Bay Area

Diversity Among Bay Area Elected Officials Improves, But Disparities Still Exist

Racial diversity among Bay Area elected officials increased during the 2020 election cycle, but new data shows wide disparities still exist across the region.

Published

3 years ago

September 1, 2021

Christy Price

Diverse group of people/Christina via Unsplash

Racial diversity among Bay Area elected officials increased during the 2020 election cycle, but new data shows wide disparities still exist across the region.

The proportion of people of color holding top local offices increased from 26 percent in 2018 to about 34 percent after the 2020 elections, according to a report released this week by the Bay Area Equity Atlas.

Despite this increase, however, people of color remain highly underrepresented since they make up 60 percent of the total population, according to the report.

The same data shows white people are still overrepresented in the halls of power, accounting for 66 percent of officials elected to the region’s city councils, boards of supervisors and mayoral and district attorney’s offices, while making up just 40 percent of the population.

“A huge part of the reason why we put out the report is that representation matters, especially with all these difficulties we’ve seen arise over the past 17 months — the over-policing of BIPOC, violence against Asian elders, working class people and renters being left behind during the pandemic,” said Bay Area Equity Atlas associate Michelle Huang.

Huang, who co-authored the report with Bay Rising executive director Kimi Lee, said proportional representation doesn’t automatically lead to equitable policy making.

“But it is really important for local leadership to reflect the diversity of the community, especially communities that have been historically excluded from power,” she said.

In many cities and counties, however, the share of elected officials lags far behind population numbers.

For example, the share of Asian American elected officials has remained at about 10 percent for the past several years, but that’s far below the 26 percent of the Bay Area’s population who are Asian American.

Also, while Latinos now make up 13 percent of the region’s elected officials — up from 9 percent in 2018 — Latinos account for nearly 25 percent of the overall population, according to the report.

The report identifies 26 cities that still have zero people of color on their city councils and notes that while the proportion of Black elected officials increased from 6 percent to 8 percent across the region, 74 of 101 Bay Area municipalities still have no black city councilmembers.

“Across the region it seems like Black representation is on par with Black residents, but as we found, vast numbers of cities don’t have any Black representation and that’s astounding,” Huang said.

The report mentions several policy solutions that its authors believe would help people of color overcome racist, systemic barriers to voting and political participation, including publicly funding political campaigns and developing leadership programs for people of color, among other things.

One idea that’s already being implemented in several Bay Area cities involves switching from city-wide elections to district-based contests.

Out of the 20 cities from which sufficient data could be collected, 12 saw an increased presence of candidates of color after switching to district-based elections, which are typically less expensive and more easily accessible than city-wide elections.

For example, Livermore went from having no candidates of color before 2020 to having 50 percent in the 2020 election.

In Redwood City, where 18 percent of candidates were people of color in the 2015 and 2018 elections, 56 percent were people of color in the 2020 election and Half Moon Bay went from having no candidates of color to over a third of its candidates being people of color, according to the report.

“The early results are really promising,” Huang said.

To read the report, visit https://bayareaequityatlas.org/Electeds2021.

Also, on Sept. 9, the By Area Equity Atlas and Bay Rising will host a public webinar and panel discussion on the report’s findings. Panelists will include both authors as well as former Oakland Unified School District Board candidate Clarissa Doutherd, OUSD Board Director Shanthi Gonzales and Ellen Wu of Urban Habitat.

Christy Price

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

6 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

1 week ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

Oakland Post

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Bay Area

State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference

California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

American Business Women’s Association Vice President Velma Landers, left, with California State Controller Malia Cohen (center), and ABWA President LaRonda Smith at the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the ABWA at the Black Wealth Brunch.

By Carla Thomas

The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.

ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.

“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.

More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.

Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.

“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.

“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.

“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.

By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”

Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”

Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”