Late night local election results

In November 2006, I cried myself to sleep on election night. The next day, I was so despondent, I could barely bring myself to speak to my co-workers all day. When one of them finally cornered me and demanded I tell her what was wrong, all I could manage to say was “I’m upset about the election. I don’t want to talk about it.” She recoiled, then recovered, then whispered, in like, the most sympathetic tone imaginable, “Oh, V! You poor thing! I had no idea you were a Republican.” Read more

Endorsements, better late than never

So, regular readers will be happy to know that after a completely miserable week without it, I now have my computer back and working and I should be back to my regular daily blogging schedule tomorrow. There’s been a lot going on that I’ve wanted to write about and just haven’t gotten around to yet. And I figure people have been distracted with the election lately. Anyway, you will also be happy to know that I’ve secured myself a back-up computer so that this problem will hopefully not happen again, even if my lemon of a laptop fails me in the future. Also, I have received ample lectures about storing my drafts online from now on, and I promise I’m going to start. Read more

Rebecca Kaplan and Kerry Hamill at the JLDA forum

So on Monday I attended the Jack London District Association at-large candidate forum with Rebecca Kaplan and Kerry Hammill. Read more

Kerry Hamill talks to Phil Tagami on TagamiVision

If you missed the last interview with Kerry Hamill on TagamiVision, which debuted during the primary campaign, you can view it here. Now that the field for the at-large Council seat has narrowed to just Hamill and Rebecca Kaplan, it’s time for a new installment.

Watch below as Hamill explains the differences she sees between herself and Kaplan and shares her thoughts on the current City Council’s performance, Oakland’s crime problems, police deployment, youth services, gun control, former Mayor Elihu Harris, former Mayor Jerry Brown, and current Mayor Ron Dellums.

So…what do you guys think?

Clinton Killian v. Kerry Hamill v. Rebecca Kaplan v. Frank Rose v. Charles Pine: LWV At-Large Oakland City Council forum recap, Part 2

Continuing my recap of the at-large candidate forum. If you missed Part 1, check it out here.

Q: What will you do to provide Oakland’s children with nutrition and food so they can be healthy and stay in school?

Kerry Hamill said that the school district provides free breakfast and lunch to students who meet a certain threshold, and that every spring, the district tries to ensure that churches and other groups provide summer food programs. Frank Rose talked about the existing food programs at the East Oakland Boxing Association - they provide one meal a day to the kids they serve during the school year and three meals a day during the summer, they have a community food giveaway every two weeks for parents, they have an organic garden, they have a certified farmer’s market, and they bring the produce from the market to homebound seniors. He said that we need to publicize existing programs to get people to take advantage of them.

Clinton Killion said he would work with existing programs, and that there are many groups, like Covenant House, currently doing a good job, and that we need to ensure they have support. Charles Pine said that we need more officers to deal with truancy, and that if kids are in school, they’ll get a good meal instead of eating junk food. He also said that it’s not realistic to talk about nice programs when we don’t have clean government at City Hall, then complained about the delays in getting the 81st Avenue branch library built, and that we should do what we say we’re going to do before we talk about “all the nice little things.” Rebecca Kaplan said that nutrition impacts every aspect of our lives and that it is the responsbility of government to ensure healthy food is available. She said we need to work to bring grocery stores, farmer’s markets, and community gardens to neighborhoods that don’t have them, and that part of the reason Oakland has a high youth obesity rate is the lack of recreation programs and facilities, like ballparks and swimming pools.

V: Winner: Frank Rose. This was one of two questions where my viewing partners and I all picked the same winner. The whole time he was talking, I kept asking “Do they really do all that?.” It appears that they do. Good for them! That’s awesome. Rebecca Kaplan was also awesome. Read more

Clinton Killian v. Kerry Hamill v. Rebecca Kaplan v. Frank Rose v. Charles Pine: LWV At-Large Oakland City Council forum recap, Part 1

This debate was really hard to judge. With five candidates, recapping is going to be extra long, so I’m breaking this up into two pieces.

Opening Statements

Kerry Hamill went first. She said that during her 8 years serving on the school board, “I’ve had this wonderful opportunity to see people in Oakland partner with government and really transform their lives when they were willing, when government was friendly and accessible.” She said that she’s been working in government for 20 years, first for John Burton in the legislature, then later for former Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris, and for the past four years as a manager at BART.

Next, Frank Rose spoke, saying that he’s running because he cares about Oakland. He’s been in Oakland for 40 years, and worked as a volunteer for the last 13 years, working with NCPCs, home alert, weed & seed programs, the faith community, and other community organizations. He said that he’s worked in every area of Oakland, and that he’s the director of one non-profit and member of several others. “With a fully staffed office, doing what I’ve been doing as a volunteer for the past 13 years, I could really give you a great opportunity to have a first class Councilmember at-large.”

Clinton Killian said that we can use the resources we have to make Oakland a better city. He said he’s an attorney in downtown Oakland, and has previously served on the AC Transit board and the Planning Commission. “I want to see our city grow and reach the potential that everyone talks about but we’ve never fully achieved.”

Charles Pine said that Oakland is ranked the fourth most dangerous city in the country, and that Oakland has far too much crime (including “boom cars”). “All the major cities have 35 to 45 police for every 10,000 residents. Oakland has 18. 35 to 45. 18. We deserve the relative safety of an average American city.” He said we need at least 1100 officers, and that he will bring peaceful neighborhoods, basic services, and clean government.

Rebecca Kaplan said that we’re making a decision not just about June 3rd, but about what Oakland will look like 5 years from now. She said we need to move beyond having our city divided into people who think we are unsafe because we don’t have enough police, and people who feel unsafe because of the police, and that we should be able to hire trustworthy police and heal the rift. “I’m not only the youngest candidate, I’m also the one who spent the most time making public policy, but I’m also a bible teacher. And when asked to explain the entire scripture in one line, a great sage once said ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ And this too we can do in Oakland.”

V: Okay, this debate was so hard to judge. They were all really impressive. We’re lucky to have five strong candidates running for this seat, all of whom have demonstrated a wonderful level of dedication to this community. But since I’m picking winners, winner: Rebecca Kaplan. Her message was so hopeful and sweet! She was posed, assertive, and confident. In terms of stage presence, she was head and shoulders above everyone else in the room. Read more

O.M.G.! Chang and Hamill don’t file for at-large Council race!

So I was working on something else and couldn’t make it to the City Clerk’s office today to check out who filed for Council races (today was the deadline). But one of my correspondents just informed me that neither Henry Chang nor Kerry Hamill filed papers! OMG! Since the incumbent is not running, the at-large filing deadline is extended and Kerry Hamill still has a chance to submit her papers.

Anyway, that leaves Oakland Globe columnist, former AC Transit director, and former Planning Commissioner Clinton Killian, AC Transit director Rebecca Kaplan, and police staffing advocate Charles Pine as the contenders for the at-large Council seat.

Update: How handy. The Chronicle confirmed it for me. Although I heard there was a fifth person in the District 3 race, who isn’t mentioned in the Chronicle. Someone named Alan Brown?

Update again: She filed.