Oakland Mayor Jean Quan is going to Washington.

The the city's new leader was invited by President Barack Obama's office to attend a state dinner for China's president Hu Jintao in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Jan. 19. Quan said she plans to take interim San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee as her date.

One of the challenges in evaluating the administration of an Oakland mayor in these days and times is that twelve years after the passage of Measure X, residents and local media outlets (new and old) still are not certain exactly what a “strong mayor” is supposed to do and be responsible for.