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Oakland is rising and on the verge of overcoming many of its calcified problems, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said Thursday at the state of the city speech.
In an hourlong, winding talk that felt more like a classroom discussion of city government than a soaring pronouncement of Quan’s intention to win re-election this year, the mayor touched on an array of issues, including a drop in violent crime, falling unemployment, the city’s balanced budget, a booming regional economy and her efforts to keep Oakland’s three major sports teams within city limits.
Quan, who is competing with 12 other candidates in the mayor’s race, suggested that Oakland is better off today than in 2011 when she took office.
“It seems that national media is finally taking a balanced view of our city again,” Quan said, before asking residents to take a new “look from the outside and the inside and bring together how we see our city soberly, and where we have to go.”
To that end, the mayor laid out her plans to combat crime, encourage development and support young people who, she said, turn to crime and despair when they can’t find jobs or complete their education.
‘It was upbeat’
“I thought it was upbeat but not hiding our challenges, and that is what it should be because we are on the rise,” Councilman Dan Kalb said of Quan’s speech.
Crime, Quan acknowledged, is the No. 1 issue facing the city.
“How we make Oakland safer — and we are working to make Oakland safer — will define the future of the city,” Quan said to the room full of elected officials, city bureaucrats, police officers, supporters and union leaders.
The city’s Ceasefire antiviolence program dropped homicides 28 percent in 2013, she said. Shootings fell 16 percent.
But Quan acknowledged that many residents still feel unsafe.
“To the victims of crime, I want to make something clear right now: When we say crime is trending down, we know there is still too much crime,” she said. “We do not plan to be complacent.”
So far this year, there have been 18 killings, 20 percent more than this time last year.
Quan said she would ensure the city has a fully staffed police force of 700 officers later this year. There are currently about 615 officers.
“We only have enough budgeted now to get up to 700, but I hope we can get some grants” to get more, Quan said.
Quan also went on tout the city’s vibrant arts and food scene, noting that she “can’t open a magazine anywhere in the country without reading about an Oakland (restaurant).”
Quan’s 10K Two
In an effort to capitalize on the region’s booming housing market, the city will aggressively encourage development across neighborhoods, in what Quan called 10K Two, a companion to former Mayor Jerry Brown’s popular plan to bring 10,000 residents to downtown and Uptown Oakland.
Unlike Brown, Quan said she would push for new housing to be built across the city for people of all income levels.
“In the next round we want to make sure that revitalization happens all over Oakland,” she said.
But the mayor still has her skeptics.
Councilwoman Libby Schaaf, who is running to unseat Quan, said the mayor’s speech was “full of a lot of hopes and wishes.”
“The one (idea) that I heard was around housing, but we can’t build housing without a foundation of public safety,” Schaaf said after the speech. “I wish I had heard more about how we can make sure the cops come when you call.”