Dellums victory signifies a sea change in Oakland Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2006 07:38:20 -0500 (CDT) X-DSPAM-Result: mail; result="Innocent"; class="Innocent"; probability=0.0000; confidence=1.00; signature=N/A X-Spam-Class: HAM-VERY X-Sender-Host-Address: 127.127.127.127 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/06/19/BAG8QJGCDN1.DTL&type=politics San Francisco Chronicle June 19, 2006 Dellums victory signifies a sea change in Oakland politics By Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross The election of former Congressman Ron Dellums as Oakland's mayor marks the revival of a black- progressive-labor coalition that many thought was on its last legs after eight years of Jerry Brown. Not only did the revived alliance win the mayor's slot, but the Dellums groundswell also helped the congressman's former aide Sandre Swanson win the Democratic primary for the East Bay's 16th Assembly District, now held by the soon-to-be termed-out Wilma Chan. "The power of the people beat the power of the machine," said former Alameda County Supervisor Mary King, now assistant general manager at AC Transit and herself an alumna of Dellums' political academy, having served on his local advisory committee before winning election to office. "And if you add in the votes that went to Nancy Nadel (a City Council member and philosophical ally of Dellums who ran third in the mayor's race), then you have a multiethnic coalition that must be reckoned with," said businessman and activist Geoffrey Pete, one of the first to urge, "Run, Ron, Run." If the past is any indication, decisions in the Dellums administration will be made through consensus -- a sharp contrast to Brown's single-handed style of governing. As political operations go, the Dellums group -- forged in the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s and '70s -- has always been run more as an ideological family than a machine. "He never sat down and said: 'In a year we need this person here or that person there,' " former Dellums aide Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson said. Still, over the years, the Dellums coalition was always a major player in Oakland politics -- that is, until age and the city's changing demographics took their toll, with an influx of Latinos, Asians, gays and young whites lessening the African American old guard's clout. "They felt they were truly slipping under Jerry Brown," said Councilman Larry Reid, whose district includes East Oakland, which is still largely African American. And in fact, they appeared to be. After having worked with Mayors Lionel Wilson and Elihu Harris, both African American, many black leaders felt out of the loop when it came to making decisions, appointments and development deals under Brown. The mayor also pushed out two of the city's most prominent African American officials, Police Chief Joseph Samuels and City Manager Robert Bobb. Even though Dellums' congressional seat was filled by yet another former Dellums staffer turned state assemblywoman turned state senator, Barbara Lee, there was still a feeling that the "dominance in the East Bay by African Americans had hit a wall, and looked to have been stymied," former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown said. Things didn't figure to get better if the man Jerry Brown endorsed as his successor, City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, won the mayor's job. But Dellums provided the old left-labor-African American coalition something it hasn't had for several years in mayor's races -- a charismatic leader. "Hopefully this will serve as a wake-up call for corporate media like The Chronicle and the (Oakland) Tribune, and the moneyed interests," Pete said. However, state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D- Oakland -- a big backer of Dellums rival De La Fuente -- said it's too early to read much into the results. "I'm not sure that many people pay that much close attention to local politics," Perata said. "If anything, it's more of a response to celebrity. Oakland had eight years of stardom, and while they may have tired of Jerry Brown, they just grabbed another well- known figure again to lead the city." Whatever the case, Dellums is back at the dance -- and so is the coalition that bought him.