Former Oakland mayor, congressman Ron Dellums dies
OAKLAND — Ronald V. Dellums, a former Oakland mayor who served nearly three decades in the U.S. Congress, has died. He was 82.
Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) confirmed Dellums’ death Monday morning. He died early Monday at his home in Washington D.C. after a battle with prostate cancer.
“It is with deep sadness that I can confirm the passing of a great warrior and statesman, Congressman Ron Dellums,” Lee said in a statement. “The contributions that Congressman Dellums made to our East Bay community, the nation and the world are too innumerable to count.”
Born November 24, 1935, Dellums was raised in West Oakland, the first stop for African Americans in Oakland migrating from the south during the buildup to World War II. His uncle, C.L. Dellums, was a labor organizer with the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first African American-led trade union in the U.S.
After graduating from Oakland Technical High School, Dellums served two years in the Marine Corps, attended Oakland City College (now Laney College), received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from San Francisco State University and then a masters degree in social work at UC Berkeley.
Dellums began his political career serving on the Berkeley City Council from 1967-70. Long before his time as mayor, Dellums served in the House of Representatives from 1971-1998 from Northern California’s Ninth Congressional District. He was reelected 11 times.
His efforts in Congress led Dellums to be named on President Richard Nixon’s “Enemies List,” the informal name given to a list of President Nixon’s major political opponents.
He also helped create and pass the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, which called for sanctions against South Africa because of it’s apartheid policy. President Ronald Reagan vetoed the bill, but Congress overrode the bill, the first override in the 20th century of a presidential veto on foreign policy.
Dellums served as Oakland’s 48th mayor and third African American mayor from 2007-11, a term that started with high hopes but ended with his term characterized more by his absence from public view and his prickly attacks on the media.
He pointed to the Oakland Partnership as the highlight of his four-year term. The Oakland Partnership was a public-private collaboration with government, business, education, labor and the community that devised a strategy to create 10,000 jobs.
Crime also went down during his term, and there was a 28 percent drop in homicides in his final year in office.
“Ron Dellums governed from a place of morality and compassion, and his political activism shed light on injustices within our country and all over the world,” current Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf said. “His progressive values set the bedrock for Oakland values, and his life of public service will continue to inspire all of us to fight for a more just and equitable society. My deepest condolences go out to his family and friends.”
A recall effort in 2007 by Oakland reporter Elise Ackerman didn’t succeed, and the mayor announced three years later that he wouldn’t seek re-election.
In 2016, during the presidential campaign, he wrote for the East Bay Express that “we must stand up and engage this country on the issues of racial and economic justice and fight to realize our core values as Americans.”
“I feel blessed to have called Congressman Dellums my dear friend, predecessor and mentor,” Lee said. “I will miss him tremendously, and I will hold dear to my heart the many lessons I learned from this great public servant.”
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