I was just saying that from a political perspective, Chan was a bad idea. If the strategy is to make political appointments, a wise man goes for 5-3.

A fair Mayor goes for 8-0. Boxer got 8-0, and even if the trader-joes-union-thing bugged me, I think Boxer deserved 8-0. He’s committed to the task, and he’s fair.

I do think there are some issues with alliances on the commission in the opposite direction as Chan’s. Neutrality is impossible, of course. But the Yes-men on the commission are largely moderate, and so the No-ma’ams should be too.

I’m sick of people packing council chambers with youngish supporters who just show up and boo and hiss. It makes those kids look like they’re blind followers. If they would at least sign up to speak, we might be able to gauge whether or not they actually know what they’re supporting.

When I bring friends and allies to committee meetings, I make sure they know what they’re supporting, and I make sure to admonish them to be polite. I also care much more about getting insightful speakers to show up than about putting butts in seats.

Mayor Dellums has already appointed two people to the Planning Commission. Are they smarter than everyone else? Are they adding a lot to the discussion? Last time I went to a PC meeting, they weren’t even there. Mayor Dellums absolutely should not be seeking 5-3 votes, but unanimous votes. I’m disappointed that you didn’t learn anything from the divisive display last night.

Chan spoke after I did, and I got even less iffy, but when her supporters started grumbling and hissing and being uncivil, I realized that we were dealing with somebody supported by a bunch of ideologues.

I have a real problem with the far left’s tendency to be shrill and their propensity for direct action. Neither of those tendencies have accomplished a damn thing for the not-so-far left. As a matter of fact, they’ve been nothing but a liability for the past decade. If that’s who Chan’s friends are, than count me out.

I encourage Mayor Dellums to find someone with a similar resume who won’t come to the table with a pack of demagogues. I actually think we need some more diverse attitude on the Commission. If Dellums wants to accomplish this, he should try to find someone who can get through on a 5-3 vote. It was ludicrous for him to try to force this through from the position of weakness he’s sitting in.

Last night was not a vote for the Status Quo. It was a vote against a potentially radical and divisive change.

If I was able to predict that vote before it happened, (OK I didn’t know brooks would abstain, but the rest were predictable), the Mayor should have known too. Mr. Boxer’s appointment was unanimous.

If Mr. Dellums wanted a commissioner that was going to be a successful agent of change, he should have actively gotten Ms. Brooks and Ms. Kernighan on board by choosing somebody slightly less controversial. He didn’t need unanimity. He needed five votes. Instead, he overplayed his hand and got three.

Let me be clear, I wouldn’t have been there last night if Ms. Chan wasn’t so controversial. If the appointment was of a retired major developer, or an active one, I would have had a problem with that too. After Ms. Chan spoke, I got rather ambivalent about the whole thing, but the attitude of her supporters swayed me back. They were just too shrill.

The Office of the Mayor, Oakland City Council, and Oakland’s Department of Technology are seeking community members’ input on how city services might be enhanced by public wireless access to the Internet.

A series of public meetings will be held in Oakland council districts over
the coming weeks to learn how to increase public Internet access and how
residents wish to utilize wireless broadband technology to boost public
safety and improve the quality of life.

The first meeting will be Councilmember Desley Brook’s District 6 public
meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Community members wishing to
participate should contact (510) 764-2425 or email OaklandWireless@tellusventure.com. Please see attached list for additional district meeting dates and times.

Participants in public meetings who stay for the entire session will be
entered into a drawing to win an iPod shuffle at the end of that session.

In addition, a town hall meeting will be held on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008 at 5
p.m. at Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact (510) 764-2425 or email
Oaklandwireless@tellusventure.com