OwenABlair, Esq. for Redwood City Council

OwenABlair, Esq.
A candidate for reason.

I believe in the rule of law, logic and rational policy. I’ve been an attorney in this state for a while (and a DOJ employee) and that means you can trust my judgement and knowledge when it comes to making laws. I represent a large variety of clients, from those charged with serious crimes all the way to police officers. I’ve seen first hand the way that laws effect people, in action. I plan to be proactive, and fix problems with legislation before it effects the citizens of Redwood.

Plans: I propose the following common sense plans:

  • Public Safety: RPD has been struggling to perform for some time now. It needs to end. I will create a fair and collaborative solution that works for the citizens of Redwood and the police officers that serve the community to increase accountability, professionalism and ensure that citizens are treated fairly. I would like to implement regular review of RPD policy and procedure. I also plan to propose legislation requiring increased community outreach in order to engage people with the department.

  • City Charter: The city charter is full of issues and needs several amendments. First of all, the investigatory process is under the near exclusive control of the mayor, to the point where the mayor can dismiss any investigation that is not against himself, which is open to abuse and favoritism. As it stands, the mayor and city attorney are the only people who can initiate an investigation. The mayor could also dismiss the city attorney in order to halt or delay an investigation. The mayor is also able to decide if an investigation report will be published, which is contrary to transparency. Once an investigation is over, the report should be published, unless in cases of forwarding to state government officials for prosecution, and even then only delayed. Other issues are present with the investigations process, and I intend to revise this process to allow the council to vote to have the city attorney investigate a matter, and to add additional checks and balances on the mayor’s power to control investigations. From a legal standpoint, major changes involving more than one section require the assistance of the County Council as well as support from the body I am running for, but is still well within the realm of possibilities. More changes need made from a legal standpoint as well, and I plan to conduct a further detailed analysis of the charter to prevent abuse of power and increase clarity.

  • City Office Bars: Barring someone from office is perhaps the most extreme power the city can take and judicial review of these bars should be in place to prevent abuse. I would like to amend the charter to allow the courts to review a city bar and to require the city attorney review and investigate all bar proposals to ensure that clear and convincing evidence is present before voting can begin to prevent abuse.

  • City events: The city hosts very few large scale events. I would like to change that, by encouraging the state to host some of the larger events we see and by hosting our own large events to get more people into town. Redwood has a reputation for criminal activity and I think it is important that we try to change that.

  • Detailed legislative review: I plan to review legislature in the same way I review a case, diligently and with great care. You have my word that I will never vote favorably on any ordinance the has legal or constitutional problems.

  • Cooperation with state government agencies: I would like to increase the amount of joint activities involved with both the city and the state, including but not limited to: policing and public works.

I humbly ask you to support me in this election, so we can enact common sense measures and prevent abuse of power. Those who oppose me seek to hold onto power and protect their own interests.

No support.

Individual also violates election rules. @DOJODOG_2004

Ban is false and politically motivated. I’m taking this up with the head mod.

no support

1 Like

what are you going to do? everyone says this to get support but no one actually does shit, do you have a plan in mind?

you literally cant its impossible, by hosting events you’re just gonna attract more crime. trust me i served as mayor for two terms and redwood will always be known as the crime infested city.

3 Likes

The mayor and his friends have made political election rules in order to deny candidacy to myself for no other reason than his dislike of my exercise of my rights.

no support

1 Like

I do! I want to implement a better system of oversight involving the city attorney’s office and create performance based standards.

You were told why you were banned. You posted a document full of racial slurs in the Redwood discord server violating our rules. Nothing legally requires you to stay in the server. The rule was placed to ensure that those who are running are actually able to be in a server.

If you get yourself banned, that’s on you and I cannot help you there.

1 Like

Donxld, the document was a FOIA request. You and I both know that if I failed to spell out what I was requesting you would direct your employees to give me wrong information or not conduct a search. ERFOIA-CRW-1113.pdf - Google Drive

This document is not full of slurs, it contains them in a respectful manor designed to invoke a proper reply.

Maybe don’t post it in the server next time. Your position and purpose does not exempt you from any moderation action. Good luck in any other position.

Don’t post it in the server? I had no other choice, since that was the established FOIA procedure at the time.

The rule was put in place to prevent me from running.

idk i think that’s just common sense since then people could just bypass bans by running for a position in that municipality

No support. User has repeatedly to stir issues with people and bring up problems that simply aren’t there. User is also banned from the City of Redwood discord server for use the n word, which is strictly prohibited by server rules.

I think that it makes sense if you’re banned for a real reason, but frankly someone can do all their CC tasks using trello and DMs alone. They shouldn’t be unbanned because of it, but it’s unfair to deny people the right to run.

What makes you think we don’t already have regular contact with the CAs Office?

Considering you have never seen the inside of RPD, nor attempted to look or find out about any issues within my Department, I strongly urge people not to support this candidate.

You say you have plans for RPD, but won’t actually comment on what they are. Nor would you ultimately have the power to implement any form of review by yourself. As for community outreach, how exactly do you plan on making a piece of legislation to force RPD to do whatever it is you define as community outreach without it being a complete overstretch of the power of a City Council Person.

#NoSupport

2 Likes

I quoted the N word in an official document, which is a very different thing from using it.

You still posted a link that contained a very offensive slur, which as mentioned, is against our rules.

“Ah! Why’d you remove the first one!?” -OwenABlair