Oakland Mayor Hires Lesbians for Top Posts

In her first seven months in office, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf has hired a number of lesbians for top posts in her administration. And more out staffers could be working for her at City Hall as Schaaf continues to hire for key jobs.
Tomiquia Moss is Mayor Libby Schaaf's chief of staff.

Joining her from day one have been Peggy Moore , a senior adviser to the mayor who ran her campaign last year, and Tomiquia Moss, hired by Schaaf to be her chief of staff, as announced in a guest opinion piece Schaaf wrote for the Bay Area Reporter in January.

"Definitely, it is different being inside City Hall," said Moore, 51, a longtime Democratic Party activist who worked on President Barack Obama's campaigns. "But it is a difference I welcome and can handle. I am learning so much."

While her purview is broadly defined, Moore has focused on a number of youth-oriented initiatives so far this year. She organized 100 youth circles looking at restorative justice issues and retooled Oakland's summer jobs program for youth to be a Classroom to Career model.

She is also overseeing the city's rollout of the My Brothers Keeper Initiative, a White House program focused on young men of color. As for leaving to work on another presidential campaign next year, Moore said she is committed to working for the mayor during her first term.

"I have no intentions of leaving my post and working on any presidential campaign. Let's be clear about that," she said.

Moss comes to the mayor's office after a long stint working in various positions in San Francisco. She had been the community planning policy director for the Bay Area-based urban policy think tank SPUR.

Mayor Ed Lee had hired Moss to be the executive director of his HOPE SF Initiative aimed at rehabbing the city's public housing developments. Prior to that, Moss helped establish the SF Community Justice Center as a program director with the San Francisco Superior Court.

Moss could not be reached for comment for this article. At the time of her hiring she said she believes "that we all have a role to play in making Oakland the best city that it can be" in a press release issued by the mayor.
Oakland assistant city administrator Claudia Cappio

In April Schaaf also lured back to the East Bay city Claudia Cappio to be an assistant city administrator focused on development issues. Cappio, 61, resigned from Governor Jerry Brown's administration, where she served as executive director of both the California State Department of Housing and Community Development and the California Housing Finance Agency, to return to Oakland City Hall.

For seven years, starting in 2000, Cappio served as Oakland's development director and executive director of the Oakland Base Reuse Authority. Her work then included the renovation of the historic Fox Theater, the major waterfront Brooklyn Basin development, redevelopment of Jack London Square with new residential buildings and businesses, and Brown's housing initiative to attract 10,000 new residents to the city's downtown area.

Five years ago Cappio, who lives in Oakland with her wife, Margaret Stone, served on the transition team for former Mayor Jean Quan, who lost her bid for a second term to Schaaf. Since working in Schaaf's administration, Cappio has taken a lead role in the discussions centered on building new stadiums for Oakland's football and baseball teams.

Cappio did not respond to an interview request for this article. In a news release about her hiring, she said she was "humbled and excited" to work again in the city she has called home for three decades.

"Oakland has so much to offer and I am grateful to be asked to play a part in this exciting time in Oakland's development," she stated. "My recent work at the state confirms what I already knew - that Oakland is a rich and exciting urban area with the physical and human resources to be an awesome, sustainable 21st century city."
Oakland assistant city administrator Christine Daniel

The latest hires came in June when Berkeley City Manager Christine Daniel announced she was stepping down July 24 to work as an assistant city administrator for Schaaf and City Administrator Sabrina Landreth, who began July 1. Daniel, a 25-year resident of Oakland, will start in her new job Monday, August 10.

"I am honored to be joining the Oakland team," stated Daniel in a release announcing her hiring. "I look forward to working in my home city and devoting my skills and experience to a place that I love."

Hired at the same time was Stephanie Hom as deputy city administrator, who started in her new role July 27. She had been Moraga's administrative services director, focused on financial issues. Hom has lived in Oakland with her family since 1991.

"I love Oakland and I'm extremely honored and excited to be able to work for the Oakland community and alongside City of Oakland employees who work hard every day to help make Oakland better and brighter," stated Hom.

In an interview with the B.A.R. last month, Schaaf said she was "very proud" to "have put together this championship team" at City Hall.

"I think the new leadership in this city is very reflective of the city, and that includes a lot of high-ranking talent that happens to be, I will say, actually all lesbians," said Schaaf.

Asked about her hiring so many lesbians to top posts in her administration in stark contrast to San Francisco's City Hall, where a number of gay men are in top posts, Schaaf acknowledged, "I have not recruited any gay men."

She joked that she and her counterpart across the bay, "Maybe we can have a cultural exchange for a little bit, the Venus to Mars."

Her hiring decisions make sense, added Schaaf, when looking at the demographics of the two cities' LGBT communities.

"We have a larger lesbian population. San Francisco has a larger gay population right," she said.

More LGBT people could be named to Schaaf's administration in the coming weeks as she has a number of high-ranking positions still to fill. Among them are directors overseeing the city's departments for information technology, public art, and marketing. Leaders are also being hired to head the newly created offices of transportation, finance, and race and equity.

Her staffing decisions to date have won praise from Oakland LGBT leaders, many of who supported other candidates in last year's mayoral race.

"I think she has put together one of the best teams I have seen around an executive in my 30 years of politics," said Oakland Port Commissioner Michael Colbruno, a gay man and political consultant who led Quan's re-election campaign. "It is the who's who of the best city administrative staff you can put together."

It demonstrates that Schaaf "is not intimidated by having really smart people around her. To me, that is a sign of a good executive," said Colbruno.

Brendalynn Goodall, president of the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, an LGBT political group that remained neutral in the mayor's race, also applauded Schaaf for ensuring her administration includes members of the LGBT community.

"I think they are not only five lesbians but also five qualified women," said Goodall, a lesbian who retired from her job with the city as a manager overseeing aging and adult services. "They are five women who have a wealth of experience. It is good to see her staff reflects the diversity of Oakland."

In her role as a mayoral senior adviser, Moore is also Schaaf's de facto liaison to the LGBT community.

"I think everyone sees Peggy Moore as my liaison. She is a recognized leader in the LGBT community," said Schaaf. "As my senior adviser, she is extremely close with me. I would say I have her ear, she has my ear."

One of Moore's main duties is to recruit candidates to fill vacancies on the city's various boards and commissions. In the spring she met with the Stonewall club to discuss the process for applying to the city's various oversight bodies.

The two most powerful, the port and planning commissions, both have current members from the LGBT community. The positions are often launching pads to run for public office, which is why ensuring LGBT people are appointed has been a key priority for the Stonewall club.

"We are working with Peggy to talk about future appointments," said Goodall. "We want to see more LGBTQ candidates considered for appointments. We want to make sure they hear our voice."

While there are no vacancies at the moment on the port or planning bodies, Moore said the mayor's office is reviewing the current makeup of all oversight panels and commissions.

"We are looking at every board and commission and want to take a deep dive into them. We are making sure they are well rounded and have what they need to be successful," said Moore.

As she has done in hiring her staff, Schaaf told the B.A.R. she is committed to making diverse appointments.

"I think it is important to make sure the LGBT community is represented on all the boards and commissions," she said. "I encourage people who want to serve their city and represent this particular community to please come forward. It is a fantastic way to serve your city and learn about city government."

Anyone interested in serving on an Oakland oversight body can call Moore directly at (510) 238-3460 or email her at mailto:[email protected].

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings at noon for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reported on a "district swap" between assemblymen from SF and LA.

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Got a tip on LGBT politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or e-mail [email protected]