Shirley Dean

Shirley Dean
20th Mayor of Berkeley
In office December 1994 – November 2002
Preceded by	Loni Hancock
Succeeded by	Tom Bates
Personal details
Born	Eaton, Colorado, U.S.
Political party	Democratic

Shirley Ann Dean (née Bryant, born 1935-36), considered moderate in Berkeley politics, is an American politician who served as the Mayor of Berkeley, California (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 with a BA in Social Welfare in 1956.

During part of the time she served as Mayor, she worked half-time for UC Berkeley 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.

Shirley Dean was first elected Mayor of Berkeley in 1994 after a close run-off race.

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. 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.

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