I've seen them around town, and you probably have as well — those bumper stickers that read like so:

• "I BOUGHT THIS BEFORE ELON WENT CRAZY"
• "VINTAGE TESLA / PRE-MADNESS EDITION"
• "FOR THE ENVIRONMENT / NOT FOR ELON"
• "ANTI / ELON / TESLA /CLUB"

Maybe you have a bumper sticker like that yourself? To be honest, I will roll my eyes at your car if so (although I will also acknowledge that there are many different factors that go into deciding on a personal vehicle to purchase — buying a car is such a sucky experience!).

In any case, City of Alameda staff have proposed giving the public's money to Tesla. At their next meeting, City Council is being asked to approve the purchase of two Tesla Y "police sport utility vehicles" for use by the Alameda Police Department.

There will also be budget allocated for "graphics (city logo, etc.)" so perhaps the "etc" will cover the expense of buying two of those bumper stickers from Etsy to slap on to the new vehicles. Or maybe just get a custom wrap for the entire vehicle that could read in a cute cursive:

• "SAVING THE PLANET VIA A COMPETITIVELY SOLICITED PROCUREMENT CONTRACT MANAGED BY SOURCEWELL / WITHOUT CONSIDERATION FOR WHETHER ELON MUSK IN A QUASI-OFFICIAL CAPACITY ILLEGALLY FIRED FEDERAL STAFF RESPONSIBLE FOR PROVIDING PUBLIC SERVICES TO THE PEOPLE OF AMERICA AND ALAMEDA / ALSO IF THAT WAS A NAZI SALUTE THAT HE PERFORMED PUBLICLY TWO TIMES IN A ROW WOULD YOU PLEASE NOT BRING THAT UP 'CAUSE SOURCEWELL CERTAINLY WOULDN'T KNOW HOW TO JUDGE WHETHER A SUPPLIER'S CEO PUBLICLY PERFORMED A NAZI SALUTE / WE'RE SIMPLY REPLACING WELL WORN VEHICLES IN THE CITY'S FLEET / AND TRYING TO TEST A COUPLE ELECTRIC VEHICLES / BECAUSE UNLIKE TRUMP WE STILL KNOW THAT CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL"

My joking-but-not-joking aside, in the year 2026 given everything that Tesla and Elon Musk and his associated companies are doing, Tesla is not an ordinary business — and the City of Alameda should not consider it as a valid vendor to do business with.

There are multiple electric vehicle manufacturers with relevant offerings on the market:

• The city's fleet already includes "18 compact EVs of various brands," one Ford E-Transit electric cargo van, and ten Ford F150 Lightning EVs used by AMP utility crews (with the added benefit of having onboard electrical power plugs, meaning that those staffers don't need to also carry separate gas-powered generators). Ford also sells a model of that electric pickup specifically for police uses.
• Hoboken (New Jersey) bought both a Ford F-150 Lightning and a Mustang Mach-E for use by their police department.
• Palo Alto Police Department recently purchased a Rivian electric SUV as a patrol vehicle.
• GM also sells a Chevy Blazer EV PPV model that's designed specifically for police use.

(That's just based on a couple minutes of Google'ing — there probably are even more relevant electric SUV and sedan options on the market, especially considering that City staff are already proposing to pay a firm to make after-market modifications to prepare vehicles for police use.)

City Council members would do well to consider pulling this item from the consent calendar, canceling the proposed order of Tesla vehicles, and directing staff to research and return with better EV options.