In 1977 , Wilson won the election for mayor of Oakland , defeating Oakland school board president , Dave Tucker . While mayor , Wilson addressed development in downtown Oakland , including extension of Bay Area Rapid Transit to the city , and two natural disasters : the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake , and the Oakland firestorm of 1991 . In 1985 , he helped celebrate Oakland as the hometown of the Pointer Sisters singing group , and named September 1 as " Pointer Sister Day . " One of his chief of staffs was Mary V. King . He lost the 1990 mayoral election to Elihu Harris after making an expensive and unsuccessful bid to return the then Los Angeles Raiders to Oakland . In 1991 , Wilson nominated himself to serve on the Oakland Board of Port Commissioners , being appointed by the Oakland City Council after losing his mayoral bid . He served on the port commission for a year , working under his appointee and then-President Carole Ward Allen of the board of port commissioners . Elihu Harris had him removed from the port in 1992
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
Lionel Wilson (politician)