Dean Trounces Jelinek
In Berkeley Mayor's Race
By Jason Margolis
and Julie Zhu

Shirley Dean won the mayoral race in Berkeley Tuesday night, soundly beating challenger Don Jelinek.

With all precincts reporting, incumbent Mayor Dean had 54 percent of the vote to challenger Don Jelinek's 40 percent.

“Clearly this figure shows that I've been working hard for people all over the city,” Dean said of her apparently easy victory. The vote as vindication for Dean, who had been criticized by opponents for ignoring the needs of less wealthy Berkeley communities.

“My slogan for this campaign has been real progress and that's why we won,” said Dean.

Dean's campaign manager Bill Wood said, “We've been working hard to get out a message to the people of Berkeley and let the people know what Shirley Dean has done.”

During the campaign, Jelinek, the more liberal candidate, was seen as the delegate of the south and west Berkeley neighborhoods, whereas Dean took a more moderate line and was viewed as the choice of the more affluent Berkeley hills.

The biggest issues in the election were how to clean up Telegraph Avenue and what direction Berkeley's downtown should take.

The attraction of new business ventures to the downtown area was what Dean touted as one of her biggest achievements as mayor. But her critics often claimed she represented the interest of business at the expense of the rest of the city, particularly the poorer flatland areas of west and south Berkeley.

In contrast, Jelinek vowed that his priorities would place neighborhoods first, and business second. Further, Jelinek claimed he would fight to maintain the old architectural integrity of the city to attract what he called “business with character.”

Opponents of Dean often scoffed at the generic chain stores built under her watch, while her supporters pointed at the same businesses as symbols of Dean's forward-looking leadership.

The problems of crime, drugs, and loitering on Telegraph Avenue remained a quagmire for both candidates. Each vowed to make the area safer, but offered vague proposals for how to accomplish the turn around.

Beyond questions of which mayor's liberal path was more appropriate for Berkeley's future, the election was fairly devoid of hotly debated issues and more filled with personal attacks.

The two candidates have been opponents in Berkeley politics dating back to the 1980s when they both served on the city council. In 1994, the two ran against each other for mayor. Jelinek got more votes than Dean in a primary contest, but then lost in a run-off.

The 63-year-old Dean has been a staple of Berkeley politics since 1975 when

she was first elected to the city council. Dean served from 1975 to 1982, and again from 1986 to 1994.

Dean received the endorsement of the Berkeley Democratic Club, although both candidates are Democrats.

While not currently holding any elected office, the 64-year-old Jelinek is the leading progressive voice in Berkeley. Since 1996, when the progressives wrested control of the city council, Jelinek has been the man behind the scenes helping direct much of the council's politics.

Jelinek had asserted that he would be the better candidate to bring direction to the cantankerous council; a council which Dean has had much trouble controlling over the past few years.

Jelinek served on the Berkeley city council from 1984 to 1990.

Also running for mayor were Michael Delacour, Jon Crowder, and Robert Krumme.

Delacour, a member of the Peace and Freedom Party, said that he was using the election as a forum to discuss his views on worker's rights and the abolition of drug laws.

“Where else would you get the opportunity to talk to so many people?” said Delacour, who campaigned for the Proposition H ballot measure to institute a 35-hour work week.