Woman Replaces Woman in Oakland Mayor's Office

Oakland Mayor-elect Libby Schaaf
(Image: libbyschaaf.com)

For all the fuss about the US Senate elections, a very interesting electoral phenomenon took place in Oakland, California. The local stakes included a vote for a new mayor. What was curious was that the three candidates were all female, including the incumbent, Jean Quan. Ms. Mayor did not win re-election; city councilwoman Libby Schaaf decisively outpolled Quan and Rebecca Kaplan.

It is highly unlikely that any major American city has offered a ticket of exclusively women candidates for a major office. However, Oakland is a curious political case, with a feisty, left-leaning population and intense social and economic issues facing it. The city lives in San Francisco's shadow, and the rise of Silicon Valley has only exacerbated the sense of Oakland's inferiority. Ironically, the acceleration of real estate prices into San Francisco's stratosphere has pushed people to "discover" Oakland. The usual suspects -- galleries, inexpensive restaurants, clothing stores -- are starting to open. However, women running the political show is definitely not business as usual, and bears watching in the months ahead.

Investors Target Oakland Foreclosures as Rental "Opportunities"

A Church in West Oakland

Oakland, California has experienced more than its fair share of foreclosures since the US housing market bubble popped a few years ago. Recently, investors have been purchasing foreclosed homes in the city's tough western neighborhood. What's interesting is that the homes' new owners are not reselling the homes. Instead, according to a story in today's online edition of sfgate.com, the houses are being rented.

The catch in the story is that the rents are more than the former owners' mortgage monthly mortgage payments. (I don't know the profit margin on that type of transaction.) The higher rent scenario would logically shut out the previous residents from returning to their homes. Who is moving in? The likely suspects are those people who can barely afford a broom closet in San Francisco, where the rents are at Manhattan levels. They are now the spearhead of the gentrification of certain West Oakland blocks, an inconceivable thought only a few years ago.

Unstated in the sfgate.com piece is where the uprooted families go. I suspect that, if it were up to the investors, the dispossessed would simply disappear.

Call Center Firm Purchases Oakland's Tribune Tower

Tribune Tower, Oakland (photo from Oakland Public Library)

In a telling sign of the times, CallSocket, a call center outfit, has acquired Oakland, California's historic Tribune Tower building. According to a story in today's San Jose Mercury News, the selling price was eight million dollars. By New York So96 standards, ocho million would barely qualify for the downpayment on a pavement parking lot. However, downtown Oakland is a different market.

The Tribune Tower used to house the Oakland Tribune newspaper. The publication moved some years ago to a building near the local airport.

What's curious about the Tribune Tower purchase is one of its buyers. "To assist with the purchase," the Mercury News story noted, "the buyers used a federal program designed for immigrant investors called EB-5 visa. Under modified versions of the original 1990 law, immigrants can obtain green cards for themselves and family members when they make significant investments and create jobs in areas where the jobless rate is 1.5 times the nationwide unemployment rate."