Former Oakland Mayor Jean Quan to work for Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf? Yes!
On March 30th, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf sent out a tweet announcing she was taking applications for a Policy Director for Youth and Education, or ‘Youth Policy Director.’ The YDP has a number of responsibilities, including, according to the description:
Chief policy advisor to the Mayor on issues of education from early childhood through post-secondary and adult education. Help the Mayor ensure a policy environment that supports the goals of equity, access, and quality across the public education landscape: early childhood, PK-12 public schools, post-secondary, and adult education.
Liaison and support for all education-related agencies in the city (public schools, higher education, and youth and family serving city agencies). These agencies have varying governance structures and levels of independence. The Policy Director will identify and support opportunities for collaboration across this landscape, to ensure the Mayor is aware of the progress and priorities of each agency, and to hold city and county agencies accountable for their strategic use of government resources.
Interagency coordination. While much of the work of education happens within schools and their dedicated agencies, there are many issues that benefit from—or even require—reaching across the government into non-education agencies. From crossing guards, to mental health workers, to support for chronic absenteeism prevention and intervention, our partner agencies across the city, county, and state governments play a critical role in the success of our schools. Ensure that these outside school supports are in place and coordinated effectively across government clusters. Work closely with the Policy Director for Community Safety and others on a range of issues to ensure that we are maximizing City resources in support of our education priorities.
After considering many candidates, and even fielding suggested names passed on over social media, Mayor Schaaf shockingly turned to Mayor Quan to fill the role, saying “I know it’s a bit unusual, but who better than the former Mayor of Oakland, who’s focus was youth education-related, to come back to the office and focus on that for me? Jean Quan will make an excellent Policy Director for Youth and Education.
(Not to mention help pay off some of that campaign debt she incurred.)
For her part, Mayor Quan is really excited to get started “I’m honored and proud that Mayor Schaaf picked me to assist her as Policy Director for Youth and Education. And her actions showed that she was actually paying attention to what I was doing while I was mayor and she was councilmember.”
This move marks the first time in Oakland history that a sitting mayor hired a former mayor to work directly for them. This means that Jean Quan will return to the Oakland Mayor’s Office, and while it’s in a supporting role, she can lurk like a ghost and toss out little reminders of how she did things.
Right?
Quan says “no:” “I know my role and will not go outside of it. Now that doesn’t mean I’m not available to assist the Mayor Schaaf in something else, if she asks.”
Hmm. Like Coliseum City? This is going to be interesting.
Right now, it’s just a Lirpa Sloof!