OAKLAND — Rebecca Kaplan entered the City Council chambers Tuesday as she has done hundreds of times before. Only this time she was in charge, a new council president presiding over a new-look council determined to try different solutions for longstanding problems: housing the homeless, providing affordable housing for Oakland’s working class, and making sure every citizen is treated equally and with respect.

The shift in power and tone was palpable, and it wasn’t just the three new faces — the most since 2013. Kaplan oversaw her first meeting as president with a musical performance instead of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. She also put council members on a short leash — making them limit their announcements to the same short time limit imposed on the public.

Her rise in stature, after twice losing mayoral runs, brings Kaplan closer to being a co-equal in terms of power against Mayor Libby Schaaf. In Oakland, besides carrying great political clout, the mayor can break a tied council vote, hires top department heads, such as the police chief and fire chief, and has jurisdiction over the city’s budget. Even so, the budget and mayoral appointments need council approval.

The Council president, on the other hand, has the ability to appoint members to key committee positions that guide the city’s agenda and policies in policing, housing, public works and community and economic development.

“We like to think we have a strong mayor but (most) everything has to go through City Council,” said Joseph Tuman, a San Francisco State University professor of political and legal communications and Oakland resident. “There’s a lot of political power there and the administration of city government is really more with the city administrator. In a lot of ways the council is certainly more powerful at the end of the day.”

The new energy will certainly bring about change. But only time will tell how much influence Kaplan will have in shaping city policies, and if she’ll be able to control the different dynamics and personalities of the eight-member board. But one thing is clear: the entire body is hoping for more civility and consensus at City Hall now that Desley Brooks has left the building.

Brooks was known as a fighter for her East Oakland district, even if it meant clashing with city staff and colleagues. The tension she created was one reason Annie Campbell Washington did not run for a second term. Loren Taylor, who defeated Brooks in November, vowed to bring civility to the board.

“We can do more when we are anchored together,” Taylor said. “I’m not driven by personality but instead driving the issues that are critical for District 6 residents and all of Oakland.”

After the November election Mayor Schaaf met with Kaplan and her staff, and each of the new council members.

“A new City Council is always an opportunity for new progress,” Schaaf said in a statement. “Our city voted and made it clear: They want civility and big accomplishments out of their City Council. I’m looking forward to working with them to achieve those goals.”

Tuman said he expects “an environment where you can have honest disagreements between the council and the mayor.”

Tuman, who ran against Kaplan and Schaaf in the 2014 mayoral race, said it was wise of Kaplan not to run against Schaaf in November. But she was still busy. Kaplan endorsed two candidates, Nikki Fortunado Bas and Sheng Thao, who defeated candidates backed by the mayor. Thao, Kaplan’s former chief of staff, and Fortunado Bas are widely viewed as Kaplan’s allies. Taylor is a wild card.

Those alliances will be key when Schaaf returns with her new two-year budget. In 2017, Kaplan and Councilman Noel Gallo were among a voting bloc challenging the mayor’s priorities and pushing for cuts in police spending and for giving more funds to housing and serving the homeless. Outside of the city’s budget, Schaaf has worked with private organizations to raise money for her $9 million Keep Oakland Housed program. This month, Kaiser Permanente in partnership with Schaaf and nonprofit groups announced the purchase of an East Oakland building for affordable housing and vowed to help 500 homeless residents get off the street.

Fortunato Bas has criticized the mayor, arguing that the city’s housing crisis won’t be solved by private charities and the efforts must include forcing corporations and developers to build affordable housing. In an interview this week, Fortunado Bas, who represents neighbors around Lake Merritt, said she will focus on “housing as a human right.”

“Over the course of the campaign, it was really clear people want to have transparency in how the Oakland budget works,” she said. “I’m trying to bring an approach that looks at balancing services to all of Oakland’s residents.”

The new council also is poised to further strengthen protections for tenants and push for below-market and affordable housing, according to interviews with Taylor, Fortunado Bas and Kalb. As of the middle of 2018, Oakland had about 8,500 housing units under construction and another 8,000 units in the pipeline, a fraction of which was designated as affordable housing.

“The previous council did not ignore those things but we previously took it to a certain level,” said Dan Kalb, the new council president pro tempore. “This new council overall might take to it to an even higher level.”

Because of the housing boom, Kalb said the city is no longer as desperate for developers to build. Rather, it needs to ensure below-market units are going in. “It’s an ongoing challenge because most of the market-rate developers, they are business people, they are looking to maximize their revenue. My job is (to say) ‘whether you like it or not, tough we need it.’ ”

Of course, a new council does not mean a city changes overnight. As Kalb put it, Oakland today grapples with the same problems it had six months ago. Fiscal constraints remains as well.

“We have a certain budget and our budget is going to be what it’s going to be,” Kalb said. “Having three new people doesn’t create a bunch of money out of nowhere.”