Oakland

Opinion: What Brown v. Brooks Means For Black Folk

Published

7 years ago

February 15, 2018

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

On the morning in the fall of 2015 when I heard about the argument and physical confrontation between former Black Panther chairperson Elaine Brown and Oakland City Councilmember Desley Brooks—two prominent Oakland African American women leaders—down near Jack London Square, I could only shake my head and say to myself that regardless of which one of the women got the blame and who was actually at fault, this was going to end up being bad for Black Folk in Oakland and the Bay Area as a whole. Nothing that has happened since then has
changed my opinion.

Let’s try to sort out as much as we can, in order to explain why I feel that way.

Two years ago, Ms. Brown was seeking public assistance for her Oakland and World Enterprises non-profit organization—including land from the City of Oakland—in creating an affordable housing complex in West Oakland dedicated to formerly-incarcerated persons. On October 30th of that year, by all accounts, Ms. Brown and Ms. Brooks got into a argument at Everett & Jones Restaurant near the Oakland waterfront after Ms. Brooks indicated that she would oppose the proposed land deal with Ms. Brown’s organization. The argument turned heated, and ended with Ms. Brooks pushing Ms. Brown, causing the former Panther leader to fall and sustain injuries. Ms. Brown says the pushing was unprovoked. Ms. Brown says she was defending herself from an attack by Ms. Brooks. Ms. Brown eventually sued both Ms. Brooks and the City of Oakland in civil court, winning a more than $4 million verdict that is mostly charged to the city.

Other than who was at fault in the shoving incident, all of these facts are uncontested by either side in the dispute.

As for who was at fault, who was right and who was wrong, I’m not going to get into that. The first reason is that I would only be guessing. The second—and most important—reason is that while the right and wrong of it are extremely important to the two women involved in the Everett & Jones confrontation, it’s what has happened and is happening surrounding that confrontation that are more important to the interests of Black Folk in the area.

Let’s start with Ms. Brooks.

The District 6 Councilmember has amassed a lot of enemies over the years, both political and personal, and one of the immediate effects of the Brown/Brooks confrontation is that these opponents wasted little time in using the civil jury verdict against the city and Ms. Brooks to attempt to strip the long-time East Oakland City Councilmember of most, if not all, of her political power.

For example, in a January 31st joint San Jose Mercury News/East Bay Times editorial, the newspapers editors said that “if Brooks refuses to do the right thing by resigning and then stands for re-election later this year,” then voters in her district 6 should should vote to remove the Councilmember from office in the November November (“Replace Oakland City Council Bully Desley Brooks” Mercury News/East Bay Times January 31, 2018).

But Ms. Brown and her proposed housing project did not come out untouched by local media and official agencies in the wake of her confrontation with Ms. Brooks.

“The Oakland City Council is scheduled to vote tonight on a deal to sell city-owned land near West Oakland’s BART station to a nonprofit that improperly obtained hundreds of thousands in county tax dollars, according to the Alameda County Grand Jury,” The East Bay Express reported in an article about Ms. Brown’s project in June of last year (“City of Oakland Poised to Give Public Land to Nonprofit that Improperly Received $710,000 in County Funds” East Bay Express June 20, 2017).

“The nonprofit, the Oakland and the World Enterprises,” the Express article continued, “was set up by former Black Panther Elaine Brown to build affordable housing and operate an urban farm in West Oakland. … [A]ccording to the Grand Jury, Brown’s group was given $710,000 by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson at the same time Brown was a paid staff member in Carson’s office. ‘[T]he dual role of the county employee in these transactions constituted both a failure of good governance practices by the county of Alameda and a conflict of interest,’ concluded the Grand Jury in their investigation, which was published yesterday.”

It’s not certain that local media would not have weighed in with criticism of the Brown affordable housing project funding even if the confrontation with Ms. Brown and Ms. Brooks had not taken place. But it can’t be doubted that the confrontation helped to put that housing project funding directly in the media spotlight.

