Shirley Ann Dean (née Bryant; born 1935-36), considered
moderate
Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...
in Berkeley politics, is an
American politician
The politics of the United States function within a framework of a constitutional federal republic and presidential system, with three distinct branches that share powers. These are: the U.S. Congress which forms the legislative branch, a b ...
who served as the
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...
of
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
(1994-2002). Before serving two terms as Berkeley's Mayor, Dean served on the Berkeley City Council for 15 years (1975–94)
and was a leader of the Berkeley Democratic Club.
Shirley Dean grew up in a single parent family and graduated from
Berkeley High School (1952). She was selected as a Distinguished Graduate in the Berkeley High School Hall of Fame and was the first in her family to attend college. She graduated with honors from
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...
with a
BA in
Social Welfare
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
in 1956.
During part of the time she served as Mayor, she worked half-time for
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...
Undergraduate Admission and Relations with Schools and the Office of Admissions.
Her responsibilities included writing the plan and supervising field work for the recruitment of minority students to the UC Berkeley campus and visiting high schools throughout California. She received two Distinguished Service Awards from UC Berkeley for her work before she retired in March 2000.
__TOC__
Mayor
Shirley Dean was first elected Mayor of Berkeley in 1994 after a close run-off race.
Dean actually trailed in the November 1994 general election, with fellow council member Don Jelinek capturing 49.2% of the vote against Dean’s 45.5%. Umder city law, that forced a runoff in December, which Dean won due to lower turnout in the college town.
She was re-elected by more than 56% of the vote in 1998.
A month before her 1998 victory, her opponent, Don Jelinek, accused her of disguising her identity while visiting
Wilmington College, the college attended by rival Council member and Jelinek supporter
Kriss Worthington Kriss might refer to:
;People
*Kriss (surname)
;Institute
* Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science
;Miscellaneous
*Kriss Kross, a type of fill-in puzzle
*Kriss Super V, the action of the TDI Vector submachine gun.
*Kris
The kris, ...
. Dean stated that she visited the school to read about Worthington in the college newspaper, a public record. She also stated she did not ask for non-public records and that upon the request of the college showed her California Driver License bearing her full name and address. There is no record that she used any material from the college 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
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...
, Dean went on
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is ...
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 re-election in 2002 to fellow Democrat
Tom Bates
Thomas H. Bates (born February 9, 1938) was the 21st mayor of Berkeley, California, and a member of the California State Assembly. Bates is married to Loni Hancock, another former mayor of Berkeley and State Assembly member who served in the ...
. 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, pleaded guilty, was fined, and ordered to pay the paper restitution. Dean ran for Mayor against Bates once more in 2008, but was soundly defeated.
Dean's accomplishments as Mayor include:
* Recognition for bringing the Arts and Theater District to life in
Downtown Berkeley
Downtown Berkeley is the central business district of the city of Berkeley, California, United States, around the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, and extending north to Hearst Avenue, south to Dwight Way, west to Martin Luther Ki ...
by establishing a public-private partnership with the
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
-winning
Berkeley Repertory Theatre
Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley.
History
The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident ...
and bringing in the
JazzSchool
The California Jazz Conservatory is a private conservatory in Berkeley, California. It is the only independent music conservatory in the United States devoted solely to jazz and related styles of music. Located in the Downtown Berkeley Arts Distr ...
, 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
The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is the official non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. The cities are each represented by their mayors or other chief elected officials. The organization was founded i ...
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
The Berkeley I-80 bridge also known as the University Avenue pedestrian bridge and the Berkeley Marina overpass is a -wide bridge spanning the Eastshore Freeway ( Interstate 80 /580) in Berkeley, California. It forms part of the San Francisco Bay ...
a bicycle and pedestrian overpass that spans the multi-lane I-80 Freeway providing safe passage from the city to the
Eastshore State Park
McLaughlin Eastshore State Park is a state park and wildlife refuge along the San Francisco Bay shoreline of the East Bay between the cities of Richmond, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, and Oakland. It encompasses remnant natural wetlands, rest ...
and the
Berkeley Marina
The Berkeley Marina is the westernmost portion of the city of Berkeley, California, located west of the Eastshore Freeway (Interstate 80 and 580) at the foot of University Avenue on San Francisco Bay. Narrowly speaking, "Berkeley Marina" refers o ...
