With Occupy Oakland now at a simmer instead of a hot flame, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan is hoping  to turn a corner and get her administration back on a regular rhythm.

It's been a head spinning month for the mayor who has seen heavy criticism from around the country about her actions and decisions connected to the city's Occupy  encampments. And then there is the recall Quan petition circling city streets.

Nevertheless, Quan said she is hoping she can move forward with the City Council on a number of economic and public safety initiatives. Oakland Local recently had a chat with the mayor to find out how she plans to deal with the city's most pressing issues.

Q: Let's talk economic development. What future projects are you working on?

A: There are all sorts of projects I'm working on as mayor that's not getting a lot of publicity, but will be pretty critical for the city. A lot of the projects I've been working on are only now just coming to fruition.

On redevelopment, we're moving full steam ahead with the Oakland Coliseum project, which is an opportunity to take one of the largest urban spaces in the United States and to do something amazing by creating a great mix of retail and housing.

Also, we may get the federal TIGER III $40 million grant for the Oakland Army Base redevelopment, which would be great news. I think we're really starting to see a lot of positive things happening with the army base.

Q: Can you talk about other ways in which you will work with City Council going forward?

A: I hope that the Council and I can work closely together to do a number of critical things for the city. For example, I want to work with the council on the 100 Block plan and some of the ideas that came out of the recent safety summit. Unfortunately we've been busy with the Occupy Oakland situation, but we're now hoping to work with City Council to get their support.

On the (100 Block initiative) I'm also doing a lot of outreach work - I'm reaching out to the (Alameda) County, the Kids First programs, the schools. So far we've gotten amazing sign off from the (Alameda County Probation Department), the District Attorney and (the Alameda County) Social Services. [sic]

My belief is that by putting both police intervention, additional social services and volunteer programs, that we're going to bring down violence significantly by concentrating on the kids who need the most support. So I really need everyone's help and support. [sic]

Q: The Measure I proposal was a key linchpin for the budget. What's the next step now? Who will you be working with and how will you go about vetting the process with Oaklanders?

A: Pretty much the budget is balanced, except for these add backs. When we passed the budget in July, thanks to the (city) employees we saved most of those programs that people were most worried about. And these were add backs. The one that's sort of in the gray area, not necessarily an add back is the additional academies for police recruits. This is the toughest one, and probably the most important.

I may not be able to do it right away, but I want to start the second academy sometime after the beginning of the new year. I'm also working with Peralta Colleges to set up a "grow our own" program that will be aimed at recruiting locally - particularly minority and women youth. And perhaps we also can shorten the length of these classes, which will mean the academies may cost the city less. So that's a big picture thing. Maybe by having the (police academy) courses at our community colleges, more Oakland kids will apply.

Q: Given how the last few weeks have played out, what sort of actions are you taking to show people that you're working to keep the city on track.

A: Over the last few weeks, even with Occupy Oakland, I've been able to get out and go to various events and speak with people ... I went to some senior centers, I went to an NCPC meeting. I've just worked to really stay focused on our communities.

Now what I'm hoping to do is to go back into my neighborhood organizing projects - the 100 Block Initiative, working with the schools. We're going to continue to do what we can and I think Oakland has a lot of positive things ahead.