Mayor Quan celebrates Oakland in State of the City speech (PHOTOS)

Published on Friday, February 10, 2012
Last updated on 07:41AM, Friday, February 10, 2012
Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, Photo by Howard Dyckoff/HD Photography

Oakland Mayor Jean Quan, Photo by Howard Dyckoff/HD Photography

During her first State of the City address to celebrate all things Oakland, Mayor Jean Quan on Wednesday said Oakland is moving in the right direction.

"As Oakland approaches its 160th birthday, if there is just one clear message I want you to take away from the state of the city report is that Oakland is on the rise," Quan said Wednesday during her speech to a packed council chamber that featured local dignitaries and celebrities. "This has been an amazing year where there were lots of turns and bumps, but Oakland is a city that rises and when we are knocked down we come back stronger."

Last year, was a hard challenge, Quan acknowledged, but Oakland has a history of finding a way forward.

"Even while recovering from the worst national recession in decades and constant stream of state and federal cuts, we are making progress in jobs and development," she said.

The mayor's speech comes after a turbulent year for both the city and Quan. In 2011, Quan saw key staffers depart, the loss of $28 million in redevelopment funds, a spike in homicides and Occupy Oakland.

(photos by Howard Dyckoff)



But despite these issues, last night was all about showing Oakland love and touting the positive gains made during her first year in office.

The council chambers also was packed with family, friends and supporters of the mayor. Local and regional elected officials attended the event, and the media presence was heavy with a bank of television cameras in the background. Security was tight and there were plain clothes and uniformed police all around City Hall. The event was not open to the public.

Among the guests in attendance were representatives from the city’s more than 30 boards and commissions. Quan said 190 of those board members RSVP'd for the event.

In her speech, the mayor thanked city employees for the concessions made during two grueling budget periods. Quan also spoke about the 5,000 new jobs created in the city last year and the uptick in sales tax revenue.

City crime also was a subject in the speech. Quan said real progress was being made with her "100 Blocks" initiative to combat crime in some of the city's toughest neighborhoods. Additionally, she spoke about the Oakland Police Department's efforts to come into compliance with the
federal Negotiated Settlement Agreement.

"We also have to get the city and the police force in compliance with constitutional policing," she said. "We have nothing to fear from changing our practices, exploring our practices and learning from our mistakes. We can protect and respect the rights of our citizens in the city."

Quan also was full of shout-outs Wednesday night. Praising the owners of Oaklandish and Pandora Radio as model business leaders, Quan then spoke warmly about Joyce Gordon who owns the popular downtown art gallery.

Oakland's rich history was included in Quan's speech and the mayor took some time to brag about the city's progressive roots.

"Oakland has long been home town for dreamers," she said and proceeded to do a roll call of historic Oakland leaders, including Jack London, C.L. Dellums and Huey Newton. She also thanked the Black Panther Party for their work with developing district elections in Oakland.

As part of a new initiative, Quan whipped out her smart phone (encased in a pink shell) and unveiled a new app - SeeClickFix.com - designed to help report Public Works requests.

Towards the end of her speech, Quan said that she believes Oakland will continue to see improvements.

"Oakland is on the rise economically," Quan said. "We''ll learn from our challenges and our mistakes, and we will rise."

About Jennifer Inez Ward
A writer and photographer, Jennifer Inez Ward has been documenting Oakland neighborhoods for more than 10 years. A graduate of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, she focuses on the uniqueness and beauty of everyday life in a city that is too often overlooked for its treasures and pleasures. Throughout the years, Jennifer has had the honor of showcasing her work at a number of venues, including a permanent loan of images that are displayed on the front wall of Barnes and Nobel in Jack London Square. Jennifer is a featured artist documented in “Images of America: Black Artists in Oakland."
naomi schiff commented at Thu, 9 Feb at 10:25am

I didn't hear what the mayor said, but it's our 160th birthday! 1852. Some may remember the big celebration of the 150th.

Deborah Acosta commented at Thu, 9 Feb at 2:52pm

Really?  5,000 new jobs were created in the City of Oakland?  Care to elaborate Ms. Mayor?  Seems like a pretty big number to throw out there without some reference to who created the jobs. 

livegreen commented at Thu, 9 Feb at 7:15pm

Have any reporters ellaborated on this?  It's good news that some major employers moved here, or

expanded!  -or that small businesses & restaurants grew...

