OAKLAND -- With his election finally safely in hand, former Rep. Ron Dellums addressed his supporters Monday in a speech filled with the promise of a new agenda for Oakland, criticism ofthe local media and sarcasm for his mayoral opponents.

Dellums was finally declared the outright winner of the Oakland mayoral election late Friday night -- 11 days after the polls closed.

When asked by reporters whether he ever feared that he would have to go through a November runoff against runner-up City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, Dellums answered: "Where was it close?...I probably was the calmest person in Oakland the last 10 days."

Dellums admitted the city faced several challenges going forward -- including an out-of-control homicide rate -- but was upbeat about the future.

"We can solve the problems of Oakland," he said. "We can be a great city."

Dellums, who represented Oakland and other East Bay cities for 27 years before stepping down in 1998 to become a lobbyist, said his win in the six-candidate mayoral race is "a mighty victory to take Oakland in a very different direction."

Speaking at a downtown Oakland hotel, Dellums said he will assemble "the best possible leadership team" for key city positions and will call for "a thorough audit of all the resources in Oakland" to find out how efficiently the city is spending its money.

However, Dellums provided few specifics on how he plans to take the city in a different direction except for stating that he wants 100,000 more people to live downtown.

"Urban life is the life of the future," he said.

Dellums said he will create task forces to study a variety of issues, including crime and violence, public education and illegal immigration.

He will also try to reduce Oakland's high homicide rate through "effective and efficient deployment of the Police Department" as well as community policing, he said.

The event was billed as a news conference, but Dellums spent much of his time blasting the news media.

He complained of "unfair press" and "the blows we took" during the campaign, but didn't give specifics.

Dellums said, "It's difficult to maintain your dignity while you're being challenged."