Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks Is Combative, Scandal-Prone, and...Popular. Can She Win Another Term?

San Francisco Magazine Patrick Hoge Illustration by Patrick Morgan Is this the year Oaklanders give up on their most polarizing politician? Or will they stick with the devil they know? Elaine Brown, the 72-year-old former Black Panther leader, lay on the floor, her rotator cuff torn. Looming above her was Desley Brooks, the 54-year-old Oakland City Council member. It was Brooks who, in the heat of an argument over housing policy inside Everett & Jones Barbeque in downtown Oakland, had shoved Bro...