OAKLAND — It started out like any other Subway sandwich shop -- bright, open, accessible. Then the gunmen showed up, three times in 30 days. Owner Manoj Tripathi closed up shop, fearing for his workers' safety. He didn't reopen until a ceiling-high barrier had been built for their protection.
In searching for blame, Tripathi turns to former Rep. Ronald V. Dellums, who took office as mayor nearly two years ago in this embattled and changing Bay Area metropolis.
The septuagenarian rode to office on lofty talk of transforming Oakland into a "model 21st century city" of universal healthcare, green jobs, affordable housing and an unprecedented call to civic action.
But to Tripathi, those are just empty words, "social engineering."
"Last year, when this was happening, Ron Dellums says no one wants to put too much police on the streets and make it a police state," Tripathi recalled, indignant. "I'm saying, 'Ron Dellums, you were elected to clean the streets, to have less crime, to clean the garbage. That's what a mayor does.' "
Nearly halfway through Dellums' first term, Oakland is in a state of near municipal meltdown. A string of high-profile restaurant robberies terrorized residents throughout the summer. The budget is $42 million in the red; service cuts and layoffs loom.
The city administrator was fired July 1 amid allegations of nepotism and interfering with a police investigation. That critical position remains unfilled, as does the head of economic development. The police chief is on leave, caring for his sick wife, and is expected to step down. The fire chief retires in about a week.
A website has cropped up calling for Dellums' ouster, and nearly 1,000 have "signed" the unofficial online petition, which declares that "we cannot simply wait for the next election while our 'Silent Mayor' lets the city deteriorate."
Warranted or not, taking potshots at Dellums -- a liberal lion who represented the region for 28 years in Congress and is known for impassioned oratory and a halo of white hair -- has become something of a civic sport.
Critics charge that Dellums, an unlikely combination of dignity and thin skin, has hardly been seen or heard from around town, even as a crime wave sweeps through many neighborhoods and the City Council devolves into bickering and paralysis.
