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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

On Friday, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums will announce his intentions regarding running for a second term as Mayor of Oakland. Will he or won't he? Frankly, the simple fact he's waited until the last possible day says that he's going to run for reelection. That's the solid prediction here. Moreover, the Joe Tuman for Mayor Campaign seems to know this, as they're working to make sure you know Joe's your other choice for Oakland's next mayor. I conducted two interviews with Tuman, but one of them, the long one, was done on a new HD camera I'm having tech issues with, and so there's the delay. Fortunately, I'm camcorder-rich now, but it's the high dollar ones that always give you the headache. A bigger headache is the Oakland Mayor's race. The Tuman campaign wants me to post that interview - a good one - on Friday, and just to let you know Joe's out there.  Problem is the video won't be ready by then.    But Oaklanders know

On Friday, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums will announce his intentions regarding running for a second term as Mayor of Oakland. Will he or won't he. Frankly, the simple fact he's waited until the last possible day says that he's going to run for reelection. That's the solid prediction here. Moreover, the Joe Tuman for Mayor Campaign seems to know this, as they're working to make sure you know Joe's your other choice for Oakland's next mayor. I conducted two interviews with Tuman, but one of them, the long one, was done on a new HD camera I'm having tech issues with, and so there's the delay. Fortunately, I'm camcorder-rich now, but it's the high dollar ones that always give you the headache. A bigger headache is the Oakland Mayor's race. The Tuman campaign wants me to post that interview - a good one - on Friday, and just to let you know Joe's out there.  Problem is the video won't be ready by then.    But Oaklanders know J

According to The Hartford Courant in Hartford, Connecticut, Omar Thornton, who faced disciplinary action at Hartford Distributors, Inc., opened fire and killed what is now said to be nine people in Manchester, Connecticut, then was shot by police. Earlier reports were that Omar Thornton shot himself; he did not. It was called a "cop shooting" because Omar Thornton did not put his gun down, so police opened fire. According to Fox CT News video on the Hartford Courant page , and via the mother of a woman, Kristi Hannah, who dated him for eight months, the shooter, 34-year old Omar Thornton, who's African American, complained of racism to his employers, but they did nothing. John Hollis, a Teamsters Union official said that Omar Thornton, who was a driver with Hartford Distributors, was a "discipline problem" and the union was bringing Thornton in to "remedy" the problem. Thornton shot a number of people, and as of this writing, it's not

On Saturday, this space reported that the Oakland Lakeshore / Lake Park campaign office for Meg Whitman, the former eBay Chairman and CEO running for California Governor against Jerry Brown, had a warning sign "surveillance" sign in not one but three places on the front window, and that the word "surveillance" was misspelled. It looked like Meg Whitman was expressing how afraid she was of Oakland. Here's the Meg Whitman Oakland Office video : Well, as of Sunday, the Meg Whitman campaign reps came in and took down the signs. However the action doesn't erase the fact that they did it. The office has to go beyond just taking down the signs, they have to embrace the Oakland neighborhood they're in. That means being more open and not just hiding behind a card table. Stay tuned.

In the "now we've seen everything" department, we have former eBay Chairman and CEO Meg Whitman, running for California Governor against Jerry Brown, opening a campaign office in Oakland that shows she and her staff are passive-agressive in their approach to this heavily minority city. The Meg Whitman Oakland campaign office, located near the intersection of Lakeshore and Lake Park and not far from Lake Merritt, is staffed by two young white men; I've not seen anyone of color as of this writing. The gentlemen are nice, but very careful in their communications, almost neurotically so. This reflects Meg Whitman's message to Oaklanders, but even more so is a sign that is placed in three parts of the large bay window. It reads: "SMILE. YOU'RE ON CANDID CAMERA! 24-HOUR VIDEO SURVELLAINCE" Yep. They misspelled "surveillance." So, not only is Meg Whitman afraid of Oakland, she's so fearful she can't even spell "su

OK, Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin just can't resist putting her foot in her mouth regarding President Obama. She should just admit he's doing a great job and she's got the hots for him. Instead, Palin, who's known for creating new words like "refudiate," had to talk before she realized where she was. According to The Huffington Post , Palin said Obama had no time to be at the U.S. Mexico boarder but was on ABC's The View instead . Now, was Sarah Palin at the U.S. Mexico boarder ? No. She was in Alaska. Alaska. Great. I guess Sarah Palin's going to tell us she can see the U.S. Mexico boarder from her window, right? If Palin were serious, she'd have made her statement from, yep, the U.S. Mexico boarder, but its too late for that. Anyway, going down there is the political kiss of death for any elected official or person running for office. If Sarah Palin is, well, frankly, stupid enough to go down there, she can kiss any idea

Children's Fairyland and Don Macleay in the Oakland Mayor's Race, have urgent announcements in today's Oakland news. Don Macleay, the Green Party candidate running for for Mayor of Oakland, sent out this email for 100 signatures he needs from you this Saturday: Nomination signatures needed. Sat. July 31 10AM Friends, For the campaign to take the next step I need 100 Oakland voters to sign for me. We are collecting signatures all this week. You can contact me, Jan, Greg or Michael. To make it easy we are going to meet at Cafe Dejena on Saturday July 31st at 10 AM. It is at 3939 MLK corner of 40th right near the MacArthur BART EASY to get to on bike, foot and car and easy to park. http://www.cafedejena.com We will have nomination petitions to sign and voter registration cards if you need them. And, now is a good time to donate because the campaign is now finally officially under way. http://macleay4mayor.org/donate.html Don Macleay Children's F

