Oakland Mayor Blasted for
Leaving Library Leaderless
An article in the January 17 Oakland Tribune took Oakland, California, Mayor Jerry Brown to task for failing to appoint anyone to succeed former library director Billie Dancy, who left more than a year ago to head the Pleasanton Public Library.
Deeming the ongoing vacancy “an embarrassment,” library commission chairperson C. J. Hirschfield said that foundations, which require “the presence of ongoing, stable leadership,” are declining OPL grant requests. Among the projects urgently needing private support are the African American Museum and Library, slated to open in the fall and $2 million short of its $9.5-million construction budget.
Brown, who has said he wants a “visionary,” is reported to have considered African-American activist and nonlibrarian Angela Davis for the post last summer, although he never contacted her. Another candidate, Oceanside library Director Jose Aponte, withdrew his application after a 20-minute meeting with Brown last year. The mayor “is looking for the next Jack London,” Aponte told the paper, while “I’m looking for the next Bill Gates.”
Posted January 24, 2000.
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