Government
Mar. 3, 2004
Oakland to Vote on Strong-Mayor System
SAN FRANCISCO - Oakland voters will decide today whether the strong-mayor form of government they adopted in 1998 - a reform that also gave them an elected rather than appointed city attorney - will become a permanent feature of the city's political landscape.
If Measure P fails, Oakland would revert to the weak-mayor form of government. Under that system, the mayor no longer acts as chief executive, but instead is a member of the City Council. An appointed city manager controls the city's administrative departments, and the City Council typically appoints the city attorney.
John Russo, the sitting city attorney, is poised to retain his job either way. He is up for re-election on today's ballot and has no opponent. City rules say he may not be removed by the City Council before the end of his new term regardless of the Measure P outcome.
Russo remains an outspoken advocate of retaining an independently elected city attorney, regardless of whether Oakland voters prefer a strong mayor or a weak one.
In fact, he argued last year for separating the two issues on today's ballot, but a City Council-appointed commission didn't go along with him.
Russo says that under a strong mayor a city needs an independent city attorney to mediate and interpret the respective powers of the mayor and the City Council.
"It's not unlike the judicial branch interpreting the powers of the executive and legislative branch of the government," Russo said.
An elected city attorney also is preferable under a weak mayor system, where the mayor and the council become part of one body, he said. An independent city attorney can give unpopular legal advice without being worried about being fired by the council, he said.
"The [city attorney's] client is the people who live in the city and own businesses and pay taxes in the city," Russo said. "If he's appointed, he knows that five votes can get him fired, and that might lead to not doing what is best for the public."
This allegiance to the public and not politicians plays out when the city attorney makes decisions about public access to government information, for example, Russo argued.
"When the city attorney is elected by the public, the tie will go to the public," he said.
If Measure P fails, Oakland would return to the weak-mayor form of government at least until the general election in November. The City Council is expected to place a strong-mayor initiative on the ballot once again at that time if Measure P is voted down. In that case, the city would have a weak mayor and an elected city attorney until then.
Zachary Wasserman, Measure P committee chairman, said that scenario could create some uncertainty.
"It's just a less predictable situation," said Wasserman. "When there is a legal disagreement, will the city attorney end up on the side of the city manager or the City Council?"
Observers say allowing voters to elect the city attorney can politicize the position regardless of the form of government.
"By and large, the cities of California are very well served by very competent municipal attorneys," said Steven Frates, a senior fellow at Claremont McKenna College's Rose Institute of state and local government. "When you move to a political environment [with an elected city attorney] that is not the case."
Richard Winnie, who served as Oakland's city attorney from 1981 to 1987, said he sees no need for an elected city attorney in a weak-mayor government because it is clear who the attorney serves: the City Council that appoints him.
However, he agreed that an elected city attorney works better under a strong mayor.
One problem that does not go away when there is a strong mayor and elected city attorney is the potential for competition between council members and the city attorney, said Winnie.
"There is some suggestion that the current city attorney may want to run for mayor some day and that a member of the council may also want to run for mayor," Winnie said. "That kind of competition among elected officials erodes trust and creates tension within the organization."
Robert Selna
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