Candidates For Oakland Mayoral Race

[Deborah Richman]

It's not too early to start chatting about candidates for Oakland Mayoral Race, which takes place in 2010. Which City Council people will be involved? What other familiar faces will give it a go? Will there be surprises? And what issues do we want the candidates to address?

[Deborah Richman]

As of September 22nd, the main unofficially and undeclared candidates are Jean Quan and Don Perata. Just like the U.S. Presidential Race, the reporting is covering the campaign war-chest matters right now. Jean has to find bucks and is underdog, and we all know her as our City Council Rep. Don Perata comes with more financial support. Leaving all that aside, what do we want them to focus on...care about?

[Deborah Richman]

City Auditor Ruby Courtney just issued audit about hiring practices across the city, which included the first year-plus of Mayor Dellums administration along with earlier years from Mayor Brown.

While some matters may have been addressed, like nepotism, there are some challenges in there. City Administrator Dan Lindheim says all the 85 recommendations have been addressed.

It still seems to me that both current Mayoral candidates know a little something, from long involvement in city matters - and should be included hiring practices and other HR matters into their platforms.

[Deborah Richman]

Does anyone have opinions about how we vote for our next Oakland mayor?

Oakland voters overwhelmingly approved "Measure O" back in 2006, which says that we will vote for mayor by ranked approach: first, second, third, etc. choices. This approach combines two elections into one.

A really interesting article was published today in East Bay Express, where Don Perata is questioning whether this approach should be approved by the Alameda County Registrar.

"Manipulating The Vote: Don Perata has been sending letters and conducting closed-door meetings in what looks like an effort to force Jean Quan out of the Oakland mayor's race" - click article here

[Deborah Richman]

The "third candidate" who never confirmed - ex-Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb - is remaining in Detroit through early 2011. The Detroit Free Press reported yesterday:

Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced a commitment this morning to extend the contract of Robert Bobb, Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager. She said his “zero-tolerance approach is exactly what the doctor ordered.”

[Tip of hat to East Bay Express.]

[Deborah Richman]

Wow, the "race" lit up last week. At one session where Police Chief Batts appeared, the Oakland Police Officer's Association endorsed Don Perata. Opponent Jean Quan was there, while Perata was not.

We think its gonna be a long slog between now and the election.

[Deborah Richman]

Trying to decide...whether and what to care about in this upcoming race.

The Make Oakland Better Now volunteer crew is trying to come up with platforms related to Public Safety, Public Works and Accountability. Take a look at what they are doing, and how they are asking for help.

--> Click Here: MOBN Report to Oaklanders

[Deborah Richman]

Check out this story about Oakland's Mayoral Race, in tomorrow's printed NY Times. The gist is that we get retreads from other political jobs, and that it's not a good retirement post. The article's mostly about Don Perata, though mentions Jean Quan as well.

--> Click here: Politics: Is Oakland Mayor's Job Forever A Second Act?

[Deborah Richman]

Make Oakland Better Now (MOBN!) began to dive into issues that the 2010 Mayoral candidates should address. They began with Oakland's public safety issues.

Several Oaklanders volunteered to create positions...especially on police hiring/training and community policing/representation.

For me, I was concerned with how you pay for everything! Even a recent Uncle Sam grant for $1.3 million means more money that Oakland spends to computerize crime records, right?

Remember that Police Chief Batts has been studying the department and expects to communicate his changes soon. That may influence what we expect from the Mayor too, at least a little bit.

[Deborah Richman]

We have been trying to keep track of the latest news, but it's not in the forum. So here are a few key links in the past month-plus. Obviously things will heat up soon, but there are only two candidates right now and that hasn't changed: Jean Quan and Don Perata.

However there has been some news and here are quick links:

-- Mayoral Candidate Quan has more dollars in bank than Perata today - Feb 4th - click here
-- Get Cracking about 1-2-3 Choices - Jan 5th - click here
-- What's Happening With Make Oakland Better Now: Public Safety Updates - Dec 15th - click here

[Deborah Richman]

We finally saw a campaign sighting at the Farmer's Market this Sunday. See the image we took of Jean Quan's campaign kick-off poster here.

Also there are sites to read more about Don Perata and Jean Quan. The race is on...clearly.

[Deborah Richman]

Now the buzz is that Rebecca Kaplan will join the fray. She's the at-large city council member these days. That could be interesting, right?