50% of the people in America live within 50 miles from where they grew up; I live one freeway exit from where I was born. There is a certain sense of pride that locals have that newcomers don’t understand; it isn’t that you aren’t equal, it isn’t that you can’t lead; it isn’t that you couldn’t possibly care as much for my city as I do. It’s three things: it is what I know from my very inception to the world and the basis for my identity, I didn’t come here to find something that was missing elsewhere for me, and I am not using my entry point in this space as a jumping off to somewhere else. That can be said for half of the citizens all around this country.
Now how does it differ in the city; in this city of Oakland? For reasons that cannot fully be explained in this post, much of the differentiation is the difference of Oakland on the national landscape. SF ran out all its black people; SJ never really had any. Of the 6 cities west of the Mississippi that have the 3 major sports teams, for now, Oakland is the only city on the west coast that can make that boast. There are so many firsts here; the terminus for the Transcontinental Railroad, the Black Panthers, Amelia Earhart departing for the Pacific Ocean. This is not a sister city to San Francisco; it is the step-sister middle child to San Jose and San Francisco. Throw in the highest crime rates, devastating fires, earthquakes, military closures, school takeovers, and the fall of MC Hammer, and you have the makings of the armpit of the Bay Area. But as bad as Oakland has stunk it up, it has been the base of janitors who come from the basement of the down trodden to spruce–no Oak it up. At a time when the perception was that Oakland was a city filled with a bunch of minorities and deviants not worth saving , we always had a comeback.
Now, Oakland is becoming the place-to-be, slowly but surely, and the people who have paved the way are growing increasingly dispassionate about the folks who will be reaping those benefits. Oakland is on the edge of its own Pygmalion, and we long timers want to make sure that we don’t miss the ball at the expense of an Alamedan via San Franciscan via Ivy League grad via Midwest transplant. At the same time, nothing is better than watching your kids achieve greatness and prepare themselves to be responsible, capable adults.
At the national level, it is rare to get someone who represents this persona; the stage is just too big. Presidents don’t represent the people; neither do Senators. It is common to get people in the House of Representatives who do match the pulse of the constituency; but the Mayor should be the people.
With that, Libby Schaaf is my 2nd choice for mayor.
There is something to be said for going through the traditional channels, and paying your dues. There is something to be said for having Oakland leadership come out and support you. If we want to address the argument about being there, working for Oakland at every level, and understanding how to govern, Schaaf is a front runner.
The first thing that turned heads in 2010 when she joined the City Council is that she began her tenure being objective and challenging her old boss in Ignacio De La Fuente over issues of fairness and governance. Schaaf blew everyone away, because we figured that it would be business as usual, and she would be a rubber stamp to the De la Fuente-Perata machine. She wasn’t.
Schaaf also represents a decidedly different direction in Oakland; the younger demographic that is weighing the balance between urban life, career development, and family obligation. We haven’t seen a working woman; hell, a working person ever have to juggle that at the highest levels in Oakland—yes Quan has kids, but never a career, and a successful husband—gotta love the energy and the sense of urgency from a candidate that understands the people.
Schaaf is very clear in articulating her position: what she thinks, what she has done, what she will do. http://libbyformayor.com/issues/government.pdf What a novel notion; tell the people what you would like to do. Again, we see Schaaf taking the time to treat the citizens as adults, and be specific about what her goal are.
Challenge: Schaaf is going to need to do some fence mending. Seriously. Having a history in working for the first Latino City Council member as his Chief of Staff, working for the Port of Oakland, Governor Brown, former California State Senate leader Don Perata, one gets to be a political animal. You know the community like no other, you cut deals with other councilmembers, you know the city at a fundamentally different level than your administrative counterparts. Growing up in Oakland during the time that she and I did in the 70’s and 80’s, that was a magical time of integrated leadership, integrated neighborhoods. Unlike today, if you were white in Oakland in 1980, you were hear BECAUSE of the diversity that was enriched largely through its black population; not because Oakland was cheaper than San Francisco, not because you want to create a viable, competing gay outpost to SF, not because you want your ethnicity to take over since it is your turn. Yet, only one black group and no Hispanic community based groups endorsed her campaign in a major way. For a lifelong resident, she should have many, many significant relationships with these groups. If Schaaf had shown her real strengths as I know them and made an early attempt to engage these constituencies, this race wouldn’t even be close.
Finally, one thing that Schaaf is…..is HUNGRY. You can tell that this is where she started but not where she plans to end; if she is seeking higher office—and she will—the one saving grace in all of that is she is prepared to perform at a high level, if for no other reason than to ensure she gets promoted. Again, I like someone who understands the need to produce.
holowe 