City Government

Rebecca Kaplan: “For Such a Time as This”

Published

11 years ago

October 17, 2014

Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan is our voice in City Hall. And we’re pleased to say: the smart, dedicated and energetic Kaplan would make a great mayor.

President Pro Tem of the City Council, Kaplan has represented all of Oakland as an elected official for over a decade. She well represents not just one neighborhood – but the entire city. As mayor, she’d be the strong leader we need.

She’s been an exceptional voice for the African-American community and all of Oakland – including those often ignored by the traditional power structure. This includes her leadership to end disparities in city contracting – so all of us have a fair and equal opportunity.

Kaplan secured funding to carry out an important and overdue disparity study and take action to remedy the inequality.

As mayor, she’ll continue to stand strong on enforcing and strengthening local hiring – including in the recruitment of police officers from Oakland. Combined with her commitment to constitutional policing — with responsible beat officers — and her opposition to the growth of the prison system, Kaplan will be a mayor that will build trust and make us safer.

She has a plan to create 30,000 local jobs, expand economic opportunity for Oakland residents including ex-offenders (she supports ‘ban the box’). Her support for the Prompt payment policy for community-based non-profits promotes civic participation.

As Oakland grows, we need a mayor who will stand against displacement of people who live here. A former housing rights attorney who helped pass ‘Just Cause for Eviction,’ Kaplan will be that mayor.

She fought successfully to include anti-displacement language in Measure BB, which will expand economic vitality without pushing people out.

She’s sharp, compassionate and has an impressive resume: Phi Beta Kappa from MIT, M.A. in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts and a law degree from Stanford.

And she’s the kind of creative problem-solver that Oakland needs.

We were particularly impressed by her success in saving the Oakland A’s – not just because she likes baseball, but because she knows East Oakland can’t lose those 1,000 jobs.

She negotiated a commitment from Chase Bank to require them to report their loans and community reinvestments, and as Mayor she will make sure they publish them on a regular basis.

And, she’s got soul. A bible teacher with an upbringing in Orthodox Hebrew school, you’ll find her remembering and teaching this wisdom.

It’s refreshing to see an elected leader with such a solid commitment to what Dr. King called the “beloved community.”

We encourage you to vote Rebecca Kaplan for Mayor of Oakland.