Mayoral candidate Patrick McCullough, an electronic technician and lawyer, asserts he has “the experience from working with people in all levels of society that is essential to bring the change Oaklanders have been wanting for a long time.” If elected, McCullough, 59, said he would address Oakland’s deficit problems alongside its unfunded liability issue. He proposes restructuring city government by reducing the number of highly-paid managers whose presence he finds undesirable. He also wants to change the management structure of…
Former Occupy spokesperson Jason ‘Shake’ Anderson, a U.S. Navy veteran, artist and activist, is a candidate for Oakland mayor. “What I see in the city is a lot of dysfunction, a lack of leadership and a lack of direction,” said the 38-year-old Oakland native, citing the resignation of the city administrator and multiple police chiefs in recent years. Under his “new and fresh leadership,” he said, the government could hire the best people for the “two most important jobs in…
After serving for a year as interim police chief, Sean Whent, an 18-year veteran of the force, was named permanent chief of Oakland Police Department by Mayor Jean Quan at Oakland City Hall Wednesday. “As a no-nonsense chief, he has led the Department’s reorganization, built a strong leadership team and strengthened police collaboration with neighborhood leaders,” Quan said in making the appointment. “We’ve made significant progress in the last year, reducing crime and completing mandated federal reforms. We have much…
Antwan Wilson was unanimously approved as the Superintendent of the Oakland Unified School District by Oakland Board of Education, succeeding acting superintendent Gary Yee. Wilson previously served as Denver’s Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education where he achieved success increasing both graduation rates and the number of students entering college. “Start[ing] as a teacher, he worked his way through the system and understands how to be an educator at every level,” director Jody London said. The new superintendent’s appointment, following a…
In a tightly-moderated discussion Thursday evening at Temple Sinai in Oakland, mayoral candidates took questions from journalists, querying one another and making closing statements. Many aimed shots at Mayor Jean Quan, but most refrained from taking jabs at one another.