Oakland Mayor Jean Quan wants a new team! There has been a rash of staff changes in the wake of the unpopular eviction of Occupy Oakland from Oakland City Hall that happened Monday of last week.
First, that legal adviser and Oakland legend Dan Siegel resigned last Monday was the worst kept secret in Oakland, leaving as he did with the implication that Mayor Quan was supporting “the one percent” against “the 99 percent” that the Occupy Movement represents.
Dan made his feelings known on Facebook and Twitter, but failed to publicly say he would back the recall effort said to have $100,000 committed to it as of this writing. That’s still up in the air.
But as Dan was out of the door, and bragging about it, Sharon Cornu, the Mayor’s Chief of Staff, was out of a job after she too resigned. Her action caused one reader and Oakland insider to send this email:
Word on the street this week: Mayor Jean Quan’s staff is definitely not missing Sharon Cornu, who ‘resigned’ as deputy mayor. Many in City Hall felt Cornu was controlling, manipulative, untrustworthy, and an idealogue who pushed the Mayor too far to the left. And Dan Siegel was seen as a media whore. City Hall insiders are hoping for a more balanced team in the Mayor’s office now.
Wow. So, it looks like Mayor Quan’s without two of the most leftist people on her staff, Siegel and Cornu. But not only is a good part of the liberal base of her staff gone, it signals a wrong turn into a more conservative approach for Mayor Quan.
Frankly, I’ll miss Sharon, who was not above giving me frequent reports on her take about what I blogged regarding Mayor Quan, even whispering stuff I couldn’t understand as she passed by me at City Hall meetings.
Maybe it’s good I don’t hear her all the time, but I digress.
This will certainly raise more flags for those who were not backing any recall effort. The last thing Oakland wants is a democratic Mayor who’s really gone Republican, at least in her stance with Occupy Oakland.
Stay tuned.