Oakland OPEN Network Proposes "Report Card" for Politicians

In preparation for the elections on May 6, Oakland's progressive community is demanding a change in the way the city handles business. At a press conference held Tuesday May 23 outside Oakland's City Hall, the OPEN coalition released it's "job description" for mayoral candidates and local elected officials.

"Politics as usual are not working" said Wilson Riles, a former city council member and representative from the Oakland Green Party. Riles told the crowd "Politics of the past have always been about what we are against. This is about what we are for".

The "Action Platform" presented to officials and candidates on Tuesday is the work of 14 local progressive and community organizations including Service Employees International Union, Youth Together, Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice, Indian People Organizing for Change and Oakland School Employees Association.

The platform includes 38 policy solutions to make sure "there's a 'job description' ready for the next mayor of Oakland, says Claudia Reyes from Mujeres Unidas Y Activas, one of the supporting groups.

Representatives say the group will meet annually to go over the program and assign letter grades from A to F based on how well officials perform in each area. These grades will be given to officials and copies will be handed out among the participating organizations and communities.

The ten different issue areas address such concerns as public education, responsible development, immigration, protecting the environment and community safety, in the aims of turning Oakland into a "Model City", a phrase that's been used several times, referring to the direction many want to see the city move. OPEN calls their approach a "Multi-issue, non-partisan job description that addresses the needs of Oakland residents, particularly families, workers and communities of color". Throughout the press conference, representatives from member organizations fleshed out points in the platform.

Saleem Shakir, Program Director of Leadership Excellence, underscored the need for equitable spending on education to improve the quality of public schools. "We need the city, parents and schools to work together" said Shakir, whose program focuses on preparing young African American youth to accept leadership roles in their community.

The initiative also calls for the development of a Mayor's Office of Education to accept control of the Oakland Unified School District by June 2007.

Riles says the city is being "led by the nose by developers" and that it aims to give the power back to the people of Oakland. Throughout the press conference, speakers stressed that community support and dialogue are crucial to the platform's success.

"It's up to us to create a movement around this, to make sure it's out in the community" said Shakir when asked about the potential weight the platform could have in political decisions.

For more information on the OPEN network go to http://www.progressiveoakland.net

Kwan Booth is an editor with the Oakland Post Newspaper, where this article first appeared. Questions or comments on this story email: Kwan.Booth [at] gmail.com