Oakland Mayor Quan's State Of The City Optimism May Not Be Enough For Re-Election
OAKLAND (KCBS)— Oakland Mayor Jean Quan delivered her last State of The City Address Thursday before facing voters in her re-election effort this fall. While Quan showed optimism, a new poll suggests that may not be enough for Oakland residents to keep her in office.
Quan used her address to focus on public safety and economic growth in addition to outlining her plans that would bring 10,000 new residents to the city.
"We will prioritize crime where the crime is and we will be there for you," she said, adding that nearly 100 candidates are attending Oakland police academies to become officers.
Quan said that if the hopefuls graduate at the expected rate that the city could be over 700 officers, which according to her, would be the first time the department has had those kinds of numbers in years.
Former Oakland Mayor and current Gov. Jerry Brown had a similar plan to Quan's on increasing Oakland's attractiveness to bring in more people to its downtown Area.
Quan, however, said her approach was different. "We expect to grow this 10K throughout the city, not just downtown, but in every neighborhood."
The Mayor said she wants 25 percent of new housing units to be affordable.
Meanwhile, according to a KPIX-5 Survey USA Poll, 24 percent of the people living in Oakland approve of the job Quan is doing.
64 percent of respondents to the poll said they feel like Oakland is headed in the wrong direction, 49 percent said the quality of life is getting worse, and 71 percent said crime is the number one issue facing the city.