Across the bay, Oakland's city council is providing yet another masterclass in how not to govern.

Here's the situation: A property owner on Claremont Avenue illegally cut down 38 protected trees — some of which weren't even on their own property. The city's own rules call for a fine approaching $1 million. Open and shut, right? A property owner breaks the law, the city enforces the consequences, everybody moves on.

Not in Oakland.

Instead of levying the fine, the council balked. Even a reduced penalty of roughly $400,000 couldn't muster enough votes. The mayor declined to break the tie. One council member was simply absent. And the arguments against enforcement? They ranged from the bureaucratically absurd to the genuinely jaw-dropping.

Councilmember Carroll Fife reportedly questioned why a Black property owner should be "the first to receive consequences for things that white people have been doing for centuries." Let that sink in. The argument against enforcing a tree-removal ordinance was that it would be racially unjust — because other people got away with it before.

By that logic, no law should ever be enforced for the first time against anyone who isn't white. That's not equity. That's the complete abdication of governance.

As one Bay Area resident put it: "So a broke city that needs money and is constantly raising taxes that impact poor citizens won't fine some rich people who illegally cut down trees... while charging for parking on Sundays?"

Another local nailed the deeper dysfunction: "75% of Oakland's issues could be solved by simply enforcing the rules already on the books."

And let's not gloss over the sheer audacity of cutting down trees on someone else's property. That's not a gray area. That's not a permit mix-up. That's destruction of public or neighboring assets, full stop.

Oakland is a city that perpetually claims it doesn't have enough money — for roads, for public safety, for basic services. Here was nearly a million dollars in legally justified fines, served up on a silver platter, and the council couldn't bring itself to collect. The rules exist. The violation is clear. The money is owed.

But when enforcing your own laws becomes too politically uncomfortable, don't be surprised when nobody takes those laws seriously anymore. Oakland residents deserve a government that can, at minimum, protect its own trees.