Luka’s Taproom and Lounge To Hold Oakland Mayor’s Race Candidates Days!
Following up on an idea he expressed to me a couple of months ago, Rick Mitchell, the owner and founder of Luka’s Taproom on the corner of Broadway and Grand Avenue (at the site of the old Hofbrau, and the last of its kind in Oakland), is having a series of “Oakland Mayor’s Race Candidates Days” starting August 12th at 5:30 PM, at 2221 Broadway.
During our talk about Mr.Mitchell’s great idea, I begged him to include as many of the people running for Mayor of Oakland, as possible. Rick really didn’t have to listen to me at all, frankly. But, Mitchell said he would do his best to follow that idea, and you know what, he did just that!
What the “Oakland Mayor’s Race Candidates Days” are is a chance for those running for Mayor to meet Oaklanders face-to-face in a public setting. Each person running is expected to be present and available during their time slot. The format itself is in the form of a meet-greet-and-eat, which is a cool way for visitors to experience one of the best burgers and fries combinations made in Oakland! (And candidates, when you get there, walk around and shake hands with people, don’t sit down and expect people to come to you!)
Of the 20 candidates for Mayor, 13 of them are represented here, and it’s not because Rick didn’t want to reach out to any one person. If you think about it, a kind of quasi-forum like this is the perfect combination of ‘great for Luka’s, great for Oakland.’ It brings Oakland politics to those who should be, if you will, consuming it, but perhaps don’t have time to – or just aren’t interested in doing so, and have to be sold on the idea (believe it or not).
And they can do it over a great meal.
Anyway, I can see which candidates aren’t on the list, and should get in touch with Rick as soon as possible: Ken Houston, Peter Liu, Gregory Wade (do you ever show up for anything, dude?), Margaret Wrigley Lawson (same question), Larry Lionel Young, and I know Jesse Smith isn’t running, but his name’s not crossed out, so he is as far as I’m concerned. Eric Wilson and Fred Wesley are new, and need to make themselves known to Oaklanders.
There should be an ordinance prohibiting signing up to run for Mayor of Oakland, then doing nothing to promote yourself and tell Oaklanders why they should vote for you. The rule should be that if you’re not making best efforts to promote yourself, even if that means just having a website or Facebook page and appearances at debates, then your name should be removed from consideration. Such a law would weed out about one-quarter of the people running today.
With that, here’s the list of candidates participating in the “Oakland Mayor’s Race Candidates Days At Luka’s.” It all kicks off with Oakland Green Party Candidate Jason Anderson on Tuesday, August 12th, ends October 28th with Courtney Ruby, and has a good run of people in September and in October.
August:
12th – Jason Anderson
19th – Sam Washington
26 – Saied Karamooz
September:
2nd – Nancy Sidebotham
9th Charles Williams
16th – Patrick McCullough
23rd – Brian Parker
30 – Joe Tuman
October:
6th [MONDAY] – Jean Quan
14th – Rebecca Kaplan
20th [MONDAY] – Libby Schaaf
21st – Dan Siegel
28th – Courtney Ruby
Good luck, and if you’re reading this, and plan to attend one of the times, please take photos and videos and post them on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. Also, if you have any questions, send me an email at [email protected] and I’ll pass it on to Rick, or if necessary, put you in touch with him.
And thanks, again, to Rick, for this civic gift! More Oakland restaurants and cafes should do this!