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Excerpt from Feb 10, 2002
Oakland
City Council, District Four
Jean Quan
In the complicated four-way race to represent Oakland's most
conservative district, Jean Quan is the clear choice. Quan has
served 11 years on the city school board and is well known for her
thorough, hardworking approach. She's ruffled a few feathers in her
time, but she's also known to scour budgets and read the fine print.
And Quan has made a habit of monitoring state and federal
legislation and involving herself in important policy battles.
Quan told us she'd be a
full-time council member, committed to improving neighborhood
services, strengthening support for Oakland schools, and doing more
to increase affordable housing. Quan was lukewarm on just-cause
eviction, saying that she needs more time to examine the options,
and she didn't seem to have concrete ideas about improving police
oversight or handling the energy crisis. Still, she's probably the
most liberal person this district might elect, and she's got the
drive to be an effective council member.
None of the other
candidates have much to offer. David Stein is a development attorney
who should worry East Bay progressives. He told us that he didn't
think renters needed further protection against unfair evictions,
and he spoke of development in an untempered, glowing manner.
Small-business owner Nedir Bey said some compelling things about
community empowerment, but he needs more public policy experience.
Melanie Sweeney-Griffith is a Democratic Party insider who seemed
too detached from some of the real, pressing problems Oakland
residents face; she was more interested in talking about parking
troubles for Montclair shoppers than about the city's housing
crisis. Vote for Jean Quan.
Measure F
Raising Oakland council member salaries
YES Council members in Oakland shouldn't
go complaining about their salaries to their compatriots on the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors. The S.F. supervisors (who serve on
our equivalent of a city council) only earn $37,585 annually, while
Oakland council members already make about $60,000 a year. Still,
the 10 percent raise proposed in this measure is a good idea. When
city leaders aren't paid enough, they tend to hang on to their
private sector jobs. This sets the stage for potential conflicts of
interest (like for real estate attorney David Stein, who's running
for a council seat and says he will retain some of his private
clients). And it breeds mistrust in the system – as one community
activist put it, "if you raise it to a workable salary, then
they stop doing dirty consulting jobs."
This would be the
council's first raise since 1997, and it would only cost the city a
total of $61,000, according to the city auditor. Oakland ought to
ban all outside employment for city council members and pay them
enough to make the job full-time, but this is a start. Vote Yes.
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