At least for now, in any event, the Alameda County Grand Jury report did not appear to be having any immediate adverse effect on Ms. Brooks’ land deal with the City of Oakland or with other public money involving her West Oakland affordable housing project.

Meanwhile, however, the major blows were landing heaviest against Ms. Brooks.

While the News/Times editors said in their January “Replace Bully Brooks” editorial that Ms. Brooks’ “assault of former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown in a restaurant altercation that will cost Oakland taxpayers $3 million is the final straw,” they asserted that “for 15 years, the city has endured [Ms. Brooks’] self-centered behavior. … After all,” the editors continued, “this isn’t the first time the four-term councilwoman has abused her power.”

And what were Ms. Brooks’ “abuse[s] of power” were the editors alleging that should cause District 6 voters to turn her out of office? The Mercury News/East Bay Times editors were happy to provide them.

“For example,” they noted, “in 2013, the city auditor found that Brooks interfered with the construction of two city recreation centers, meddled in the contracting for demolition of an Oakland Army Base building and threatened a city employee’s work assignment.”

I’m sorry to have to backtrack a little again, but to understand—and rebut—what the News/Times editors were talking about here, we’re going to have to give a little history lesson to try to uncomplicate a four-year-old controversy as briefly and as simply as possible.

In the spring of 2013, citing the fact that while “the City of Oakland’s Charter has included a bold provision to ensure the appropriate separation of duties and functions and to shield City staff from City Councilmembers’ political interference and demands for special treatment,” then-Oakland City Auditor Courtney Ruby conducted a city audit supposedly to see if Oakland City Councilmembers were violating that “bold provision” by interfering with city staff in conducting city business.

“After interviewing more than 40 employees, reviewing 27 hotline reports, and examining thousands of Councilmembers’ and Council Aides’ emails and select phone records,” the City Auditor’s office eventually concluded, “this audit was able to substantiate 14 instances of Councilmembers or their Aides violating the City Charter, Section 218, Non-Interference in Administrative Affairs.” (Non‐Interference in Administrative Affairs Performance Audit FY 2009‐10 – FY 2011‐12)

Despite the fact that the City Audior had noted that “for many years there have been signs that problems exist with Councilmember interference” with city staff functions, the audit itself could only find violations involving two City Councilmembers: Larry Reid and Desley Brooks, with the heaviest criticisms falling on the office of Ms. Brooks. Mr. Reid and Ms. Brooks were the only African-Americans sitting on the Oakland City Council during the time period the city audit was examining. You can take that as coincidence or not. Your choice. Rightfully sensing in advance that this might cause the results of the audit to come into some question, the opening memo of the audit explained that “This audit was not designed to account for all occurrences of interference nor did it catch all instances of interference during the audit’s scope. Instead, it was aimed at confirming reported instances of interference that had occurred…”

The explanation did not help. The concentration by the audit on the only two African-American Councilmembers in a City Council notorious for cutting administrative corners led many observers at the time to charge that the city audit was either racially biased or a political hit-piece designed to try to turn Ms. Brooks’ District 6 voters against her when she ran for re-election in 2014.

If you’re interested in reading more about the details of the city audit’s findings against Ms. Brooks and Mr. Reid, one of which provides my own reporting on the substance of one of the findings (“Fight for Army Base Jobs Linked to Audit Issues” Oakland Post April 5, 2013 [http://content.postnewsgroup.com/2013/04/fight-army-base-jobs-linked-audit-issues/]), and the other which provides Ms. Brooks’ answer to one of the other findings (“Auditor: 2 on Oakland council broke law” San Francisco Chronicle June 5, 2014).

What is more important is what actually came out of the findings in the 2013 Oakland City Auditor’s Non-Interference Audit. The quick answer is: nothing.

