THERE'S A VERY odd race going on for the Oakland City Council District Two seat vacated by Danny Wan, who took a job with the Port of Oakland. For the first time in the city's history, the special, one-issue election is being conducted entirely by mail (which is a good idea). It's also set up as a no-runoff, plurality-winner-take-all contest – and with nine candidates, that means someone could win with a relatively tiny percentage of the vote.

The key in this race is to stop Patricia Kernihan, who is quite possibly the front-runner and without a doubt the candidate of the Don Perata-Ignacio de la Fuente-Jerry Brown machine. She told us the answer to the city's budget woes is to bring in more businesses by reducing limits on development. She said if there had to be cuts, the first thing to go should be social programs. She's only wishy-washy at best about requiring developers to build affordable housing. A lawyer and former chief of staff for Wan, she's by no means the kind of progressive leader this district (and the city) so badly needs.

David Kakishiba, our choice for the job, isn't the most dynamic candidate, and we're not convinced he's going to be the great left hope, either. But he has a decent track record on the school board, and he's right on the issues – and equally important, he has a real, effective campaign and a good chance to win. Kakishiba is demanding that Signature Properties build open space and public access into a 63-acre waterfront development. He wants a 25 to 30 percent affordable-housing requirement for all market-rate projects. He wants to crack down on unbudgeted police overtime and create stronger civilian oversight for the cops.

Two other credible progressives are in the race. Aimee Allison, a Green Party member, is an antiwar activist who was a Gulf War conscientious objector and actually won an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army on C.O. grounds. Now she spends much of her time counseling C.O.s and fighting military recruitment in the schools. She has a bright political future but needs more seasoning, particularly in local politics, before she's ready for the City Council. The same goes for Peggy Moore, a photographer who works with seniors and is a 10-year resident of the district. She has a creative economic-development idea – to create a gay-lesbian district at 21st and Franklin – but is a little short on other specific policy ideas.

Vote for Kakishiba.