Oakland council to see major turnover OAKLAND At least 3 seats will turn over in fractious group

Council woman Jane Brunner, listens to fellow council members as the Oakland City Council moves to approve a budget proposal to make a drastic $28 million cut to its current budget. This move would eliminate about 100 jobs in a major city reorganization prompted by the loss of redevelopment funds. Photo taken on Tuesday January 31, 2012. less Council woman Jane Brunner, listens to fellow council members as the Oakland City Council moves to approve a budget proposal to make a drastic $28 million cut to its current budget. This move would eliminate ... more Photo: Michael Macor, SFC Photo: Michael Macor, SFC Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Oakland council to see major turnover 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

The Oakland City Council will have at least three new council members after the November election, a turnover unseen for 16 years that threatens to upend the council's fractious dynamics.

Three incumbents are leaving their posts, and one of those, Ignacio De La Fuente, has decided to vie for the at-large seat held by Rebecca Kaplan.

In a council where verbal barbs and personal attacks have become frequent and where consensus is rare, even council members say they're excited about what the election will bring.

"It's going to be enough change to change the dynamics of the City Council," said De La Fuente. "It's been kind of a dysfunctional family for a couple years, if not longer."

Councilwoman Pat Kernighan, who is not up for re-election, said: "I'm very hopeful that we can establish a better group dynamic."

City politics have long favored incumbent candidates, which critics say is due, in part, to campaign finance rules and the way district elections make a council member a mini-mayor of their district.

The council members leaving their posts - Jane Brunner, Nancy Nadel and De La Fuente - have been on the council for a combined 52 years.

In a city with no term limits, the other five council members have a total of 40 years on the council. Mayor Jean Quan has been in office for two years, but was on the council for eight years.

25 candidates

As with any time a sitting council member steps aside, the interest is heavy. There are 25 candidates who have qualified for the three open seats.

"Open seats bring out a large number of very qualified candidates," said Councilwoman Libby Schaaf, the newest member of the council. "This election season promises to be exciting and thought-provoking."

Schaaf ran against six others for Quan's old seat in 2010 and said all but one had served on important boards or commissions and "had the kind of pedigree that you would expect a winning candidate to have."

Schaaf said open races have another positive effect, something that was ground into her during her own political training: "It's impossible to run against an incumbent without going negative and making a case why that person needed to be fired from their job. In an open race, you can just talk about your qualifications and let the voters make the comparisons themselves."

She added that the generally positive tone of campaigns, which have exceptions, have been helped by ranked-choice voting. Rivals court each others' supporters for second-choice votes, which can lead to victory.

Whether that kind of positive vibe will continue on the council is another matter. The eight-member body has been fraught with divisiveness since Quan became mayor in January 2011.

De La Fuente has emerged as Quan's most frequent critic. Councilwoman Desley Brooks often spars with Schaaf and Kernighan, who battle right back. Kaplan has drawn the ire of her colleagues for being absent at key votes.

The fact that the departing Brunner and Nadel have not been as embroiled in the bickering as the others makes some observers wonder whether the election will result in a less divisive council.

"This is a council that does not communicate well with each other," said Brunner. "No matter who is elected, that is an issue that has to be resolved."

Spats delay decisions

The city is facing issues ranging from debt, budgeting and policing to the possible relocation of its three sports franchises. Yet the council stalls on some of its most basic work. Council spats fueled a nearly yearlong delay in approving Quan's decision to replace one Port of Oakland commissioner.

"The inability to deal with serious issues that the city faces - and instead just basically deal with this month's crisis - is directly related to the fact that some of the City Council has just been there too long," said Bruce Nye, board chair of the good-government group, Make Oakland Better Now. "They're just used to the same old way of doing things and that becomes as entrenched as the people."

The conditions are why Nye's organization wants council members to have a limit of three consecutive terms. Attempts to bring term limits before voters - including by Brunner this year - have failed.

Helen Hutchison, a well-respected longtime council watcher, said the council has become so personality-driven rather than focused on policy that "they're like cats hissing at each other."

Yet she's unsure term limits is the answer.

"When you put term limits in, you get the problems you have in Sacramento," she said. "Everybody is doing things short-term and nobody is doing anything at all long-term."