It’s settled. A whopping seven candidates have qualified with the City Clerk’s office to run to replace Jean Quan as District 4’s representative on the Oakland City Council. In alphabetical order, they are: Jill Broadhurst, Jason Gillen, Ralph Kanz, Clinton Killian, Libby Schaaf, Melanie Shelby and Daniel Swafford.
A few months ago, the Piedmont Pines Neighborhood Association had a cocktail party for the candidates to meet some potential voters, as well as one another. Jay Ward, a member of the PPNA’s board, said that the “debutante’s ball” drew around 60 people. Ward expects a lot more for the candidate forum the PPNA is hosting on September 14 at Joaquin Miller Elementary School. He said that the precise format hasn’t been finalized, a tricky task with so many candidates. All of the candidates have confirmed that they’ll be there except for Daniel Swafford, said Ward.
Since that party at Monaghan’s in early June the candidates have made progress. Take a peek, for example, at Libby Schaaf’s list of endorsements.
What: District Four Candidate Forum
When: September 14, 7pm
Where: Joaquin Miller Elementary School, 5525 Ascot Drive
Today in Montclair, 94611 
Wondering why you singled out one candidate’s list of endorsements.
Sandra – Thanks for asking. I singled it out because it is so long, and is representative of the work many of the candidates have been putting in to their campaigns. My intent was not to promote Libby’s campaign over another. Endorsements can be a double-edged sword. There are names on Libby’s list that are anathema to District Four voters.