Oakland Focus News | Oakland News Online Blog

[Aimee Allison] Mayor Dellums is finally using his city-chartered right to break a council tie by casting a vote for his appointee Michael Lighty to the Port Commission. The Mayor, who recently brokered a deal with port truckers and the state over tighter emissions regulations, is finally playing his hand at strong mayor. The Port Commission is one of the most powerful groups in city politics, and plays a key role in approving development project like the BART extension and housing, environmental fights as in the ongoing stand-off between truckers and the port, and jobs - as in whether local people are going to get the 6,000 jobs that will be created by the project at the old army base. More from Sanjiv Handa, East Bay News Service: Mayor Ron Dellums is still planning on attending the Oakland City Council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 19, to cast the tie-breaking vote approving the nomination of Michael Lighty to the Board of Commissioners of the Port of Oakland.It has been so long since a may...

More at EBX : “Robert Bobb should have been Oakland's new city administrator. He was easily the most qualified candidate, and was Mayor Ron Dellums' first choice. Last month, the two men were talking salary and benefits, as they closed in on a deal to bring Bobb back to the East Bay. But then Oakland's respected former city manager changed his mind, and decided to take over the financially troubled Detroit public school system. What happened? According to knowledgeable sources, there were several reasons for why Bobb decided to turn down Dellums, and one of them had to do with Oakland's other "mayor" — Cynthia Dellums.” -- Look, this source is none other than Oakland's leading City Hall Gossip Authority Sanjiv Handa. I know this because Gammon doesn't normally pop-out with articles like this, and the only person who has the level of detail Gammon presents is Sanjiv. Period. As to the story itself, it's true. The way the Mayor's Office is r...