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The Oakland Mayor's Race is not without its share of groups who think they can influence the race by excluding certain candidates. The Oakland SEIU 1021 Union Organization is just one of them. As this is written, the Oakland SEIU 1021 is about to hold its interviews of candidates for the Oakland Mayor's Race. From many conversations held Tuesday, it appears the SEIU finally got its act together and contacted all of the candidates, instead of just three: Former State Senator Don Perata, and Oakland Councilmembers Jean Quan and Rebecca Kaplan (District Four and At-Large, respectively.) Now, from the information communicated to this blogger, the SEIU's talking to more than just the three, although as of this writing the Joe Tuman for Mayor campaign was left out of the SEIU process. UPDATE: a text from the Joe Tuman Campaign explains that after "several phone calls" they were invited for later tonight. In all, it was an awful state of affairs punctuated b...

Libby Schaaf , who's constant attention to detail and hard work ethic has earned her California Attorney General Jerry Brown's endorsement, officially filed her paper work to run for the Oakland City Council District Four Seat on Tuesday. Even before Libby filed the papers, she managed to raise over $76,000. This space supports Libby Schaaf for City Council District Four Seat. The question is, did the other candidates file their papers?  If not, then the field of challengers will have been reduced and we will know who the competitors finally are.

Dr. Terrance Candell calls out other candidates  As of this writing, the latest news in the Oakland Mayor's Race has Oakland Councilmember and Oakland Mayor's Race Candidate Rebecca Kaplan filing her papers to run for the office as this is written, as has Greg Harland, Don Macleay, and Joe Tuman, and with Former State Senator Don Perata and Oakland Councilmember Jean Quan set to file their papers on Wednesday. As of this writing, it's not confirmed if Orlando Johnson secured the necessary 100 signatures needed to complete his filing documents by Wednesday.  Larry Lionel Young, Jr., has also filed early, but has made himself a relative unknown save for a YouTube video of a house he's trying to sell and a handout at the last Oakland Mayor's Race Candidate's Forum. Kaplan issues a statement Kaplan, who this blogger interviewed last week , with two other videos from that to come, issued this statement today: "Oakland is ready for a new direction and ...

Last week, Friday morning, Oakland Councilmember (At-Large) and Oakland Mayor's Race candidate Rebecca Kaplan met this video-blogger at an appropriately Oakland location, The Merritt Cafe and Bakery. There, we were warmly greeted by Merritt Bakery Owner Charles Griffith, and sat down to a brunch of excellent chicken and waffles for Kaplan, and eggs, corned beef and hash for this video-blogger. Image by spotreporting via Flickr Rebecca Kaplan at The Oscar Grant Protest This is not the full blog about the interview, but an introduction. Kaplan and I talked about the issue of earlier this year and got that out of the way off camera. On camera, we talked about the impact of the Federal Court decision to declare Proposition 8 (or Prop 8) unconstitutional, Kaplan's take on Oakland's police cost problem, how the Oakland Mayor's Race was going for her, and how she would handle a range of issues if she was elected Mayor of Oakland. Thus far, Oakland Mayor...

New Style Motherlode Dance Studio , the creation of Skyline High School graduate Corey Action and Teela Shine-Ross, produces this must-see Hip Hop dance event on August 14th at 6:30 PM at Oakland Metro, 630 3rd Street, Oakland, CA. It's called HEAT, and the show raises money for the kids dance programs at the New Style Motherlode Dance Studio at 5451 College Ave (between Kales Ave & Taft Ave). Amy Larson, a Skyline High classmate of this blogger, talks about the upcoming New Style Motherlode show: New Style Motherlode Dance Studio has received great reviews on Yelp . Here's a sample of them: Stephanie H. - I've known Corey and Teela since way back when they taught at the then Alice Arts Center and they've really created an amazing dance studio and following! Pretty much every single class is taught by a kick ass instructor that really has the chops to teach. There is nothing worse then going to a dance class feeling like you know more then the teacher...

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums brought a sad and historic end to his four years as Mayor of Oakland yesterday. Not just because he elected to avoid running for reelection as Mayor, but the way he did it.  This blogger  predicted he would run and this blogger was way wrong. Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums became the first mayor in Oakland's history to not seek a second four-year term. And word of this travelled fast, as this blogger received several text messages and emails on Wednesday (my birthday), including a really nasty one from a person who was told to avoid contact with this blogger. (And if he persists, you will read about him in this space.) But yes, you read that correctly: Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums became the first mayor in Oakland's history to not seek a second four-year term. Since 1953, when Oakland's Mayor began serving a four-year term , every Oakland mayor has held the office longer than four years, except Ron Dellums: John C. Houlihan - 1961-1966 (Resigned...

Jenn Pae District 2 Oakland City Councilperson Pat Kernighan officially has a competitor in the race for her Oakland City Council District 2 seat: Jennifer Pae. The 28-year-old Korean American has amassed over $36,000 in donations from 300 people as of this writing. Jennifer Pae's also launched a new website at JenniferPae.com , but who's Jenn Pae? This blogger personally knows Jenn Pae. She's person who has been heavily involved in various Oakland political and community efforts, and is a member of the Oakland Community Policing Advisory Board. Jennifer is one of those new Oakland young women who, like Frieda Edgette of the East Bay Young Democrats, is very popular and has pockets of friends and associates in disparate groups that she can call on for support and direction. "We need to invest in Oakland by bringing fresh solutions, a bold vision, and new leadership into City Hall," says Pae in her press release. "We need to make fiscally and ...