I have to admit I've seen this too many times before, including myself. Someone's upset that Nancy Nadel won District Three. (Or at least as of this writing -- hence the (*) -- it looks like she did. She had 51.7 percent of the vote, BUT there are still thousands of absentee ballots to be counted. If Nancy falls below 50 percent, then Sean Sullivan gets to challenge her again for a November do-over. But here's the next BUT: absentee ballots tend to follow the Election Day voting trend, so I continue...)
In the past, it was Clinton Killian, who ran against her and lost in the 90s. Then Hector Reyna. Someone once tried to get me to run against her, but even though I thought Nancy was neglecting the area of Grand Avenue between Mac Arthur and Harrison, I know that I've never wanted to run for office and have always enjoyed the role of King / Queen Maker.
Knock it off with the "Oh Brother" comment, will ya?
Look. I can't remember a time when everyone in this District has actually liked the same elected official. But the problem is that the people who generally line up against Nancy are always relatively new to the neighborhood and mostly pay zero attention to West Oakland, or if they do, don't have the track record of concern or work that Nancy has.
Like it or not, Nadel's right. It's about race. It's about paying attention not only to a part of Oakland that has not seen the light of economic day since World War II, but to a people there who have been forgotten or trying to avoid "The Riders". It's a place that's needed a champion and has come out to support that person and like it or not, Nancy's been that high-level elected official.
Note, high-level elected official. Not head of a non-profit. Or not even a school board member, another important elected official but not a councilperson. Not to take away anthing from Sean Sullivan and Greg Hodge, but Nancy's in the position of highest visibility and you know what, she hasn't had a major mistep that would kill her run.
What to do? What should VSmoothe or The Jack London News do? Simple. Establish a list of goals and objectives that are important to the community and see if Nadel delivers on them. Keep a running tally.
No one has done this. Plus, it's hard to argue with the overall transformation of what was once a sleepy District of Oakland. There's more to do and more new people who aren't -- yet -- angry enough to vote or for those who are, have identified Nancy as their champion. Plus, Nancy can walk around town and claim that the change was due to something she did, and if you don't have the information to counter her, you lose.
It's not like the past. People are really too busy -- way too busy -- working to pay a lot of attention to what's happening. That's sad, but it's true. The Oakland Tribune, once the leader in covering news in the District, has given way to bloggers, and has only part of the budget (adjusted for inflation) that it once had. These are troubling times for the media. Everything and everyone is separate and apart, and there's no center of power or information anymore.
Jane Wins To My Surprise!
I really thought Councilmember Jane Brunner would lose big time to Patrick McCullough but she didn't and for a set of reasons not dissimilar to those that apply for Nancy. But with a twist: Jane's not the warm, fuzzy person she used to be. Sorry, but she's not. Time has made her a bit less liked by some than in the past, when she was an admirable and smart and personable Oakland official. But she gets the job done. But having written that, in that case, District One had and has a real champion -- "Patty Mic."
If Patrick McCullough can find a visible outlet for his work, he could make another challenge, and win. He deserves it, but he's got to fight as hard to beat Nancy as he did to get the gangs out of his neighborhood.
And that's the point -- staying power. I can't remember one person who emerged as a consistent challenger to Nancy. We've had a lot of one-shot wonders: they run once then they fade into the background. Nancy runs again and again and again. She's the only consistent face. Plus, she's really improved personally -- by miles. Hey, politics is about people.
So, what do people do when they have all this swirl of information flying around and no catastrophic occurence to focus on? They pick the incumbent. That was Nancy.
Welcome to Oakland, 2008.
In the past, it was Clinton Killian, who ran against her and lost in the 90s. Then Hector Reyna. Someone once tried to get me to run against her, but even though I thought Nancy was neglecting the area of Grand Avenue between Mac Arthur and Harrison, I know that I've never wanted to run for office and have always enjoyed the role of King / Queen Maker.
Knock it off with the "Oh Brother" comment, will ya?
Look. I can't remember a time when everyone in this District has actually liked the same elected official. But the problem is that the people who generally line up against Nancy are always relatively new to the neighborhood and mostly pay zero attention to West Oakland, or if they do, don't have the track record of concern or work that Nancy has.
Like it or not, Nadel's right. It's about race. It's about paying attention not only to a part of Oakland that has not seen the light of economic day since World War II, but to a people there who have been forgotten or trying to avoid "The Riders". It's a place that's needed a champion and has come out to support that person and like it or not, Nancy's been that high-level elected official.
Note, high-level elected official. Not head of a non-profit. Or not even a school board member, another important elected official but not a councilperson. Not to take away anthing from Sean Sullivan and Greg Hodge, but Nancy's in the position of highest visibility and you know what, she hasn't had a major mistep that would kill her run.
