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On Friday, Oakland Council President Ignacio De La Fuente called Ron Dellums to congradulate him after learning that 50.18 percent of voting Oaklanders chose him as the next Mayor of Oakland. Here's the full Oakland Tribune report: Mayor race ends with concession De La Fuente calls to congratulate Dellums, pledges 'to continue working very hard By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND — Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente called former U.S. Rep. Ron Dellums on Saturday morning to concede the hard-fought race to become Oakland's next mayor. During a brief afternoon news conference at his Fruitvale home, De La Fuente said he congratulated Dellums and pledged to work with him as mayor of Oakland. "I will continue working very hard on those issues that got me into this mayor's race," De La Fuente said. Standing on his back porch, flanked by aides as well as his wife and daughter, he did not take questions. Mike Healy, a spokesma...

After I posted my problem in the way I was treated by a staffer at "Easy" I received a number of responses, most sympathetic, then some just plain pathetic. The ones in the "pathetic" category seemed to run a consistent thread of wanting to explain away the staffers behavior when the writer wasn't even at Easy at the time of the incident -- let alone at all. It's this desire to avoid adressing a problem that keeps us as a society from making sure such scenarios don't happen again. I must also report that no one African American wrote to disagree. The main point is that if a person explains that something in the way they were treated was racist, don't try to explain it away if you were not there to witness it. Remember there are really a limited number of ways one can treat someone else: mean or nice. The reasons this is done vary from person to person. Thus one can be mean to someone for reasons of racial difference and express the same behavi...

I received this email from a person who identified himself as one of the owners of "Easy" and regarding the problem I blogged about. I removed his name and contact information to protect his privacy. As an FYI, I had not contacted the establishment, so I can only determine that the blog post was so widely read, it was passed to him. Hello! I am one of the owners at Easy, and I'm really disappointed to hear that you feel that you were not treated with respect at our new establishment. With that all said, a couple of points (not in any particular order of importance): 1) All of the owners (4 in total), myself included, were present at the time of the incident. While I personally heard third-hand of what happened after close, had an owner actually been approached about the matter we most certainly would have sat down with you to resolve it amicably. 2) We do indeed have a number of black male staffers. 3) A large portion of my wife's family is African American, inclu...

I wrote about a race-based problem I experienced at a new establishment called "Easy." My post spawned this reponse from a neighbor in Adams Point who asked not to be identified for this post. Hi- I saw your blog article. I grew up in the lakeshore area and still live there. I drove by the place the other day and was suprised to see that the 5th amendment had closed and sort of excited to see the easy sign. I dreaded what I saw the other night when I drove by (9 pm, weeknight) there were tons of white waspy youngish, looking folks that definitely don't look like the normal folks of the neighborhood. Don't get me wrong...It wasn't' that they were all white is what scared me, it jsut looked sort of exclusive to them but maybe...it definitely had a bad vibe so when I saw your headline I was like "oh great!!, I was right" I am not surprised. But trust me I am going tell all my friends and family about your experience. As I don't put up with that __...

Is this the Oakland of the future? A place where black men are singled out and treated in less-than-human ways? It sure seems that way with the opening of "Easy", a restaurant and bar that opened in the space once used by the legendary Fifth Amendment on Lakeshore Avenue and in the business district that includes establishments such as Pete's Coffee and Arzimendi's. Thursday, June 15th was the opening of "Easy" and to those not familar with Oakland lore, it was an occasion to be observed. Long time Oaklanders -- like me -- wandered in to see how this new place was going to treat the neighborhood. Look. I understand more than anyone the need for owners to close an establishment at 2 AM. I also know that many bars have "after 2 AM parties" for friends, and whomever. Some of these gatherings feature the use of drugs, so it's better to sweep out the clientele before 2 AM so they can have real fun. Without naming names, there's one busin...

The Oakland Police's failure to implement community policing is making our neighborhoods less safe, and Adams Point has borne the full weight of their mistakes. But to be fair the department is understaffed. I contend that the City of Oakland does not know how to develop creative financing measures to provide good service. Residents protest police redeployment Officers pulled from beats to answer emergency calls By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER -- OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND -- Dozens of angry Oakland residents are accusing police Chief Wayne Tucker of betraying the city's commitment to community policing. They deluged the City Council's Public Safety Committee meeting Tuesday night with their complaints. Because the department -- with 100 vacancies -- has been stretched by the upsurge in violent crime, Tucker ordered his community police officers to spend one day a week responding to 9-1-1 calls. The stopgap measure, which began at the end of April as the outcry over incr...

Last night at The Alley, a friend walked up to me and said "Dellums' lead is smaller than a ____ hair." I'll leave you to fill in that blank, but the vote count is now such that it appears the Oakland Mayors Race may be headed toward a runoff. That's both good and bad for Dellums supporters - myself included. Good, because it's a chance to really sharpen the knifes and get the campaign in a position to better reach out to the people of Oakland. Bad, because it means that De La Fuente gets another shot. Dellums' hopes of outright mayoral victory are fading Runoff seems more likely, but thousands of ballots still must be tallied By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER - OAKLAND TRIBUNE OAKLAND — Former U.S. Rep. Ron Dellums' razor-thin lead in the race to become Oakland's next mayor slipped away Friday afternoon, as he dropped below the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff against City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente. Alameda County e...