The audit itself noted that ‘[t]his audit does not make any legal determinations; such matters will be properly referred to the appropriate law enforcement authorities. However, the City Charter is clear on the seriousness of Councilmember interference, stating that ‘violation of the provisions of this section by a member of the Council shall be a misdemeanor, conviction of which shall immediately forfeit the office of the convicted member.’ Conviction can only be determined in a court of law. What, if any, consequences related to these violations have yet to be determined by the appropriate parties.”

If any legal charges were ever brought against either Ms. Brooks or Mr. Reid regarding the incidents cited in the city’s 2013 Non-Interference Audit, I’m not aware of them.

Shortly after the city audit was issued, the Oakland City Council attempted to censure Ms. Brooks—though not Mr. Reid—over the findings. Nothing came of that attempt, either.

In July of 2013, what was then The Oakland Tribune (they have since abandoned the Oakland name and now call themselves the East Bay Times) published an editorial asking for that censure.

“The problem has reached crisis stage in Oakland where some, most notably Councilwoman Desley Brooks, have stepped way over the line,” the Tribune editors wrote. “After stinging criticism from the city administrator, city auditor and grand jury about Brooks’ meddling, it’s time for the council to act. Council President Pat Kernighan has called for censuring Brooks.

The action, to be considered at a special meeting July 25, would be symbolic because there would be no fine or other penalty. But it would send a long-overdue message. It’s time to assure city residents that council members will stop acting on their own to advance their personal agendas, bolster their pet projects or benefit their political backers. It’s time to assure city employees that individual council members cannot overrule their professional judgment. The long-standing ‘culture of interference,’ identified in City Auditor Courtney Ruby’s investigation, must end.” (“Oakland Tribune editorial: Oakland council should censure Desley Brooks for overstepping authority” Oakland Tribune July 18, 2013)

The Tribune editors also dismissed out of hand that the audit had only brought findings against the city’s two African-American Councilmembers.

“Some have claimed the auditor’s report is racially biased because it singles out Brooks and Reid, who are both African-American,” the Tribune editors continued. “We find that allegation offensive. Playing the race card here is inappropriate. An ‘everyone else does it’ defense claim is unacceptable.”

The Oakland City Council took up the issue of censuring Ms. Brooks in July of 2013. After sometimes-heated deliberations the motion was defeating, with not a single Councilmember voting for censure and even then-Council President Patricia Kernighan (who was the member who had brought forth the censure motion) abstaining.

A year and a half later, with the audit findings still recent history, voters in Oakland City Council District 6 re-elected Ms. Brooks as their Councilmember over three named opponents.

To recap, both local law enforcement officials, the Oakland City Council, and Oakland City Council District 6 voters all looked at the findings against Ms. Brooks in the 2013 Non-Interference city audit and found in it no cause for action against Ms. Brooks. The editors of the San Jose Mercury News/East Bay Times continue to think otherwise and, as we have seen, have resurrected them as part of their campaign to get Ms. Brooks out of office by resignation or defeat at the ballot box that was given new life by the findings by the Brown v. Brooks civil jury.

That was by no means the only actions coming out of that jury finding, none of which are good for Black Folk in Oakland and the Bay Area as a whole. But we’ll have to wait until we can gather together again to continue this discussion. Until then…

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Activism

We Fought on Opposite Sides of the Sheng Thao Recall. Here’s Why We’re Uniting Behind Barbara Lee for Oakland Mayor

Today, we are coming together to do all we can to make sure Barbara Lee is elected Mayor in the April 15 Oakland special election. Here’s why. Now more than ever, Oakland needs a respected, hands-on leader who will unite residents behind a clear vision for change. The next mayor will have to hit the ground running with leaders and stakeholders across our political divide to get to work solving the problems standing in the way of Oakland’s progress. Job No. 1: improving public safety. Everyone agrees that all Oaklanders deserve to feel safe in their neighborhoods. But sadly, too many of us do not.

