In Case There Is a Runoff

Even though Ron Dellums outpolled Ignacio De La Fuente by a huge margin, and even though the votes that went to Nancy Nadel in the primary are sure to boost Dellums further, it appears that a runoff election might be held for lack of a 50 percent plus one vote majority.

The situation makes this letter that appeared in the Montclarion all the more poignant.

Grow neighborhoods not fake flowers

My wife asked an angry little man if he would not put up sandwich boards and signs all over the freeway on-ramp and the gateway to the Dimond.

He got very upset and accused us of taking his signs down. My wife explained that community worked very hard to clean up that area and to discourage signage. She said it was simply a blight and a trash issue not a political stance. He practically yelled that he had a permit to chain sandwich boards to cyclone fences all over Oakland. The sign went up and so did bunches of plastic flowers.

See, we can't get the walking officer that our community supposedly already has, we can't get the tree we requested for our parking strip a year ago, and it would take six months and $600 for my family to get a permit to fix our porch, but the candidate can litter our neighborhood with "permitted plastic flowers."

I don't know about other Oaklanders, but I find it comforting that as businesses flee my neighborhood, a child got murdered, and police services have all but disappeared from our community, the mayoral wannabe and council president is planting plastic flowers. Maybe we should add a cross and turn them into a memorial for the young man who died there.

We don't need fake flowers or fake solutions to crime, we need appropriate and timely service from the city of Oakland, and we're not getting it in the Dimond neighborhood.

Sethard Fisher
Montclarion, June 9, 2006

De La Fuente posed as the true anti-crime candidate and as the guy who gets things done at City Hall. The bitter irony of the above letter should remind every Oakland resident, including some timid activists who supported De La Fuente, that it has been cynical hypocrisy.

If there is a runoff, we call on De La Fuente to concede immediately, sparing Oakland an unnecessary election. Let Mayor-elect Dellums begin preparing his administration now!

De La Fuente Concedes

On June 16 the Alameda County Registrar finished counting the votes, and Mayor Dellums has a 50.18 percent majority. Candidate De La Fuente had just under 33 percent.

For awhile, the air was filled with talk of lawsuits and demands for a recount.

However, on June 17, De La Fuente conceded the election to Dellums. In so doing, De La Fuente spared Oakland the expense and delay of an unnecessary election. He could have given in to what were likely the urgings of campaign manager and hack political consultant Larry Tramutola to try the impossible (generating more 15 percent rakeoffs for Tramutola). Congratulations to De La Fuente for a far-sighted action!

It will be a good thing if De La Fuente, who retains a seat on the city council, gives priority to Oakland's most important needs: 1) a real plan and solid commitment to get Oakland the 1,100 police officers it needs, and 2) an end to the unceasing string of regressive parcel taxes.