Progressives Anxious – But Hopeful -- About Dellums

by Paul Hogarth, 2007-01-08

Former Congressman Ron Dellums will be sworn in today as the new Mayor of Oakland at 11:00 a.m. at a Public Inaugural Ceremony at the Paramount Theater. The event is free and open to the public, but get there early because it will be packed. For progressive activists, it’s an exhilarating day after fighting for years in the political wilderness – as the city faces the triple challenges of gentrification, unemployment and a high crime rate.

Eight years ago, many of these same people were excited about another new Mayor – Jerry Brown – who was supposed to be the great Left Hope. Like Brown, Dellums is an elder statesman who came out of retirement to run for Mayor of Oakland to help “renew” a struggling city. But this time, more progressives are optimistic that Dellums will not let them down the way Jerry did. Their optimism is guarded, but grounded in enough facts and experiences that give them the hope that Oakland is on the verge of a new era.

When Jerry Brown became Mayor in 1999, he also had bold visions of revitalizing the downtown area – which included bringing 10,000 new people to Oakland. Brown’s left-wing rhetoric from his KPFA talk show during much of the Nineties gave progressives a false sense of security that he would not ignore the plight of low-income people in Oakland. It’s a mistake that they don’t ever want to make again.

“Jerry Brown was a total let-down,” said activist Lynda Carson. “He double-crossed the progressives of Oakland in the name of pursuing a political career. There’s a huge swath of Oakland that is now under redevelopment, and under Jerry Brown many poor people were displaced as a result of his 10K plan.”

Eight years later, the facts speak for themselves – out of 5,800 housing units either built or planned in Oakland, less than 400 are “affordable.” While the city slightly dipped in population, there was a 26% increase in the number of households earning more than $100,000. Oakland’s black population has plummeted by almost 20% -- while unemployment increased 33%. The median home value has more than doubled, making it increasingly difficult for middle-class families to become homeowners. The city now has the worst of both worlds – it is whiter and more gentrified, but with fewer economic opportunities for African-Americans and a higher crime rate.

But many progressives are confident that Dellums will not be like Brown – that he is more genuinely committed to making Oakland a better city for everyone, not just the rich and powerful. “I know that Ron will be an asset to Oakland,” said Fannie Brown, a 37-year Oakland resident and long-time activist with ACORN. “He was always there for us when he was in Congress – working on affordable housing issues, predatory lending, living wage and welfare-to-work issues.” When he was in Congress, Dellums’ office was a refuge for Oakland’s most vulnerable constituents.

Since getting elected Mayor, Dellums has opened up the transition process to everyday activists – which implies that he will run a more open and transparent administration. “We’ve already met with him 3 or 4 times since he got elected,” said Brown, “and talked with him about what we want to see in Oakland. We’re on his task force, and we’re working along beside him so that Oakland is the best place to be.” On December 16th, tenant activists from Just Cause Oakland led a group of Dellums’ top advisors on a Gentrification Tour of West Oakland to highlight the plight of tenants in a rapidly changing part of the city.

“One of the basic things that Ron’s been consistent about is making sure that everyone understands that they can participate in the democratic process,” said Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. “He has included people, many who did not support him, in these Task Forces on how to approach areas and issues that are important to them.” This is in marked contrast to Jerry Brown – who ran a very secretive transition and did not seek input from everyday Oakland residents, certainly not on Land Use issues.

Dellums will also be different because of why he ran for Mayor. “Jerry Brown ran for Mayor because he wanted to be Mayor,” said Berkeley City Councilman Kriss Worthington. “Ron Dellums ran for Mayor because other people wanted him to. It was a very genuine outpouring for him that came from the grass-roots level. He’s a different kind of politician who really believes in social movements and empowering people. His heart and soul is with the social justice movements.”

Dellums’ actions in the past few months also imply that he will be a progressive mayor. In December, he intervened on behalf of tenants when the lame-duck City Council attempted to ram through a highly controversial condo conversion ordinance. While many progressives were upset that he did not endorse District 2 City Council candidate Aimee Allison last November, Dellums successfully brokered a truce to stop the Oakland Chamber of Commerce from spending $116,000 against her.

Some who believe that Allison had no chance of winning that race argue that it was smart for Dellums to stay neutral because it put her opponent, Councilwoman Pat Kernighan, squarely in his camp after the election. Kernighan later opposed the condo conversion bill, which proved to be decisive in killing it. Even if Dellums did not stand on principle and support the more progressive candidate in that race, they argue, it was a wise move that ultimately helped the progressive cause.

As Mayor, Dellums will face many challenges that could frustrate his agenda. While he has a bold vision that includes education, health care, affordable housing and violence prevention, there’s very little that Oakland’s Mayor can do because most of the city’s budget is trapped under the purview of the Redevelopment Agency. From 2000 to 2003, the Oakland City Council created four new redevelopment zones in West Oakland and East Oakland – tax money that could normally be used to implement Dellums’ goals will be diverted to fund capital improvements and construction projects. But with Democrats taking back Congress, more federal funds could be available for cities like Oakland – and Dellums, said Worthington, will use these funds effectively towards his vision.

With his hands tied, Dellums won’t be able to get instant results for Oakland. Which creates another problem – inflated expectations. As J. Douglas Allen-Taylor eloquently wrote in the Berkeley Daily Planet, “what the Dellums administration can only hope for is that it is not pushed into reckless action by pressure built up from the anxieties and unfulfilled promises of the Brown Administration. What Oaklanders—and residents of the surrounding communities so dependent, economically and culturally, on Oakland—need is patience.”

Another problematic issue for Dellums will be the media. The San Francisco Chronicle basically ignored his victory, and will continue to peddle the same pro-business line as it does in San Francisco politics. The East Bay Express – which covers Oakland politics in more depth than any other media source – has been extremely hostile to Dellums since the first day that he announced his run for Mayor and heavily slanted its coverage throughout the campaign in favor of Ignacio de la Fuente. On January 3rd, they predicted (without much basis in fact) that “the next four years will be like slowly pulling back the curtain on the Wizard of Oz.”

But many people who saw Jerry Brown’s about-face are now saying that Dellums is the real deal – that Brown was never trustworthy to begin with. “A lot of people were excited about Jerry,” said Fannie Brown of ACORN, “but I wasn’t. Jerry didn’t meet with us until afterwards, and then he ran his chief of staff against one of our candidates for School Board. We tried to meet with Jerry on many issues, but he wouldn’t meet with us.” But expect the media to blur the differences between Brown and Dellums and set him up for failure.

Even progressives who are reserving judgment about Dellums understand the difference. “My hope is that the best of Ron Dellums will come out of Ron Dellums,” said Lynda Carson. “My respect for Dellums comes from when he was a Congressman – and tenants could always count on his office to help out when there was a problem. This is the Dellums that I would like to see become the Mayor of Oakland – the man who helped out the poor and the downtrodden.”

It’s going to be a bumpy four years.

Send feedback to paul@thclinic.org