battsanthony BY SHOSHANA WALTER / THE BAY CITIZEN

In a move that surprised nobody—except in its timing—Oakland police Chief Anthony Batts tendered his resignation Tuesday, a year before the expiration of his three-year contract. Batts, who resigned as Long Beach police chief to take the job in Oakland in 2009, said he is considering a research position at Harvard University.

Batts’ resignation signals significant challenges for the City of Oakland and Mayor Jean Quan, who is  preparing to unveil her public safety strategy at a summit Saturday amid criticisms that she has alienated city and community leaders and done little in response to violent crime.

The presentation, which Batts had planned to co-host, was supposed to reflect a united front between the city and police. But his resignation provides a window into the tensions that have persisted between Batts and city leaders for nearly his entire career in Oakland.

“I’m not surprised,” said City Council member Larry Reid. “I’m not surprised at all. It’s been a very difficult and challenging job for him as chief.”

According to a source who met with the mayor and city administrator on Tuesday, Quan had hoped to eventually replace Batts. But she had not expected his resignation, the source said, and she is concerned that his departure will scare voters away from a proposed parcel tax that would help fund additional officers for the understaffed department.

At a news conference Tuesday, Batts said a lack of officers and resources contributed to his decision to leave, and that he found himself with 20 percent of the control but 100 percent of the accountability. He declined to comment on his relationship with city leaders, but wrote in a letter to the department, “The landscape has changed dramatically over the past two years and with new and different challenges.”

Rumors of Batts’ departure trailed him almost from the moment he arrived in Oakland.  When former Mayor Ron Dellums hired Batts as a “change agent” in August 2009, the department had 830 officers—which Batts said at the time was not enough. The next year, Quan was elected. By January 2011, Batts was interviewing for the top cop job in San Jose, citing the loss of nearly 200 police officers and micromanaging by City Council members.

When San Jose rejected Batts, he begrudgingly stayed, putting on a happy face in public with Quan but expressing frustrations in private. He faced increasing opposition to his gang injunction and curfew proposals. He appeared increasingly fatigued by city politics, including Quan’s appointment of Deanna Santana as city administrator in June.

Three people with knowledge of the appointment said Santana, San Jose’s former deputy city manager, had played a role in turning Batts down. When he proposed hiring former acting San Francisco police Chief Jeff Godown as deputy chief, Santana rejected his proposal, feeding the tension between Batts and his bosses.

Quan said Tuesday that she didn’t ask the chief to leave, “but if he were to leave, this is a good time, so somebody else can come move this next phase forward.”

Batts also struggled to gain favor inside the department, and it showed in his performance, officers said.

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