The Weekly Fix: Politician Costing Taxpayers Millions in Lawsuits

The fix is in. City Councilwoman Desley Brooks has made a habit out of costing Oakland millions of dollars in lawsuits. These are expenses the city could really do without, considering it suffers from a severe debt problem.

Councilwoman Brooks was originally found guilty of shoving former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown at a restaurant in 2015, resulting in an elder abuse and battery lawsuit that cost the city $3.75 million. Oakland was later ordered to pay an additional $1 million in Brown’s lawyer fees and other costs.

How Councilwoman Brooks managed to keep her position after physically assaulting someone in public and costing the city a fortune is truly a mystery. But wait! There’s more.

More recently, a male former aide filed a claim against Brooks (along with the city of Oakland) for alleged verbal and physical abuse. Sidney Wilson alleges the councilwoman created a “toxic work environment that no reasonable person would tolerate, suffer and endure” by forcing him to participate in illegal activity, and repeatedly yelling and cursing at him.

Wilson described his role as a “controlled and abused servant, a go-fetch boy.” The claim is 24 pages long and includes a list of alleged incidents where Brooks berated him in public and private. He is seeking $3 million from Brooks personally, and $1 million in damages from the city.

When asked to address the claims, Brooks simply responded, “It’s unfortunate that someone I tried to help and mentor is now trying to manipulate the city in this way.”

Whether or not this latest round of hostile incidents happened, one thing is clear: Councilwoman Brooks is too expensive to keep on the City of Oakland’s payroll. If she keeps it up, her legal defense fund will need its own line in the liabilities column of the city’s balance sheet.

It’s time to take a stand. The American people aren’t being heard by their representatives because the game is rigged. Government isn’t broken. It’s “fixed.”