What to do? What should VSmoothe or The Jack London News do? Simple. Establish a list of goals and objectives that are important to the community and see if Nadel delivers on them. Keep a running tally.
No one has done this. Plus, it's hard to argue with the overall transformation of what was once a sleepy District of Oakland. There's more to do and more new people who aren't -- yet -- angry enough to vote or for those who are, have identified Nancy as their champion. Plus, Nancy can walk around town and claim that the change was due to something she did, and if you don't have the information to counter her, you lose.
It's not like the past. People are really too busy -- way too busy -- working to pay a lot of attention to what's happening. That's sad, but it's true. The Oakland Tribune, once the leader in covering news in the District, has given way to bloggers, and has only part of the budget (adjusted for inflation) that it once had. These are troubling times for the media. Everything and everyone is separate and apart, and there's no center of power or information anymore.
Jane Wins To My Surprise!
I really thought Councilmember Jane Brunner would lose big time to Patrick McCullough but she didn't and for a set of reasons not dissimilar to those that apply for Nancy. But with a twist: Jane's not the warm, fuzzy person she used to be. Sorry, but she's not. Time has made her a bit less liked by some than in the past, when she was an admirable and smart and personable Oakland official. But she gets the job done. But having written that, in that case, District One had and has a real champion -- "Patty Mic."
If Patrick McCullough can find a visible outlet for his work, he could make another challenge, and win. He deserves it, but he's got to fight as hard to beat Nancy as he did to get the gangs out of his neighborhood.
And that's the point -- staying power. I can't remember one person who emerged as a consistent challenger to Nancy. We've had a lot of one-shot wonders: they run once then they fade into the background. Nancy runs again and again and again. She's the only consistent face. Plus, she's really improved personally -- by miles. Hey, politics is about people.
So, what do people do when they have all this swirl of information flying around and no catastrophic occurence to focus on? They pick the incumbent. That was Nancy.
Welcome to Oakland, 2008.
Comments
She certainly did the worst out of all of her colleagues. The oft-hated delaFuente even did better than her.
The mythology of her providing service to W Oakland is wearing thin.
The reason that Nadel may retain her seat is low voter turn out (county wide: 28.8%)which historically favors incumbents, NOT because she has earned the respect of her neighbors.
She certainly did the worst out of all of her colleagues. The oft-hated delaFuente even did better than her.
The mythology of her providing service to W Oakland is wearing thin.
The reason that Nadel may retain her seat is low voter turn out (county wide: 28.8%)which historically favors incumbents, NOT because she has earned the respect of her neighbors.
Let me list the top 5 things I would have liked to have seen when she was elected the last time around - a time when I'm almost embarassed to say I voted for her. My goal of 5 simple things was:
1. Mixed-use parking permit plan. She didn't get us the permit plan. Brunner and Kernighan were WAY more supportive. And why did it take over 5 years? Why does it cost so much more than the residential permits? ($150 vs $50)
2. Neighborhood park. At one point we could have bought the lot where 288 Third now stands for $3 million. Obviously that didn't happen and now there are no empty lots left in the neighborhood for a park. I don't consider Estuary Park to be a neighborhood park.
3. Grocery store. Why did she just start contacting grocery stores during her campaign and not before then?
4. A better Jack London Square redevelopment plan. I've written about this at great length and my concern is that it will all be office space. She made lots of noise having supposed "issues", but still voted 5 minutes later in favor of the project without asking for it to be better.
5. Air quality testing.
Cater to West Oakland at the 100% cost of ignoring the rest of your district is because of race? No it isn't. At some point people down here pay taxes and don't feel that they're getting their monies worth. Obviously they thought that others would vote for them, so shame on them for not voting.
We have plenty of African-Americans, Asians, and even Latinos in our neighborhood, so please don't offend the Jack London District in saying that it's about race. Besides, a Council Member should represent their WHOLE district, not just one bit.
My goals for the next go-around?
1. Continuation of the Mixed-Use Parking Permit Plan. (it appears to be on shaky ground at the moment all because not enough people have signed up in the first month)
2. Grocery store. Work TOGETHER with JLS to get a grocery store in the area.
3. Dog park.
4. Webster Street Green. She mentioned this during the JLD District 3 Candidate Forum and I want people to hold her to it.
5. More neighborhood serving businesses in the District. Good luck with this one, because at this point I'm not planning on renewing my retail space lease in 2010.
Joanna Adler
Jack London Mail
Jack London News
10 years misses the last District Three council member Natalie Bayton. And upon reflection I think it's really hard for a man to win that council seat. It's been something like 20 years.
Personally, that's great and also a sign of the template for victory. The candidate that can beat Nancy is female, not male.