Published

1 day ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

Robert Harris (left) is a retired attorney at PG&E and former legal counsel for NAACP. Richard Fuentes is co-owner of FLUID510 and chair of the Political Action Committee, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 57. Courtesy photos.

By Robert Harris and Richard Fuentes
Special to The Post

The City of Oakland is facing a number of urgent challenges, from housing and public safety to a pressing need for jobs and economic development. One of us, Robert Harris, supported the November recall vote that removed Mayor Sheng Thao from office. Meanwhile, Richard Fuentes believed the recall was the wrong strategy to tackle Oakland’s challenges.

Today, we are coming together to do all we can to make sure Barbara Lee is elected Mayor in the April 15 Oakland special election. Here’s why.

Now more than ever, Oakland needs a respected, hands-on leader who will unite residents behind a clear vision for change.

The next mayor will have to hit the ground running with leaders and stakeholders across our political divide to get to work solving the problems standing in the way of Oakland’s progress.

Job No. 1: improving public safety. Everyone agrees that all Oaklanders deserve to feel safe in their neighborhoods. But sadly, too many of us do not.

During her three decades in the state Legislature and Congress, Lee made public safety a priority, securing funding for police and firefighters in Oakland, delivering $15.8 million in community safety funding, and more. Today, she has a plan for making Oakland safer. It starts with making sure police are resourced, ready, and on patrol to stop the most dangerous criminals on our streets.

Oakland residents and business owners are feeling the impact of too many assaults, smash/grabs, retail thefts, and home robberies. Lee will increase the number of police on the streets, make sure they are focused on the biggest threats, and invest in violence prevention and proven alternatives that prevent crime and violence in the first place.

In addition, on day one, Barbara Lee will focus on Oakland’s business community, creating an advisory cabinet of business owners and pushing to ensure Oakland can attract and keep businesses of all sizes.

The other top issue facing Oakland is housing and homelessness. As of May 2024, over 5,500 people were unhoused in the city. Oaklanders are just 25% of the population of Alameda County, but the city has 57% of the unhoused population.

Unhoused people include seniors, veterans, single women, women with children, people who suffer physical and mental illness, unemployed and undereducated people, and individuals addicted to drugs. Some are students under 18 living on the streets without their parents or a guardian. Research shows that 53% of Oakland’s homeless population is Black.

Starting on her first day in office, Lee will use her national profile and experience to bring new resources to the city to reduce homelessness and expand affordable housing. And she will forge new public/private partnerships and collaboration between the City, Alameda County, other public agencies, and local nonprofits to ensure that Oakland gets its fair share of resources for everything from supportive services to affordable housing.

Besides a public safety and housing crisis, Oakland has a reputational crisis at hand. Too many people locally and nationally believe Oakland does not have the ability to tackle its problems.

Lee has the national reputation and the relationships she can use to assert a new narrative about our beloved Oakland – a vibrant, diverse, and culturally rich city with a deep history of activism and innovation.

Everyone remembers how Lee stood up for Oakland values as the only member of Congress not to authorize the disastrous Iraq War in 2001. She has led the fight in Congress for ethics reform and changes to the nation’s pay-to-play campaign finance laws.

Lee stands alone among the candidates for mayor as a longtime champion of honest, transparent, and accountable government—and she has the reputation and the skills to lead an Oakland transformation that puts people first.

The past few years have been a trying period for our hometown.

Robert Harris supported the recall because of Thao’s decision to fire LeRonne Armstrong; her refusal to meet with certain organizations, such as the Oakland Branch of the NAACP; and the city missing the deadline for filing for a state grant to deal with serious retail thefts in Oakland.

Richard Fuentes opposed the recall, believing that Oakland was making progress in reducing crime. The voters have had their say; now, it is time for us to move forward together and turn the page to a new era.

The two of us don’t agree on everything, but we agree on this: the next few years will be safer, stronger, and more prosperous if Oaklanders elect Barbara Lee as our next mayor on April 15.

