If you can spare a couple of hours on a wintry evening in spring, why not go have a “conversation” with Don Perata who’s running for mayor in November? That’s what I did last week.

(Editor’s Note: The deadline to declare candidacy for Oakland’s next Mayor hasn't even passed, but just like Christmas decorations in October, the campaigns are already off to a running start.) 

Asked why she decided to start the process of moving toward a mayoral candidacy at this moment, Rebecca Kaplan has some explanations right at hand.

"Over the next few years, we are going to have incredible challenges in Oakland, particularly around the financial crisis, but at the same time there is a great opportunity to fix the functioning of City Hall," she says. "It seemed clear that we are going to not only have incredible challenges over the next few years, particularly around the financial crisis, but that we have a window of opportunity to fix city government--much of the city workforce will be retiring and we have a chance to reformulate how we align people and their jobs with the realities of the future."

It suddenly seems as though the playing field for Oakland's next mayor is flooded with a plethora of candidates, all claiming to have the answer to the city’s woes.