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OAKLAND -- Voters were narrowly approving Tuesday night a ballot measure that would make permanent the kinds of power Mayor Jerry Brown has exercised for the past four years. Updated Nov. 6 12:07 am
With 40 percent of precincts reporting, Oaklanders were favoring by a slight margin Measure CC, the "Strong Mayor Initiative" that would cement a charter amendment approved when Mayor Brown first took office in 1998. At midnight, 51.2 percent of voters approved the measure, and 48.8 percent voted against it.
The provision has shifted the balance of power at city hall over the past four years, which supporters say has made city business more efficient.
AC Transit manager Jon Twichell, for instance, took a moment out of his lunch break this afternoon to vote an emphatic "yes" on Measure CC.
"Even though the mayor is not a strong fan of bus service, this is the only way that anything is ever going to get done for transportation in this city," said Twichell, 62, as he stood in the sun on a downtown street. "You've got to have the buck stop somewhere."
Measure CC would set in stone the new balance of powers in place at city hall since Brown assumed office. For the past four years, the mayor has had the power to appoint the city manager, who hires and fires the heads of city departments. The mayor also no longer sits on the city council.
The measure would add a new provision to hold a midterm special election and elect an interim mayor if the mayor were to leave office, an addendum that has raised questions about Brown's future political aspirations.
Yet voters' opinions on the measure appeared more closely linked to their opinions of Mayor Brown than to the power his office wields.
"Jerry Brown's way of changing Oakland is to kick all the old Oaklanders out and bring in new ones," said John Lynch, 48, a disabled former city employee. "I think he's too full of himself already, and now he wants more powers? I'm going to give him a big no."
Indeed, the reach of the new mayoral powers is intimately tied to Brown: before his landslide victory in 1998, Brown rallied support to get onto the ballot a charter amendment called Measure X, which later received nearly 75 percent of the vote. The effects of Measure X, which established the new balance of powers, were to be evaluated after a six-year period, something Measure CC would bypass.
Political analysts said the issue is appearing before voters now because Brown's name recognition makes it easy to pass.
"The point is to use Jerry and his popularity to help the next person who comes along, whether it's (City Council President Ignacio) de la Fuente or (City Attorney John) Russo," said political analyst and U.C. Berkeley professor Bruce Cain, referring to two officials floated as Brown's possible successors.
"Having more of the institutional power means that … the next person wouldn't have so many obstacles to marshal public opinion," Cain said.
The measure's opponents, who include the League of Women Voters, campaign watchdogs Common Cause, and several city council members, say that the effect of the strong mayor form of government has yet to be fully evaluated.
"The problem is the community does not feel like they have access to the mayor because he's not sitting on the council, and they can't make appointments with him," said councilwoman Jane Brunner.
Elihu Harris, who served as Mayor of Oakland from 1991 to 1999, said he decided not to support the measure because it was "too simplistic." He suggested that the mayor's new powers be evaluated by citizen review, and said that the position could benefit from both additional powers and increased public accountability.
Brunner said that while she regrets that the changes have forced council members to bring requests for a raise before voters, she was happy with the fact that the city attorney now has more autonomy from the mayor's office, something she said she would like to see happen at the city manager's office as well.
"Before, the city manager was more responsible to the city council and now he's only responsible to the mayor -- now it's his job to implement the mayor's programs," said Brunner. "I don't always feel like I am getting a true picture of the issues."
Yet for AC Transit manager Twichell, approving Measure CC appeared to be a chance to simplify Oakland's complex bureaucratic chain of command, political outcomes notwithstanding.
"You need someone who can say yes or no to projects," said Twichell. "This has nothing to do with Jerry's personality anyway, because after this we're going to have six years of Don Perata, and at least he has a better record on transportation."