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I just read Jerry Brown's new website "Jerry Brown for Attorney General" with its slick flash intro, basic color scheme, and telling text. Of the 1,245 words, only 206 -- or 16.5 percent -- concern his tenure as Mayor of Oakland. By contrast, many of his other highlights -- meeting with Cezar Chavez, for example, occured while he was Governor of California or running for President, and thus scoring 614 words of space. The remainder covers his marriage to Ann Gust, his first political campaign, his time at Seminary and his current Attorney General endorsements. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Oakland was just a vehicle for the reformation of Jerry Brown's political image. He didn't care about Oakland except from that perspective. He did this to achieve another objective, but not because he cared about Oakland. It's too bad for Oakland and for Jerry. The public -- which insists on being stupid -- is blinded by a polyanic view of a Jerr

This is another terrible article from Paul T. Rosynsky. He never does his homework. If he did, he'd have mentioned that one can get tickets through SBS by just clicking on the title of this post. But instead he goes and talks to SMG's Mark Kaufmann, who makes the ridicious statement that "this is more popular than the Super Bowl." Right Mark. That's only because you couldn't go to the Super Bowl. That's SMG for you, always out to keep the Coliseum Authority in medocrity. ....Super Bowl tickets were going for almost $3,000 in the open market, versus have that for the NCAA March games. March Madness is sold out The only way to see popular college basketball tournament at Oakland Arena is on television (BS - Zennie) By Paul T. Rosynsky, STAFF WRITER, Oakland Tribune OAKLAND — March Madness is coming to the Oakland Arena next month but the only way to see the popular mens' college basketball tournament is to watch it on the television. The event, wh

I attended an interesting political function at The Parkway Theater. Oakland City Attorney John Russo and former San Francisco Supervisor Matt Gonsalez hosted a presentation of the famous movie "Inherit The Wind." Prior to the movie, the two staged a kind of town hall meeting. Overall the event was a success and the movie was remarkable, even if it's not a true rendition of the events surrounding the "Scopes Trial." I have found that events with a twist like this one work to get people to political functions. It seems that people in Oakland -- this new group -- aren't as interested in politics as the Oaklanders of 13 years ago, when I was writing for the Montclarion. I don't know why this is, but my guess is it's a combination of the Internet, and the need to work more than one job just to make ends meet.

This item is from the Oakland Post, with a link to the article The 100,000-member Alameda Labor Council Wednesday announced its endorsement of former Congressman and Mayoral candidate Ron Dellums on the steps of Oakland City Hall. More than 100 rank and file union members interviewed candidates for Mayor and City Council on January 30. Their recommendations were reviewed and voted on by the Executive Committee and Delegate Assembly. "Working people in Oakland want opportunity and inclusion," said Sharon Cornu, Executive Secretary Treasurer. "Oakland voters are fortunate to have many good choices on the June ballot. Our unions have worked closely with all the candidates and have benefited from their leadership. But Ron Dellums offers new hope and vision for our members, working families and communities." Dellums will keynote the Council's Annual Awards Dinner on March 23 at the Oakland Airport Hilton. The Council represents 130 local unions, including public

It seems that those who back Ignacio don't do so because they really think he can move Oakland forward, but because he can move them ahead -- at the expense of others. Take the matter of those billboards up around town that show De La Fuente's face. They weren't paid for by his campaign at all, but by Clear Channel, and as a payback for being able to maintain hundreds of billboards around town -- at the ire of some who consider them either an eyesore, or promoting vices like drinking in poor and minority areas. Former Oakland Tribune and now East Bay Express writer Robert Gammon exposed this problem of influence peddling last year, but it got no repeat print. Well, here it is again, both below and in the title post link. It's a good read. The world's largest billboard company, in tandem with the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, is exploiting a loophole in state campaign finance law to help Ignacio De La Fuente become Oakland's next mayor. Over the past year,

This photo -- from the Oakland Post -- tells it all. District 6 Councilmember Delsy Brooks points an accusatory finger at Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown during a recently-held town hall meeting. The full story is at The Oakland Post, and the article can be seen with a click on the title of this post. This may explain why Jerry's seeking residence in San Francisco's Pacific Heights. Too bad. I think staying in Oakland will do wonders for his campaign.

