Alameda County
Oakland Leadership Shifts as New Roles Take Hold
Nikki Fortunato Bas Settles in as Alameda County Supervisor; Rowena Brown becomes new Oakland Councilmember At-Large and Rebecca Kaplan begins term as Interim Councilmember for District 2
Special to The Post
The week of Jan. 6, saw important changes come to the County of Alameda and the City of Oakland. Nikki Fortunato Bas was sworn in to represent District 5 on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, who formerly served as the At Large Councilmember for Oakland City Council, was appointed to serve as Interim Councilmember for District 2.
Bas is the first Filipina on the Board of Supervisors, which is now composed of a majority of women of color. Supervisor Bas has decades of policy and legislative experience and served six years representing District 2 in Oakland, four of which were spent working tirelessly as Council president. Before she left Oakland leadership, Bas served as interim mayor.
Bas stated, “I bring to this role decades of experience working to address the needs of those most vulnerable and look forward to working with our entire community to inform and shape our work on these key issues:
Addressing homelessness by housing our unhoused neighbors with dignity and services
- Creating more affordable housing and protecting tenants from displacement;
- Ensuring accessible, quality healthcare and a living wage for healthcare workers;
- Building a regional strategy for public safety and violence prevention;
- Continuing to reimagine adult justice; Continuing to expand early childhood education;
- Protecting our communities from the anticipated harms of the Trump administration.”
The Alameda County District 5 office can be reached at:
Supervisor Bas, nikki.fortunatobas@acgov.org
Chief of Staff Dave Brown, dave.brown2@acgov.org
Chief of Legislative Affairs and Community Safety Cinthya Munoz Ramos, cinthya.munozramos2@acgov.org
As Kaplan leaves the Councilmember At-Large office, new leadership steps in. Rowena Brown is the new Councilmember At-Large, representing the entire City of Oakland. She previously served our city as the state legislative district director for Assemblymember Mia Bonta. Brown has served the people of Oakland with a leadership path rooted in community as an 8th-grade classroom teacher providing free eye exams and glasses to K-12 students; serving as a job coach and career counselor for dislocated workers, re-entry, and disabled adults; and connecting at-risk families to COVID-19 resources, testing, and healthy food.
At the swearing-in, she stated, “I know that we have some really tough times ahead, both locally and at the national level. Yet my heart is overjoyed for the opportunity to work alongside all of you to really help uplift Oakland and create an Oakland that serves as a positive vision for other cities.”
The At-Large team can be reached at:
Councilmember At-Large Rowena Brown, rjbrown@oaklandca.gov
Chief of Staff Georgia Savage, gsavage@oaklandca.gov
Policy Director Chiamaka Ogwuegbu, cogwuegbu@oaklandca.gov
Interim District 2 Councilmember Kaplan had just concluded a very successful tenure launching nation-leading clean energy projects including zero emission trucks, and bringing new events and revenue to the Oakland Coliseum and Arena, including upcoming Roots soccer.
As councilmember At-Large. Kaplan was the first openly lesbian official to be elected to the Oakland City Council. Kaplan will hold the District 2 seat until the special election to be held in April. Prior to becoming a councilmember, she was the At-Large member of the AC Transit Board. Kaplan has served on numerous boards and commissions, such as the Alameda County Transportation Commission, and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, and was recently appointed to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. On the City Council, Kaplan has served as Council President and Vice Mayor.
Councilmember Kaplan states, “I am honored that my colleagues appointed me to serve the residents of District 2 and the people of Oakland. We are already hard at work in our new term, finding funding to restore vital public services like fire stations.”
The Oakland City Council District 2 Office can be reached at:
Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan, rkaplan@oaklandca.gov
Chief of Staff Kimberly Jones, kjones3@oaklandca.gov
Aide/Constituent Liaison Debra Israel, disrael1@oaklandca.gov
Legislative Analyst Michael Alvarenga, malvarenga@oaklandca.gov
The Oakland District 2 media relations office is the source of this story.
