Free Republic

Former Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums returned to the East Bay on Tuesday as the city's star witness in disputing fired City Administrator Deborah Edgerly's claim that she was a victim of gender discrimination. "That is bizarre in the extreme," Dellums told the 12-member jury in Hayward that is hearing Edgerly's lawsuit against the city. Dellums became tearful at times as he told jurors how difficult it was to be mayor and how reluctant he was to fire Edgerly in 2008, even after she came under fire for allegedly tipping off her nephew to an impending police raid on West Oakland...

OAKLAND -- The nephew of former Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly was sentenced today to a year of home detention on a weapons charge and ordered not to associate with gang members. William Lovan, 28, of Antioch, whose 2008 arrest prompted an investigation that eventually contributed to Edgerly's firing, pleaded no contest in October to a charge of carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle. Lovan, who did not own the handgun, was also placed on five years' probation by Judge Morris Jacobson of Alameda County Superior Court. In exchange for Lovan's plea, prosecutors dropped a charge of carrying a...

After a year of silence, fired Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly has filed suit against her former bosses, claiming she was unfairly terminated after refusing to hand out patronage to Mayor Ron Dellums' supporters and pay some of his wife's bills with city money. The mayor dismissed Edgerly in July 2008 after instances of possible nepotism involving her surfaced, including the allegation that she had tipped her nephew, who also worked for the city, of an impending gang raid.In her suit, filed Monday in Alameda County Superior Court, Edgerly says the mayor's wife and unpaid adviser, Cynthia Dellums, directed her...

Shhhh. What's the big secret? When it comes to Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums' deliberations on matters of grave importance - they are cloaked in more secrecy than an illegal CIA counterterrorist operation. When Dellums ran for mayor in 2006, he pledged to run a transparent government. Yet at a time when Oakland needs a strong leader to deal with budget cuts and lack of leadership in several key departments, Dellums is missing in action and his decision- making process is one of the best kept secrets in Oakland City Hall. I don't think even the mayor knows what's going on...

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A judge ruled Monday that there's sufficient evidence for the reputed leader of Oakland's worst drug gang to stand trial on attempted murder charges for allegedly shooting a member of a rival gang at 31st Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way on June 30, 2006. At the end of a preliminary hearing that stretched over three weeks, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Vernon Nakahara also ordered 34-year-old Marc Anthony Candler of Castro Valley, the reputed leader of the Acorn gang, to stand trial on a street terrorism clause, possession of assault weapons and being an ex-felon...

Armed robbers terrorized Oakland restaurants and small businesses in three separate crime sprees over the past year. The first wave targeted Asian eateries and struck during the 2007 holiday season. The second arrived last spring and was more indiscriminate. The third struck in July and August. All three made newspaper headlines and led television newscasts, shining a spotlight on the city's out-of-control crime problem and the Oakland Police Department's apparent inability to cope with it. In fact, the department's public response to the takeover robberies was both odd and illuminating. The department's mantra for dealing with the city's crime spike...

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland City Council met Tuesday night and approved new reforms to end nepotism in city government, a move made in response to this past summer's scandal involving former City Administrator Deborah Edgerly. Oakland city leaders say they want the public to have confidence in City Hall, by eliminating the chance of government workers giving favors to friends and family members. The ordinance approved Tuesday night bans nepotism effective immediately. From now on, anyone who applies for a job with the city must disclose all personal relationships with city officials and employees. "Hopefully we'll begin to restore...

Oakland's finances appear to be far worse than suspected.Former City Manager Robert Bobb, who has parachuted into town at the request of Mayor Ron Dellums to try to sort out the fiscal mess, has discovered that Oakland's reserves have been drawn down by as much as $48 million in the past year, and accounting for most of the missing funds hasn't been easy.Just last year, Bobb said, the city reported a reserve of between $60 million and $70 million, but as of June, the account had dipped to $22 million. Bobb said that as far as he's been able to...

Sometimes it pays to get fired. In addition to an estimated $148,000-a-year pension, freshly canned Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly is entitled to cash out her accrued and unused benefits totaling more than $90,000.The bennies include:-- Nine weeks of vacation.-- Two weeks of management leave.-- Three weeks of executive leave. -- Ten weeks of sick leave (paid out at 33 cents on the dollar).It's a grand total payment of $90,024, city officials confirmed.Mayor Ron Dellums fired Edgerly after she refused to go away quietly when she was accused of interfering in a police investigation that involved her nephew.Not that she'll...

Up until now, the story of what got Oakland City Administrator Deborah Edgerly into hot water when her nephew was swept up in a gang bust has been shrouded in mist. Here's the story:On the night of June 7, Edgerly - whose duties included overseeing the Police Department - showed up at a West Oakland liquor store just as her nephew's car was being towed by police as part of an operation against the Acorn gang.The nephew, 27-year-old William Lovan - who works for the city as a parking meter repairman - had left the car running and locked the...