Robert Harris is a retired attorney at PG&E and former legal counsel for NAACP.

Richard Fuentes is co-owner of FLUID510 and chair of the Political Action Committee, American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 57.

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Activism

Faith Leaders Back Barbara Lee for Mayor, Criticize Candidate Loren Taylor for Dishonest Campaigning

Speaking as individuals, participants in the interview were Pastor Michael Wallace of the Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church; Pastor Mike McBride, Oakland resident and pastor of the Way Christian Center in Berkeley; Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Thompson of Allen Temple Baptist Church; Bishop Kevin Barnes, pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church; and Bishop Keith Clark of Word Assembly.

Published

1 day ago

March 24, 2025

Oakland Post

From left: Rev. Dr. Jacqueline Thompson. Bishop Kevin Barnes. Pastor Mike McBride. Bishop Keith Clark. Pastor Michael Wallace. Courtesy photos.

‘Barbara Lee has a proven track record of listening to the community and translating things into action, and not just talking about it, but doing it. And I believe that this is one of the qualities that will serve her well as being our mayor,’ said Pastor Kevin Barnes

The Black Church PAC, a national faith leaders initiative, will be posting its endorsement of Lee this week

Ken Epstein

Prominent local faith leaders held a telephone interview Thursday with the Oakland Post to express their concerns about the election and their support for former Congresswoman Barbara Lee for Mayor of Oakland.

“I feel that this is a critical election for the City of Oakland,” said Pastor Wallace. “Our city is in a crisis, and we need someone who has the experience to stabilize our city and to go beyond the borders of our city to bring resources to address the issues that we’re facing.”

The leaders also criticized another candidate, former Oakland City Councilmember Loren Taylor, for conducting a dishonest smear campaign against Lee and urged Oakland flatland residents to go to the polls and join efforts to actively encourage others to vote in the April 15 special election.

Pastor McBride said, “I believe Oakland needs to send a loud message that our city is not for sale. Barbara Lee is the epitome of ‘unbought, unbossed’ integrity and is someone who has brought results. It has been very offensive to listen to candidates in this race, particularly Loren Taylor, attempt to disparage her name and discredit her record.”

“I truly believe that Congresswoman Lee is the best-suited candidate” for the job, he continued, adding that it is “absolutely crucial that individuals in our communities, particularly in the flatlands, are encouraged to participate in this process because the stakes are high, and I don’t think we should surrender our city to special interests. We have to let (people) know that our city will not be seized without our voices being heard.”

Pastor McBride added, “The only way we can really ensure that we’re going to be able to do that is to make sure that Oakland does not fall into such dishonor is to vote with a level of turnout that ensures the election is not close.”

“Barbara Lee has spoken for us, not just through slogans and not just through rhetoric, but she’s bought billions of dollars just in the last two years, arguably in the worst era of pandemic suffering. She has helped to stabilize the city,” he said.

Pastor McBride said that this race has attracted a lot of outside “money and supporters who align themselves with the likes of [President Donald] Trump. Any candidate running for mayor of Oakland who can be attractive to MAGA ought to give folks a pause. Why is Barbara Lee not the candidate for MAGA but Loren Taylor seems to be?”

Rev. Thompson said, “I’m concerned about the tone and the tenor of the race. We have proof from Washington, D.C., that elections matter. It is not just a matter of that you are running, but it is also how you are running. So, the idea that there would be an attempt to castigate the character of a woman who’s been wholly committed, not just to her district but to her city, is concerning.

“The idea that misinformation and alternative facts would be allowed to be propagated, unchecked, without any attempt to correct it by someone who seeks to be our leader is challenging to me,” said Thompson. “I support Barbara Lee because Barbara Lee is a proven leader.

“She’s proven that she can bring people together,” she said. “She has also proven when she stood as the lone person against the vote for a blank check in times of war that she cannot be bought, that she will keep the needs of the people, not just the needs of those who are considered elite or up-and-coming, but the needs of the least and the lost and the ‘left out’ of this city.”

