City Administrator On Her Way Out?
I've never made it a secret that I do not care for Oakland's City Administor, Deborah Edgerly.

I think the first time I got a really bad feeling about her was at a Women in Business (Oakland) gathering where she was a guest speaker. She kept rah-rah'ing about how she'd raised this fee and that fee and how she'd moved her way up the ranks by making her bosses look good and by finding more ways to make money. It seemed to me, at the time, that she wasn't saying anything that was pro the small business owner. What's funny is that all these other women were clapping and cheering her on, not thinking about all the fees that have been raised since Edgerly became City Administrator. I kept looking around wondering why all these women in business were clapping. More fees typically means less money left at the end to pay ourselves as small business owners. And the funnier thing was that of the 6-7 other women business owners I spoke with that day, all complained about fees for permits, etc. Uh, hello? Were you the same women just clapping and cheering on Ms. Edgerly?

Then, there was the whole mixed-use parking permit plan. When Edgerly first met with members of the Jack London District Ad Hoc On-Street Parking Improvement Committee (JLDA did not exist back then), she was the one to come out and provide the parameters as to what we could do since the majority were against blanketing the neighborhood with parking meters. Her main criteria was that any proposal would not make money, and that it would be revenue neutral. A few years later when the mixed-use permit plan went to Council, she opposed it because she wanted it to make money and she touted how much money parking meters would have made for the City. She and Desley Brooks were pushing for $600/year. I personally believe that if you only focus on funds from meters (which is one reason I quit the parking task force), that you are not helping businesses - businesses that could bring in more money if their customers could park or get there more easily... chicken or the egg syndrome.

Okay, so move time forward to the second Mingles cabaret license hearing. Ms. Edgerly did not attend the first cabaret license hearing, which had about a dozen or so people. The second hearing had at least 50 people, including Ms. Edgerly, and was much more... um, tense. I was threatened by someone on my way out and it was not comfortable. Ms. Edgerly appeared in support of Mingles as an African-American establishment. She refused to shut down the club, even though OPD could not handle the issues surrounding the club, nor would club owners abide by the terms set by the City. Instead, they were given yet another chance. It would take the death of a pregnant club goer to finally end the Mingles drama.

So today, SFGate has this story and the Tribune has this story. It seems likely that Ms. Edgerly will probably retire with bennies come Monday.

No idea who is next in line for the position. I hope that the City conducts a serious search for a seasoned pro.
Posted 6/20/2008