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More at Zennie62.com | Follow me on Twitter! | Get my widget! According to Matier and Ross in the SF Chronicle , former Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly's suing the City of Oakland for unlawful termination (They used the term "unfair" but it's "unlawful").  At any rate, it was an expected action given the way she was let go and the kind of statements made about her before the action took place.  I wrote then that a defamation of character lawsuit would have been appropriate , but Edgerly apparently feels she was wrongfully terminated.  Again, Edgerly's way of protecting family and favorites caught up to her, that's certain.  But, and I state this again, Edgerly was put on the chopping block for actions that are common in the City of Oakland. I wrote a while back - stating that SF Chronicle Columnist Chip Johnson was right about Oakland favoritism - and will continue to assert this: Don't think that favoritism starts with Deb

I have received information from a very good source that former Oakland City Manager, Robert Bobb, who's currently serving as a consultant to the City of Oakland on administration matters in the wake of the firing of City Administrator Deborah Edgerly, wants $350,000 to come back to Oakland as City Administrator. The trouble is, the City of Oakland does not want to spend that kind of money in the face of a reported $40 million deficit and a record-setting recession. Bobb will have to substantially reduce his "ask" if he wants the job.   Apparently, that salary matter is the big delay in Mayor Ron Dellums ability to secure the popular public official as the next city administrator.  

I've not yet confirmed this with Robert Bobb himself, but two sources have explained to me today that former Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb has resigned from his position as a consultant with  Public Financial Management Inc.  -- the assertion from one source is that he did so to become Oakland's next City Administrator, replacing former City Adminstrator Debra Edgerly, who was fired in July of this year.   Bobb has been going back and forth, in and out of Oakland as part of a consulting engagement that saw the public service veteran analyze various aspects of Oakland management and operations in an effort to determine why the government's not working as it should and why service delivery has been so poor.   The possibility of Bobb's return was a focus on a recent debate between the two At Large City Council candidates Rebecca Kaplan and Kerry Hamill.  Both were rather lukewarm to the idea of his possible return, with Hamill more along the commentary of "I

In the ongoing drama that is Oaklsnd City Hall, we have the old news that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is now taking a look -- a deep look -- at charges of nepotism and favoritism at Oakland City Hall. If you want to see the supoena sent to City Attorney John Russo, click here. But I'm not surprised because about two months ago or so the Chronicle's Chip Johnson himself said to me that he thought the FBI should be involved in this matter. That was a long time before his article came out , but the FBI seems to follow the path set by Johnson, who was not quiet or secretive of his dislike for now-Former Oakland City Administrator Edgerly's approach. That I now state publicly has bothered me because it came to a point where I could not tell if Chip's work was personal or professional. I suppose the best columnists do their most outstanding work angry, but there were times I belived it was a little much. Still, the end result -- a total analysis of w

In yet another example of piling on, we have the California Report comparing Oakland's governance to a Keystone Cops movie. I'm not sure I'd go that far at all. But 30-year Sacramento veteran and former speaker Willie Brown staffer Bill Cavala -- who has a haircut right from a Keystone Cops movie -- thinks so. In the California Report, Cavala writes: “Cronyism” is one the charges made about virtually all elected officials. Unlike most work, political activity engenders opponents, those that would like you or your allies out of political office and replaced by themselves or their allies. To protect yourself from those opponents, politicians seek what others find in privacy in the company of people they trust. “Loyalty”, a political virtue, really means trustworthy under pressure. So when picking subordinates or employees, those of us in the political world add “loyalty” to the list of attributes we look for – along with skills, intelligence, judgment that everyone looks

To provide another example of the non-systemic, biased, and arbitrary nature of the establishment and application of laws in Oakland, I present our own Oakland City Charter . The Charter reads: Section 1212. Gender References. All gender references in this Charter shall be considered neutral in form and context. (Amended by: Stats. November 1988.) Right? Well, look at this: Section 504. Duties. The City Administrator shall have the power and it shall be his duty: (a) To execute and enforce all laws and ordinances and policies of the Council and to administer the affairs of the City. (b) To attend all meetings of the Council, and its committees, unless excused, and such meetings of boards and commissions as he chooses or which he is directed to attend by the Council, and to participate in discussions at such meetings. (c) To recommend to the Council such measures and ordinances as he may deem necessary or expedient and to make such other recommendations to the Council concerning

I'm sure where this is headed -- court -- but for now, the mortar shells keep firing. Assistant City Administrator Cheryl Thompson -- Deborah Edgerly's Number Two -- was fired today in what seems to be Mayor Ron Dellums' Summer Massacre. The other problem is that Cheryl Thompson was supposedly promissed a severance package by Edgerly. Oakland City Attorney John Russo and Dellums Chief of Staff David Chai assert that Cheryl Thompson was not to receive a five-month's pay severance package that Cheryl Thompson says was promised to her by Edgerly. Russo told the Oakland Tribune that "Our position is, 'Where's this employment agreement in 2004 that you're mentioning?'" Russo said. "Does it exist? Without a written agreement, it's not even possible for us to even consider it." But here's the potential problem: if Edgerly and Thompson assert that there was a verbal agreement, then Russo or anyone else can't say it's n