OAKLAND: Suit may unmask power behind Dellums' throne

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 7/10/9 | Chip Johnson

[SmithL]

The allegations in a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by former Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly threatens to become a courtroom drama focusing on the Oakland mayor's office - and who's really in charge.

To some Oakland residents, Edgerly may represent the antithesis of political reform. She was accused of interfering with a police investigation, she hired her friends and family, and she underestimated the 2008-09 budget deficit by millions of dollars. But she is also a veteran political insider who knows - and can allegedly prove - how things really work in the mayor's office.

Ever since Mayor Ron Dellums took office in 2007, there has been speculation about who really wears the pants in the Dellums household. Even by the mayor's account, it is his wife, Cynthia Dellums.

The mayor once told me that he deferred to the greater wisdom of his wife on all matters - and now Edgerly's lawsuit threatens to throw back the curtains on the practice.

In her complaint filed in Alameda County Superior Court, Edgerly claims that Dellums' wife not only sat in on city department head meetings, she convened them.

The suit says Dellums or his wife made requests for the city to pay for everything from computers for Cynthia Dellums' philanthropic endeavors to a $1,600 home utility bill from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Apparently, because the Dellumses conducted business from home they believed the expenditure was warranted.

The suit also says that in March 2008, Cynthia Dellums directed Edgerly to hire two former mayoral campaign supporters. Cynthia Dellums wanted Edgerly to fire Eliza Gallo, then the city's services employment director, and replace her with one of the campaign supporters. Edgerly refused.

David Chai, the mayor's chief of staff, said Thursday that Dellums has the authority to hire and fire at-will employees.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Gee, I always thought it was the Communist Party of the USA behind Dellums. That was the rumor in 1967-68, backed by the fact that one of the CPUSA higher-ups gave him a “Welcome to the Neighborhood” party in Berserkeley. He was a neighbor of mine for a brief period.

[capt. norm]

The name “Dellums” always make me think he could have been a character in Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

[Right Cal Gal]

Edgerly proves the maxim: “Takes one to know one.”