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On the Monday before Election Day, I met Oakland City Council District Two Candidate Aimee Allison at her campaign headquarters to really just walk and talk with her while my camcorder rolled. The video was quickly done and there was virtually no editing required. The result is a the first vlog of an Oakland City Council candidate such that the person's explaining their views and completely without the mudslinging and negative questions that have come to dominate this campaign. Here's the vlog of Aimee Allison: Click here for the Blip.tv version.

Well that's what she said. I had to pick this off from my other post on the District Two race: The blogger -- NovoMetro (why don't these people use their real names!) -- also asked Kernighan serveral questions, which got interesting responses: Kernighan: I think it's going to be interesting. I'm pretty excited to have someone who is going to be more present and engaged. Does this mean Jerry's not going to be "present and engaged" as attorney general? Hmmm....

I ran over this video totally by accident. It's of Oakland City Auditor Candidate Courtney Ruby. Yes, the video codec is screwed up, but the video does well at showing her and allowing one to hear her views on what she would do as Oakland's auditor. Here's the video:

This co-co-times report is interesting if one knows what to look for. Councilmember Pat Kernighan's financial aide has in part come from Oakland's mostly white political establishment, where Allison's money has been drawn -- at least here -- by Black notables: former Mayor Harris, Geoffrey Pete, and Steven Phillips, who although from San Francisco, is African American. So, again, this race is about that silly thing called skin color. Kernighan has financial advantage over Allison Incumbent has $57,000 to spend as of Oct. 26; challenger has $40,100 in campaign war chest By Heather MacDonald MEDIANEWS STAFF With the heated race for District 2 entering the home stretch, Councilwoman Patricia Kernighan has $57,000 to spend, according to records filed Oct. 26 with the Oakland city clerk. Challenger Aimee Allison, a nonprofit consultant and community activist, has $40,100 in her campaign war chest. Since the beginning of the year, Allison has spent about $96,200 in the fierce...

I could not help but post these two blogs I found concerning volunteers for Aimee Alison and Pat Kernighan. One post from an Allison supporter reflects on Kernighan living in the hills and being a kind of upper crust, white candidate , which really is Pat's right "to be." In other words, I don't care that she is -- more power to her. What I care about are attempts to have a diverse friendship grouping. That's my onlly issue with Pat, but by normal American standards, she's ahead. But this is Oakland, where one has to meet a higher standard, thank God. The other reports on the bloggers neighborhood walk with Kernighan and has a photo of her with supporters, all in this photo are not white -- except for Pat and one other person -- they're Asian. But some contend the District Two race will be won with the Asian vote. Still, it's very disappoiting to see no Blacks or Latinos, or anyone else of color. Asians and whites have historically mixed well...

Contrasting Styles In District Two Aside from all of the complaining and the Oakland Tribune article below which reports some overzealous behavior by Aimee Allison supporters she has no control over, one aspect of this heated race has been almost deliberately ignored: it's a race of black versus white. This fact is not lost on me when I walk by Pat Kernighan's headquarters and see all of the faces, by far white, some Asian, and I've not seen anyone black to date. By contrast, Aimee Allison's supporters are far more represented by people of color. It doens't say much that's good that Councilmember Kernighan has so little support amoung people of color compared to Aimee. But the simple reason for this is Pat doesn't reach out to anyone who is of color. I'm not talking about going to the NAACP office and begging for black friends, but just plain establishing and maintainng friends of color in Oakland. There's no trick to this. Instead, what we get...

Brown's vote may break tie on zoning Mayor's usual position on controversial plan bodes ill for commission By Heather MacDonald, STAFF WRITER Article Last Updated:10/31/2006 08:23:06 AM PST OAKLAND — With two months left in office, Mayor Jerry Brown is expected to cast a decisive vote tonight on a controversial plan to require developers to set aside at least 15 percent of their projects for low-income residents. Both supporters and critics of the inclusionary zoning proposal — and many are on both sides — believe the plan has the power to shape the future of Oakland, for good or for ill. Two weeks ago, the council deadlocked on a proposal by Councilmember Desley Brooks (Eastmont-Seminary) to form a blue-ribbon commission to study the issue. Although Brooks favors inclusionary zoning, she said she could not support the proposal before the council because it does nothing to address the needs of extremely low-income residents. Councilmembers Jane Brunner (NorthOakland) and Jean Q...