Because that’s exactly what happened to Anne Campbell Washington in 2008. Washington, who comes from the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, took it upon herself to give an elderly woman who came to speak against an appointment to the Oakland Housing Authority by then-Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, a hug.
That caused Mayor Dellums’ people to blow a gasket.
At the time, Anne served in the Office of The City Administrator, but since that basically falls under the influence of the Mayor of Oakland, Dellums’ people had her bounced out of the City.
No kidding.
Stupid move? Yep.
Monday, Quan hired Washington as her new Chief of Staff, in the wake of the defections of legal adviser Dan Siegel and Chief of Staff Sharon Cornu last week, and in the wake of the police eviction of Occupy Oakland from Oakland City Hall Plaza.
Now Washington has another chance at bat, and with an all-female Oakland leadership, including the Mayor, hopefully she can be herself and not be fired for it.
Stay tuned.