Dr. Thompson said, “I support her because has been faithful to this city, whether you have seen her or whether you have not seen her. The millions and billions of dollars that she has brought to our area is unquestionable.”

The Black Church PAC, a national initiative led by faith leaders including Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, will post its endorsement of Congresswoman Barbara Lee this week.

Bishop Clark said, “In times like these we need someone who can fix and build our city and communities, and I believe that Congresswoman Barbara Lee can do the job”

“Barbara Lee has a proven track record of listening to the community and translating things into action, and not just talking about it, but doing it. And I believe that this is one of the qualities that will serve her well as being our mayor,” said Bishop Barnes.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Candidates Barbara Lee and Loren Taylor Raise Nearly $550,000 Combined for April 15 Mayor’s Race

According to their campaign filings, Lee has raised $293,000 and Taylor $253,000. Under campaign laws, individual contributions to candidate-controlled committees are capped at $650 per person and $1,300 for committees representing groups of people. Both candidates are receiving support from an independent expenditure committee, which can spend money to oppose or support a candidate but is not allowed to coordinate with them. These committees have no cap on what they can raise and spend.

Published

1 day ago

March 23, 2025

Oakland Post

Barbara Lee. and Loren Taylor. File photos.

By Post Staff

Since January, the two highest profile mayoral candidates – former Congresswoman Barbara Lee and former Oakland City Councilmember Loren Taylor – have raised nearly $550,000 combined for the April 15 special election.

According to their campaign filings, Lee has raised $293,000 and Taylor $253,000.

Under campaign laws, individual contributions to candidate-controlled committees are capped at $650 per person and $1,300 for committees representing groups of people.

Both candidates are receiving support from an independent expenditure committee, which can spend money to oppose or support a candidate but is not allowed to coordinate with them. These committees have no cap on what they can raise and spend.

Among Lee’s more well-known backers are:

Seth Olyer, president of Oakland’s fire union
The Alameda Labor Council PAC
IFPTE Local 21
IBEW Local 595
Oakland Education Association PAC
SEIU Local 1021
Civil rights lawyer John Burris
William Crotinger, president of Argent Materials
Former Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris
Acts Full Gospel Church Bishop Bob Jackson
Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown

Two independent expenditure committees are backing Lee. “Citizens For A Brighter Oakland Future” has raised $25,225, mostly from Raymond Gallagher, founder of Scott’s Seafood Grill and Bar.

The other committee, “Supporters of Barbara Lee for Oakland Mayor 2025, A Coalition Of Business, Labor and Public Safety Organizations for a Better Oakland,” has raised over $168,000. Contributors mostly include unions, such as SEIU Local 1021 and IFPTE Local 21, which represent city workers. Other funds come from the billboard company Foster Interstate Media and PG&E.

Taylor’s prominent backers:

Former Alameda County judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, who led the campaign to recall Mayor Sheng Thao last year and lost her race to become city attorney
Former Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley
Alexandria Medina, executive director of the Oakland Public Education Fund
Landlord and activist Chris Moore, who ran unsuccessfully last year for a position on the county board of supervisors
Jackie Ray, director of government affairs at Clorox
Former state senator Joe Simitian
John Wayland, developer with Holland Partner Group
Sachin Agarwal, the director of GrowSF.
Ryan Graciano, co-founder of Credit Karma

Two independent expenditure committees are supporting Taylor. “Oakland Neighbors, Businesses & Public Safety Advocates for Loren Taylor for Mayor and against Barbara Lee.” Though this this committee has not filed a list of contributions and expenditures for 2025, it has reported three big contributions, $25,000 from real estate developer Ronald Nahas; $10,000 from Charles Freiburg, co-founder of the Life Insurance Consumer Advocacy Center; and $1,000 from Derek Benham, owner of a wine company.