Oakland City Council At-Large: Rebecca Kaplan

I'm a big fan of Rebecca Kaplan. I've known her since I started being involved in politics in the East Bay, and I've appreciated working with her as a colleague and an ally ever since. I endorsed her in 2008 when she won this seat: "she is smart, politically savvy, and she knows how to get things done with people she doesn't agree with. She has strong ethics, she is smart and insightful, and she connects with people." She's also hilarious. I worked with her as a colleague for a year back in 2001, and she was a terrific organizer and policy advocate. She's got a great vision for the city: green, just, inclusive, vibrant, and safe. I was delighted when she won in 2008.

I hope she can survive the challenge from longtime Oakland political heavyweight Ignacio de la Fuente. This is a bit odd -- he's giving up his safe seat in the Fruitvale to run for this at-large seat. As my friend Nathan Landau says, "De La Fuente offers wheeling and dealing, support for ineffective and civil liberties busting gang injunctions, and hostility to city employee labor, even though he is a union official himself."