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

2 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.

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Bay Area

Gov. Newsom Requests Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Counties Impacted By Storms

Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a request Tuesday for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for nine California counties, including Monterey County. If approved, the move will pave the way for federal aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be provided to local governments and individuals impacted by storms in February and March.

Published

17 hours ago

March 31, 2023

Oakland Post

Monterey County Sheriff, Tina Nieto, provides California Governor Gavin Newsom an update on the Pajaro River levee repair near the township of Pajaro, Calif., in Monterey County on March 15, 2023. Floodwaters breached the levee around midnight on March 10, 2023. (Ken James/California Department of Water Resources via Bay City News)

By Thomas Hughes
Bay City News
Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a request Tuesday for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for nine California counties, including Monterey County.
If approved, the move will pave the way for federal aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be provided to local governments and individuals impacted by storms in February and March.
In addition to Monterey County, the request included Santa Cruz and San Benito counties, along with Calaveras, Kern, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Tulare and Tuolumne counties.
Four other counties were added to a previous emergency declaration from the governor, including Alameda, Marin, Modoc and Shasta counties.
“Over these past months, state, local and federal partners have worked around the clock to protect our communities from devastating storms that have ravaged every part of our state. We will continue to deploy every tool we have to help Californians rebuild and recover from these storms,” Newsom said.
If approved, aid from FEMA can be used for individual housing assistance, food aid, counseling, medical and legal services. It will also cover some storm-related costs like debris removal.
The Monterey County Board of Supervisors has requested additional state aid to help undocumented residents receive direct assistance that they aren’t eligible for from FEMA.
The governor said in a press release that funding from the state’s Rapid Response Fund would be made available to those residents and will ensure that families with mixed immigration status can access federal aid.
A local resources center opened Wednesday at the Watsonville Veterans Memorial Building at 215 E. Beach St. The center will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. through April 7. The center is staffed with personnel from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services and Monterey County emergency staff who will help guide Monterey County residents through the recovery process.
An eviction moratorium was passed by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will provide limited eviction protection for residents who lost income because of the storms. If the Presidential Disaster Declaration is approved, FEMA assistance could help some eligible residents receive money to help pay rent, which will not be forgiven during the moratorium.

Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.

Activism

20 Years Later, Breast Cancer Emergency Fund a Testament to Faith Fancher’s Enduring Legacy

When a woman is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, chemotherapy and radiation often make her too weak to work. If she is working a low-paying job or unemployed, the mounting bills can become overwhelming. For 20 years, the Women’s Cancer Resource Center (WCRC) has provided a lifeline. The Berkeley-based non-profit organization administers the Faith Fancher Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, which gives cash grants of up to $595 to low-income women in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties who are battling breast cancer.

Published

17 hours ago

March 31, 2023

Oakland Post

Faith Fancher, a KTVU reporter, died of breast cancer in 2003

By Tammerlin Drummond

For 20 years, the Women’s Cancer Resource Center (WCRC) has provided a lifeline. The Berkeley-based non-profit organization administers the Faith Fancher Breast Cancer Emergency Fund, which gives cash grants of up to $595 to low-income women in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties who are battling breast cancer.

Grant recipients have used the money to help pay for food, utilities, rent, car insurance, medical co-pays and other necessities. One woman who was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer said she used her $595 grant to buy an oxygen concentrator.

“You could say the air I breathe is because of your generosity,” she said. “I am so incredibly grateful to you and am feeling better every day.

The fund is named in honor of Faith Fancher, a popular television reporter at KTVU who died in 2003 after a valiant battle against breast disease, the web site says. Fancher saw her own cancer as an opportunity to use her public profile to raise awareness and educate others about the importance of early detection.

Fancher founded an organization called Friends of Faith that was dedicated to raising funds for low-income women with breast cancer.

It was 20 years ago this March that Fancher first approached the Women’s Cancer Resource Center about setting up an emergency grant program for women going through breast cancer treatment.

One of the earliest recipients was a 50-year-old homeless woman who used her $595 grant to pay for moving costs into housing she could afford.

“Faith understood the financial burden that low-income individuals faced when diagnosed with breast cancer,” said Dolores Moorehead, who oversees the fund at the WCRC. “This was the first fund dedicated to financial support being offered in the East Bay.”

Over the past two decades, the Faith Fancher Breast Cancer Emergency Fund has given out $992,000 in one-time cash grants. There have been 2,500 beneficiaries, including women and some men with breast cancer.

Ricki Stevenson, a founding member of Friends of Faith, reflected on Fancher’s legacy and the enduring impact of the emergency fund that she created.

“It says that Faith continues to be a presence and it wasn’t just about her,” Stevenson said. “It was so all of the other sisters who come behind us they now have help even though they don’t have the same resources.”

Rosie Allen, another founding member of Friends of Faith, said Fancher left a lasting impact. “Twenty years later Faith is no longer with us, but the breast cancer emergency fund lives on and the need is even greater than ever.”

The Friends of Faith used to host an annual 5K walk/run at Lake Merritt to honor Fancher after she died. It raised funds for the emergency fund and other Bay Area non-profits that provide services to breast cancer survivors.

After Friends of Faith disbanded in 2017, the To Celebrate Life Foundation, former Friends of Faith board members and community members have continued to support the breast cancer emergency fund.

Shyanne Reese used her grant to help pay her rent while she was going through breast cancer treatment.

“I often reflect on how I wish I could share with Faith the impact her life and friends made on me in a non-judgement environment, relieving the financial stress of simply paying the rent so that I could focus on healing,” Reese said.

“With your support, we are able to continue this fund and support our community members when they need us most, said WCRC Executive Director Amy Alanes.

To donate to the Faith Fancher Breast Cancer Emergency fund, visit https://tinyurl.com/FaithFancher.