For the many who never knew Oakland Mayor Lionel Wilson, who was Oakland’s last three-term Mayor, and its first African American Mayor, serving from 1977 to 1991, when he lost to Elihu Harris.
During his time, Mayor Wilson was a tireless promoter of Oakland. The video below has Mayor Wilson making a video to announce the State Urban Economic Development Conference to help prospective developers and business owners build and relocate in Oakland. In the video, Wilson presents different views of Oakland, showing everyone what a great city it really is.
By contrast, Oakland doesn’t have such events in the present day. Instead, we have meetings to present our public safety plans to residents. It’s all fear-based, not economics based, and at a time when Oakland needs to create more jobs.
Mayor Wilson died of cancer in 1990.
Sean Sullivan