.
* 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 precursor 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
Joseph Allen "Country Joe" McDonald (born January 1, 1942) is an American musician who was the lead singer of the 1960s psychedelic rock group Country Joe and the Fish.Richard Brenneman"Country Joe McDonald Revives Anti-War Anthem", '' Berkeley ...
to honor veterans by bringing the “Wall that Heals”, a
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
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
The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...
Public Safety Corridor, leading the East Bay regional effort to ban the sale of
Saturday Night Specials
Saturday night special is a colloquial term in the United States and Canada for inexpensive, compact, small-caliber handguns made of poor quality metal. Sometimes known as junk guns, some states define these guns by means of composition or mate ...
, enact
trigger lock
Gun safety is the study and practice of using, transporting, storing and disposing of firearms and ammunition, including the training of gun users, the design of weapons, and formal and informal regulation of gun production, distribution, and ...
ordinances, and impose special taxes on retailers who sell guns. This work was recognized by the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and a ...
and Attorney General
Janet Reno
Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer who served as the 78th United States attorney general. She held the position from 1993 to 2001, making her the second-longest serving attorney general, behind only Wi ...
as exemplary. She also secured private contributions to purchase an outdoor sculpture, “The Berkeley Peace Bell”, made from melted guns.
Early political career
Dean started her political career by organizing the Bonita-Berryman Neighborhood Association, which led to her appointment in 1971 to the city's Planning Commission. In the early 70s, she worked with Urban Care to stop the development of a large shopping center on the waterfront.
She also worked with Urban Care to achieve Council approval for what is recognized as one of the best Landmarks Preservation Ordinances in the Nation. In 1976, she was elected from a caucus in her congressional district as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
pledged to Senator
Frank Church
Frank Forrester Church III (July 25, 1924 – April 7, 1984) was an American politician and lawyer. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from Idaho from 1957 until his defeat in 1981. As of 2022, he is the longe ...
.
Dean served on the Berkeley City Council for 15 years between 1975 and 1994.
She was first elected to the City Council in 1975 as an at large member, she served on the council until 1982. When district elections were adopted in Berkeley in 1986 Dean was the first elected council member from District 5, she held the seat until 1994 when she was elected Mayor.
Recent Community Involvement
Since leaving the Mayor’s Office in 2002, Dean has been involved in several community and environmental organizations, serving on the boards of:
* Save Strawberry Canyon, an organization working to preserve the watershed and woodlands of Strawberry Canyon from proposed construction by
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), commonly referred to as the Berkeley Lab, is a United States national laboratory that is owned by, and conducts scientific research on behalf of, the United States Department of Energy. Located in ...
.
* A Better Way, an East Bay social service and mental health agency that serves children and their families.
* Citizens for East Shore Parks (CESP), working to extend the waterfront park through Point Molate in
Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a city council. .
In 2003, Dean was named Woman of the year by the Zonta Club of Berkeley/North Bay.
In 2009, Dean appeared in the documentary film ''
Power Trip: Theatrically Berkeley'' about the controversial
greening
Greening is the process of transforming living environments, and also artifacts such as a space, a lifestyle or a brand image, into a more environmentally friendly version (i.e. 'greening your home' or 'greening your office'). The act of green ...
of Berkeley after the passage of Berkeley Proposition G.
Dean made headlines in 2007 when she, at age 71, city council member Betty Olds, 86, and noted environmentalist and co-founder of Save the Bay, Sylvia McLaughlin, 90, climbed a ladder to briefly join a tree-sit aimed at saving the Memorial Oak Grove outside the stadium of the University of California, Berkeley.
After a 21-month protest, the oak trees were cut down.
Offices Held
References
External links
Shirley Dean for Mayor websiteShirley Dean's Candidate Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dean, Shirley
Mayors of Berkeley, California
Living people
University of California, Berkeley alumni
Women mayors of places in California
Year of birth missing (living people)
Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni
21st-century American women