-----Original Message----- From: Hank Sims <sims at mail.cwia.com> To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
> Those of us who see Brown as a bush-league demagogue will be
>gratified to hear that he's now pushing a petition around Oakland
>that will give him veto power over city council actions and
>direct control over the city manger's office. Apparently, Brown's
>big electoral mandate has emboldened him into making this big power
>grab.
As an Oakland resident, I don't particularly like Jerry Brown and supported the candidate backed by most local labor leaders (who received all of 5% of the vote). Considering that I thought Brown couldn't win originally, the excitement around Brown does show, however, how thirsty the city is for someone to bring some positive attention to Oakland.
It is a bizarre compliment for Brown to go from being Governor to choosing Oakland as his political destination. He says he sees great potential in Oakland (which I agree with him on) and coming from an "outsider" makes the compliment that much stronger. In a weird way, Brown's carpet-bagging is a positive for a lot of people for this reason.
As for Brown's "power grab", he is asking for mayoral power much like most other larger cities in the country. And one of the reasons Brown won was that the clubby atmosphere of the Oakland City Council and County supervisors led to the disasterous deal with the Oakland Raiders that has cost the city and county tens of millions of dollars (the reason both traditional politicians in the race got creamed in the election). A strong mayor would create greater accountability, which is what a lot of folks are looking for.
I don't necessarily have great hope in Brown but I am impressed by the energy unleashed by his campaign and it is that energy that could do some good. Brown has some good folks around his campaign and if even a few of them get jobs in the top of city government, those folks will make a big difference in the city.
Oakland has great talent in its community and is a rather nice city that could be so much better. That is the frustration of many residents and Brown tapped into that. I wish him the best, despite his shallowness and demagoguery. Hopefully his administration will be far more than the sum of Brown himself.
--Nathan Newman