Posts for Tag: election

Stunning upset - Jean Quan is in line to be Oakland's next mayor.

Ok, I was wrong yet again. It what may be considered a pretty stunning upset, Jean Quan has taken the lead from Don Perata to be Oakland's next mayor. The ranked-choice voting system seems to have allocated a fair number of votes from my choice, Rebecca Kaplan, to Quan instead of Perata. I myself don't know the methodology behind how these votes are counted but it looks like there was some sort of round robin allocation spanning 10 rounds (confused yet?). Here are the results from the County of Alameda's website.

The tabulations have not yet been finalized so we'll have to wait another day or so before the registrar makes the official announcement. Still, it's a small victory given that I didn't think much of Quan (the lesser of two evils) but feel she would be more willing to work with people like Kaplan versus Perata who would cater to his cronies and be just an overall ineffective executor of the duties of mayor. He's good at playing the political game but Oakland has real problems that need to be addressed and not just someone looking for another item on their resume.

Follow on to the previous post ... A promising candidate for Oakland mayorship

I don't know much about Rebecca Kaplan. I'm only hearing about her candidacy for mayor of Oakland after reading the Q&A re: the proposed Oakland Streetcar Line. Her bio definitely sets her apart from the current batch of Oakland politicians. MIT Degree and JD from Stanford (won't hold it against her) in addition to being intimately knowledgeable of public transportation systems. Could be what Oakland needs... somebody not Ron Dellums.

Touch screen love!

I'm watching the CNN and NBC coverage of the election and I'm amazed with the new huge touch screen interfaces. Very impressive and I can't help but think that this is the next wave in user interface designs kicked off by the iPhone. The two point pinch is in full effect! Also, if you're in Cali and you haven't voted, do so now! It's more than just the Presidential election (which is pretty much set already for Cali) - there are a few very important ballot initiatives that are definitely not yet decided. Regardless of which side you fall under, it's important to make your voice heard. The only wasted vote is one not made.