 

It would be nice to have some details, but, if it's true, good news none-the-less...

Len Raphael commented at Fri, 10 Feb at 1:01am

Scary to see that our mayor believes her own spin: "Oakland
is on the rise"

A mayor of a major city who considers a rise in sales tax attributable to an increase in minimum wage/no benefit paying restaurants to be a leading indicator of her city's overall economic health should considering finishing college and taking a couple of econ classes.

Too busy with speaking engagements for that? She could take them at night at one of our excellent JC's.

While she's taking those classes, she might look into the unemployment stat she crowed about. That stat does not take into account people who have given up looking for work.

If it did, unemployment would officially be closer to 35 pct for Oakland.

One year is a long enough test for a mayor who still thinks the good times are just around the corner and plans accordingly.

Time to recall Quan and find a good replacement before she so earnestly, honestly, and enthusiastically digs our fiscal hole any deeper.


Len Raphael, Temescal

(go to RecallQuan.com or email info@recallquan.com/follow @recallquan)

howard dyckoff commented at Fri, 10 Feb at 7:35am

The slide display widget had problems before and mixed my photos with an archive of staff photographer Eric Arnold.

 

If you want to see the slides full size, go to :

https://picasaweb.google.com/109712571417781647344/JQStateOfCity2012#slideshow

Susan Mernit commented at Fri, 10 Feb at 7:54am

This is now fixed, Howard.

Leslie Lee commented at Mon, 13 Feb at 2:49pm

Len

You are not doing Oakland any good by spreading mis-information about the city without regard to the truth.

And stop using the comment section to push your one-sided recall agenda.

In your other post last week, Oakland is 50% unemployment. In this post, it's 30% unemployment, which is it?

The answer is 12% unemployment, and 30%-35% unemployment in the 100 blocks, flat area. This statistics is from a year ago. Don't forget that many of us live in Oakland but work in other cities.

It's not surprising to me that Oakland has gained 5000 jobs. There are 30,000 small businesses in the city.

Len Raphael,

In this article, Jennifer did not report on the unemployment rate. Your bias is so great that you don't feel the need to read the article before commenting on it.

U16 is the measure used to express the broadest unemployment rate which include those who dropped out of the labor force. That is a federal government standard.  With all the budget cuts, I doubt it that the city of Oakland cuts and dices its labor statistics. Does anyone know?

 

Len Raphael commented at Mon, 13 Feb at 3:59pm

U6 not U16.  

If you are privy to the boundaries of the 100 block area, then you know more than the rest of the residents and the city council.

 

-len raphael

Sign the Recall Mayor Quan Now petition at the Grand Lake Mon 2/13 thru Thurs 2/16 6pm to 8pm. Look for the red, white, and blue signs.  RecallQuan.com

Len Raphael commented at Sat, 31 Mar at 9:26pm

When Quan likes the stats, she claims credit for them. When she doesn't like them, she attacks the stats.

The stats:

"The city faces rising crime rates, with 26 murders so far in 2012, the highest at this point in the year since 2008."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303816504577306062914377718.html?KEYWORDS=quan

"The burglary rate citywide has climbed 42 percent since 2011, according to the Oakland Police Department. And some who live in the Oakland Hills claim the rate has doubled in certain neighborhoods."
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/03/29/oakland-hills-residents-complain-about-rash-of-burglaries/

===

wsj online interview, thursday

"WSJ: Crime is up so far this year, compared with last year. What's going wrong?

Ms. Quan: I'm not sure what the real trend is. Sometimes, more crime doesn't necessarily mean more crime. Sometimes, the offenses going up means the police are more engaged, and that's a good thing. For instance, we've been looking at car thefts. We're trying to figure out if maybe [the reason they] are up by a big jump is that we're picking up more cars in Oakland, because the Highway Patrol this year has really been helping us cut down on car thefts. There's an unusually high percentage of domestic-violence murders, but street murders are down."


Len Raphael, Temescal
RecallQuan.com