Wow. American Idol is in a state of chaos: J-Lo, Jennifer Lopez, is in as a judge; Kara DioGuardi was fired as a judge, and Ellen DeGeneres quit from being a judge after just one season, and less than a year. Now, according to TMZ, it's Randy Jackson, Jennifer Lopez, and Steven Tyler as the three-judge panel. Still, American Idol' s not the same without Simon Cowell; then again, it's ratings were tanking with Simon Cowell. I said "YEAH" when I first got the word Simon was leaving , and I stand by that. Sometimes the dude could be just plain mean. OK, people got a kick out of it and watched, but eventually they tired of his act. Now, American Idol' s real problem is that there are too many freaking American Idol -type shows. The formula has been over saturated. Think about it. We have Britain's Got Talent , America's Got Talent , So You Think You Can Dance , Dancing With The Stars , and a few shows I've left out of my memory. And t

Montana Fishburne, the daughter of famed actor, Laurence Fishburne, is certainly making her dad an unhappy camper as she's now called "Chippy D" and is a porn star. According to MissJia.com via TMZ.com, Montana Fishburne thanks her hotness Kim Kardashian for the idea. She says it was Kim Kardashian's sex tape that gave her inspiration. Laurence Fishburne is the famous TV and movie actor best known for playing Mobius in the Matrix film series. But what was going on at home? 19-year-old Montana Fishburne told the site CarltonJordan.com that she had a lot of at-home experience in playing a porn actress. Uh...what? No word on what Laurence Fishburne thinks about all of this, yet. And according to her Twitter account, Kim Kardashian's too busy grinding with Dallas Cowboys Wide Receiver Miles Austin to even care: time to shine ;-) RT @MilesAustiniii -@kimkardashian rise and grind. ;) about 24 hours ago via web Stay tuned.

What's interesting to learn about Bay Area venture capital firms, and on the heels of Thursday's TechCrunch Summer Party hosted by August Capital , is that not every one focuses on the United States. In the case of Tano Capital, the San Mateo, California investment firm founded by Charles E. Johnson, the former President of Franklin Templeton investments, who's its managing director , has its investment interests primarily in India and China. The firm, established in 2007, started with a few small investments, but then ramped up its activity considerably in 2009. It started with an investment in AltoBeam Technology, a China-based designer of digital TV chipsets. Then Tano placed $2.2 million in TongXue.com , a Chinese-based social network, that's become one of the 50,000 largest websites in the World (and with a really cool animated activity map). In 2010, Tano Capital's activity increased, to the point that it has now as many deals in play as it did in al

According to Bob Egelko and Henry K. Lee of the San Francisco Chronicle , the man who terrorized Oakland (causing Adams Point residents to take to online chat rooms about the helicopter and shooting noise) was a parolee named Byron Williams who hated left-wing politicians and had on a bullet-proof vest.  In other words, a Tea Party sympathizer. That he was on the Oakland stretch of 1-580 may have been no accident, considering Oakland's a hot bed of left-wing political activity. Byron Williams also reads like a Tea Party sympathizer, and not exactly the warm and fuzzy kind. More like the kind that wants to harm you if you disagree with him. Rush Limbaugh's a Tea Party hero Is this what we're coming too? A Northern California man who's mother says was upset by "the way Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items." Another Tea Party-type nut? Doesn't that sound something like Joe Stack , the man who flew his plane into the

In many ways, Dr. Terrance Candell is a lot like fellow Oaklander Urban Farmer Novella Carpenter , the author of Farm City . Both are energetic, intelligent, engaging, passionate, caring, and committed to Oakland. Both also have facilities they started from scratch: Novella her urban farm and for Dr. Candell, Candell's College Preparatory Academy . The main difference, other than he being black and male, and she being white and female, is that Dr. Candell's running for Mayor of Oakland. Dr. Terrance Candell PhD This blogger visited Dr. Candell at Candell's College Preparatory Academy in East Oakland, right across the street from Eastmont Mall and at 2544 73rd Street. What was great about the talk, as evidenced by the video, was to what high degree Dr. Candell cares about his students and already is the Mayor of East Oakland. In our talk, he hugs his students and even got all over one who dared to jaywalk across 73rd street. He wants to transfer that level of

Urban farming is fast catching on as an alternative to shopping in overpriced food stores and worrying about how to feed a family on a challenged budget in a bad economy. Oakland, California has become the San Francisco East Bay Area's center of the urban farming movement. All of this was evident at the City Slickers June fundraiser held at St. Paul's Church near Lake Merritt. Why wait this long to blog about the event? Because everything about the Oakland urban farming effort, from City Slickers and the people involved in it, to the work of Oaklander Novella Carpenter, City Slickers Founder Willow Rosenthal and her friend Laura Pivas and, it's board members including Kelli Saturno, Barbara Lafeete - Olawale and Interim Executive Director Barbara Finnin . And others not in the West Oakland food organization, but an influence on the movement, like UC Berkeley Professor and Activist Michael Pollan (who Rosenthal and Carpenter describe as a "hero"