Here's an excerpt, but click the title of this post to read the full article.: Oakland City Attorney John Russo said communities of color were very much a part of two issues his office handled lately: liability insurance rates tied to zip codes, and the city's agreement with Caltrans to remove blight. Russo said he supports a plan by Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi to ask insurance companies to stop relying on where persons live when rates are set for policies. And, he said, it took the city filing a lawsuit to get Caltrans to step up and agree to clean up its properties many of which were in minority communities in East and West Oakland. Dressed in a white shirt, blue slacks and sneakers, Russo was playing Dad as his two small sons played a Madden video game football in his City Hall office where there's a photo of Martin Luther King Jr. on a wall and a small figurine of another one of Russo's heroes: former New York Knicks star Willis Reed. A native of Brooklyn,

This is Oakland Focus' early endorsement for the Oakland Mayors' Race and the California Government Assembly contest. Ron Dellums is not only an Oakland legend, but the person least warped by Oakland's internal politics. Thus, he can't be influnced by greedy developers who say they can build a structure without public subsidy just to get city approval, then come back and say "We need public money" after they've gotten the contractual "go-ahead" they begged for. So when you hear some Oaklander say that with Dellums "Everyone's hand will be out asking for something" just say "Well, doesn't Ignacio De La Fuente have his hand out to get donations from developers? Didn't De La Fuente try to use city money to purchase the 'black church vote?' And if so, is that action just a reminder of how some of his supporters may see Oakland's African American community? As just having it's hand out?" Don't

According to a good source, Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown has been looking for a home in San Francisco's Pacific Heights for "The better part of the last year," this person reported. "Oakland's served its' purpose (for Mayor Brown)," they said. This confirms the beliefs of some observers of the Oakland poltical scene who -- as far back as 1994, when Brown moved into his warehouse home on 2nd and Harrison in Oakland's Jack London Square -- said "He's just here to run for mayor and remake his image." (In 2004, Brown moved to a loft home in a converted Sears Department store off Oakland's Telegraph Avenue.) Jerry himself touted the move as signaling that he's "ready for community." In a speech given at International Transpersonal Association Conference, Santa Clara, California, on June 10, 1995, Brown was recorded as saying "As our lives are commodified, we go further away from the essence -- which is inside, which i

These blog entries are from Oakland kids between 15 and 16 years old, and written very recently. It gives a great view to how Oakland's young people look at its politics, who can make a difference, and why. JJovan Parnam,
YO! Youth Outlook, Nov 04, 2005 It would make a big difference if the new mayor of Oakland is either African American or Latino because they might understand where our people are coming from, how our situation is. I live in Oakland on 35th and Foothill aka 'Tha Dirty Thirties." My neighborhood is like a mini Mexico because a lot of Latinos live there and all the Mexican stores are out there too. There's only a few Asians on my block, only four houses are owned by blacks -- the rest is Latino. Since I live in a diverse neighborhood I know a lot of different people. One of my Latino friends I kick it with is Ernesto, 15, he lives on the same block that I do. I met him outside when I was little because I used to go outside and play, and he did too. One

Yep! This website reports that: "Oaklanders have recently been rediscovering one of Oakland’s earliest Chinatowns was actually along San Pablo Avenue. Does your family have any stories from this old Uptown Chinatown? So far we've found names from the 1870 and 1880 census of Upper Chinatown residents, and names of the major property holders next to or in the Chinatowns. The 1880 census also provides the names of men who ran a laundry near the corner of 19th and San Pablo. Do you have memories or photos related to any of the names below?" Go to http://www.uptownchinatown.org to enter any information or stories you have.

Wonder who your councilmembers are? Looking to make a call? Want to point a finger? Here you go! Oakland City Hall Council Chambers designed by Michael Willis Architects Mailing address: #1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, City Council 2nd Floor, Oakland, CA 94612 Order of information: Councilmember District Telephone (510) Jane Brunner 1 238-7001 jbrunner@oaklandnet.com Fax: 238-6910 Pat Kernighan 2 238-7002 pkernighan@oaklandnet.com Fax: 238-2296 Nancy J. Nadel 3 238-7003 nnadel@oaklandnet.com Fax: 23-6129 Jean Quan 4 238-7004 jquan@oaklandnet.com Fax: 238-6129 Ignacio DeLa Fuente 5 238-7005 idelafuente@oaklandnet.com Fax: 238-6910 Desley Brooks 6 238-7006 dbrooks@oaklandnet.com Fax: 238-6910 Larry Reid 7 238-7007 lreid@oaklandnet.com Fax: 986-2735 Henry Chang Jr. (at large) 238-7008 cityochang@aol.com Fax: 238-6938

From the Rockridge News and by Claire Isaacs Wahrhaftig I saw this article, and thought I'd grab a part of it...read on just for FYI. The rest is at Rockridge News It’s all Gravy’s fault. For three years this kitty with the tinkling name tag has been prowling my home and purring my lap. The grey furball has attached himself to me like Velcro in the absence of his master, my neighbor. But Gravy turned out to be my own personal gravy train, a ticket to the stars. Actually, Gravy’s master IS a star. He is Mike Dirnt, bass guitar player for the numero uno rock group, “Oakland’s own” Green Day. From garage group to Grammy Rock Album and Rock Single of the year to eight MTV awards, Green Day is on top these days. I’ve never actually met my neighbor Mike. My beloved late husband Bill once described him as “tatooed, punctured, thin, polite, and quiet, really quite nice.”