Shirley Dean - Mayor

Mayor

Shirley Dean was first elected Mayor of Berkeley in 1994 after a close run-off race.

She was re-elected by more than 56% of the vote in 1998. Some may remember that the month before her 1998 victory her opponent, Don Jelinek, accused her of having disguised her identity while visiting Wilmington College, the college that rival Councilmember and Jelinek supporter Kriss Worthington attended. Dean stated that she visited the school seeking to read about Worthington in the college’s newspaper, a public record. She also stated she never asked for non-public records and that upon the request of the college showed her California Driver’s License bearing her full name and address. There is no record of her ever having said a word about the material she read in the college's newspaper.

During most of her two-term tenure as Mayor, she worked with divided City Council that had a 5-4 progressive majority. The position of mayor in the city of Berkeley is largely a symbolic post, carrying no more power than other council members. Dean compensated by working relentlessly on programs she thought were best for the city. For much of her career, Dean's political base was the very active network of Berkeley neighborhood organizations, however many of her critics and rivals found her to be too conservative. Dean and other members of the City Council were openly mocked at a city-sponsored art festival where a satirical, mock City Council meeting was staged in which actors took over the Council Chambers and ridiculed Berkeley's elected officials.

After September 11, when the progressive City Council majority voted to condemn the war in Afghanistan, Dean went on Fox News and reported that the Council’s actions were prompting a flood of letters and e-mails threatening an economic boycott of the City. On a television show regarding the issue, she called her Council colleagues who had voted for the measure “patriots” who had every right to protest.

Dean lost her bid for reelection in 2002 to fellow democrat Tom Bates. The day before the election Tom Bates stole 1,000 copies of The Daily Californian because the paper had endorsed Dean. Bates was charged with the theft, pled guilty, was fined, and ordered to pay the paper restitution.

Dean's accomplishments as Mayor include:

• Recognition for bringing the Arts and Theater District to life in Downtown Berkeley by establishing a public-private partnership with the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre and bringing in the JazzSchool, Aurora Theater, and Nevo Center for the Performing Arts in one of Berkeley’s oldest buildings. The Arts and Theater District was showcased by the United States Conference of Mayors as an example of revitalization of a declining downtown area. It is estimated that over a 5 year period the city's original investment of $5.5 million on Arts District projects generated over $150 million in public and private spending in the downtown area.
• Putting together the funding to build the Berkeley I-80 bridge a bicycle and pedestrian overpass that spans the multi-lane I-80 Freeway providing safe passage from the city to the Eastshore State Park and the Berkeley Marina.
• Development of a plan for City-sponsored housing assistance for people with AIDS to remain in their own homes based on the input of a task force she formed that included members of the AIDS community. The unanimously approved plan served as the pre-cursor to the city obtaining federally sponsored supportive housing.
• Working to restore the landmark Marin Circle Fountain with private funds. The fountain is the largest public works gift ever given to the city of Berkeley.
• Working in partnership with Country Joe McDonald to honor veterans by bringing the “Wall that Heals”, a Vietnam War memorial, to Berkeley in honor of those who served, died and protested that war.
• Establish programs expanding and renovating the city's library, constructing 800 new housing units including the Gaia Building downtown, and lowering crime.
• As Chair of the East Bay Public Safety Corridor, leading the East Bay regional effort to ban the sale of Saturday Night Specials, enact trigger lock ordinances, and impose special taxes on retailers who sell guns. This work was recognized by the United States Department of Justice and Attorney General Janet Reno as exemplary. She also secured private contributions to purchase an outdoor sculpture, “The Berkeley Peace Bell”, made from melted guns.