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Two-term mayor, 15-year councilmember Shirley Dean took out preliminary papers to run for Berkeley mayor today (Tuesday).  

One of the “grandmothers” active in the campaign to save the oak grove adjacent to UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium, Dean said she’s running to fill a “leadership vacuum” in the city. 

Among the problems that need attention, she said, is the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s plan to build new labs in Strawberry Creek Canyon, which she’s vociferously opposed, and a “deepening feeling that nothing can be done” with the downtown. 

Asked if she can beat the yet-unannounced-candidate Mayor Tom Bates, Dean said, “I have absolutely no idea. He will have money and I won’t; he will have endorsements which I won’t have.” 

Bates defeated Dean in 2002, with Bates getting 55.4 percent of the vote and Dean getting 42.9 percent. 

Still, Dean said, “I can elevate the debate.” 

She said she’s planning a grassroots, “door-to-door, neighbor-to-neighbor” campaign. 

Dean took out “signature-in-lieu” papers, which must be returned to the City Clerk July 24. Candidates collect signatures instead of paying the $150 filing fee, with each signature worth $1. The formal date to begin filing candidacy papers is July 14. 

Former mayoral candidate and oak grove activist Zachary Runningwolf has also taken out signature-in-lieu papers to run for mayor. Runningwolf garnered 4.6 percent of the vote in 2006, when Bates won with 62.77 percent.