Oakland Mayor & City Council

Summary:
Mayor: Rebecca Kaplan (1st), Don Perata (2nd), Jean Quan (3rd)
Council District 4: Libby Schaaf
Council District 2: Jennifer Pae

I don't live in Oakland, but I interact with Oakland's political world a fair amount through my work. I also sit on the Board of the League of Conservation Voters of the East Bay. We interview candidates, debate their relative merits, and make endorsements from an environmental perspective. I learned a lot about Oakland's races that way this year too.

Mayor: Rebecca Kaplan (1st), Don Perata (2nd), Jean Quan (3rd)

I am happy to say that I would be comfortable with all three of the front-runners in the mayoral race.

Rebecca Kaplan (1st): I am delighted to again get to strongly recommend someone I know well. Rebecca Kaplan won election to the At-Large council seat just two years ago, and before that was a smart and enthusiastic member of the AC Transit Board of Directors for six years. She has succeeded each place because she is smart, politically savvy, and good at getting things done with people she does not agree with. She has strong ethics, she is smart and insightful, and she connects with people. These are also the same reasons my organization, TransForm, hired her back on 2001. She was incredibly effective.

She also has experience as a civil-rights attorney, legislative aide, and an outreach consultant protecting Oakland residents from predatory loans and foreclosures. She will be a great policy-maker and would be a great re-start for a city that has had tough times the past several years. Lots of other people also endorse her as the FIRST CHOICE on the Oakland Mayoral ballot.

While Rebecca is far and away my first choice, I know you get to mark 3. And with so many people in the race, you should. 2nd place is tight for me, but I'll go with ...

Don Perata (2nd): I know, he's been in Sacramento for umpteen years. I know, he knocks heads together. I know, he's worked with lots of people I don't like. But damnit, the man is effective. And his positions are close enough to mine on many issues that I'm ok taking the bad with the good. If Oakland isn't going to get Rebecca (who I'll agree with almost entirely but who will have some challenges getting things done), I want Oakland to have someone who will make the city run well. I disagree with those who think he's a rerun of Dellums -- Perata would be engaged. On transportation issues, I've seen him take strong and principled stands, often even though they weren't very popular at first, and work hard at them.

Jean Quan (3rd): Jean is my third choice, but it is close. She's been pretty good in city hall, seems to mostly work well with others, and was on the School Board before that (judge for yourself whether she did a good job -- I don't know). I know of her having done good things to protect California's landmark greenhouse gas reduction law at the League of Cities, working with cities around the state.

Like I said, any of them as mayor would be a step up from Dellums, who never really wanted the job and has not done well.

Council District 4: Libby Schaaf
I've heard great things about Libby from everyone I've talked with, including several work friends who are working on her campaign. Read a great writeup from V Smoothe/A Better Oakland blog, who absolutely gushes over her. Or check out Libby's own website.

Council District 2: Jennifer Pae
It is hard to run against an incumbent who hasn't done anything scandalous. So Jennifer Pae probably won't beat Pat Kernighan. That's too bad, as she looks pretty good. Smart, thoughtful, politically savvy, involved (Young Dems, Obama campaign), young and energetic. I've been less impressed with Kernighan.

Oakland Ballot measures:
I don't know enough about the ballot measures to take positions on them. Check out other people I like who've made endorsements for other East Bay races.