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This is old news, but timeless in the way Robert Gammon tells it. Oakland Councilmember Larry Reid's lost attempt to gain Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums more City Council power is beautifully told here. But Larry's past and blind support of Oakland Council President Ignacio De La Fuente may have hurt him, here. In a way, it reminds me of when Larry voted with Ignacio toward an "action of no action" on the Super Bowl Bid, and even though he was Chairman of the Super Bowl Bid Committee. I was told he did so because he believed he was going to get a key committee chair position from Ignacio, and then it never happened. Behind the Fracas at Dellums' Inaugural When Larry Reid moved to unseat council president Ignacio De La Fuente, he bet that the new mayor would jump at the chance to control the Oakland City Council. He bet wrong. By Robert Gammon - East Bay Express Published: January 24, 2007 Ron Dellums passed on a chance to seize control of city hall just hours befor...

I attended the annual Fox Sports Network Baseball Luncheon -- held the first Thursday after the Super Bowl -- last week. In attendance were Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and sitting at the same table with Oakland A's Owners Lew Wolff and Jon Fisher, as well as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, San Francisco Giants heads Peter McGowan and Larry Baer, and Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. After the event -- videos from it will be on various blogs in the SBS network including this one -- I asked Wolff how the Fremont efforrt was going. He gave me a sincerely tense look and said "We've got a long way to go." And he emphasized "long." I think Lew's going to discover that the wheels of goverment in the Bay Area turn slowly. This fact and Lew's frustration with Fremont could work in Oakland's favor -- if Oakland does something.