively quiet ever since - with one notable exception: the evening of February 17, 2007, almost exactly two years later. The family was returning home from a function at our church when my cell phone rang. It was the alarm company, calling to tell me that a glass-break detector had been activated. Shortly after entering my home, I saw that the front windows had been blasted with shotgun pellets. The police speculated that it was retaliation, meant to mark the anniversary of the incident.

Since these events - despite the sometimes strong advice from Oakland police officers and others to move my family to another city for safety's sake - I have always refused to leave Oakland. Certainly, I am not happy that these events occurred. But they have made me even more determined to make my neighborhood, and Oakland as a whole, a safer place for everyone.

[dwtt]

Patrick's candidacy is important because he does believe in a citizen's right to self defense with a firearm, and, more importantly, he is trying to replace a die hard anti-gun politician. If you would like to help out go to www.pat4oakland.com
Spread the word and urge any Oakland resident you know to vote for Patrick.