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Post Endorsements for City Council and Schools

Published

6 years ago

October 2, 2020

The Oakland Post has endorsed candidates for five seats on the City Council, looking for leaders who are dynamic and visionary, have a track record of compassion and solidarity with neighborhoods in need, and are capable of working collaboratively with all parts of the city.

Endorsed candidates were: At-Large – Rebecca Kaplan; District 1 – incumbent Dan Kalb; District 3 – Carroll Fife; District 5 – incumbent Noel Gallo; and District 7 — Treva Reid (first choice) and Aaron Clay (second choice);

Oakland Post panelists in the recent interviews were Clarence Thomas, former secretary-treasurer of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 (retired); Cathy Leonard, founder of Oakland Neighborhoods for Equity and steering committee member of the Coalition for Police Accountability; Zappa Montague, teacher and long-time activist; Walter Riley, civil rights attorney; Dr. Kimberly Mayfield, dean of the School of Education at Holy Names University; and Kitty Kelly Epstein, education professor and host of a show on Radio Station KPFA 94.1 FM.

Panelists directed their questions to several of the deep concerns of local residents that are covered regularly in the pages of the Oakland Post. One issue was whether the candidates support real estate developer John Fisher’s proposal to buy the Oakland Coliseum property in East Oakland and take over Port of Oakland public property in West Oakland to build high-end luxury condominiums, a mall and a baseball stadium.

Candidates were asked if they have a comprehensive plan for housing Oakland residents including the homeless and the housing insecure.

Finally, panelists wanted to know the candidates’ comprehensive plan to resolve the city’s decades-long policing crisis: excessive overtime and cost overruns, and inability to comply with federal court racial justice requirements.

Here are the Post endorsements.

Rebecca Kaplan

Councilmember at Lage: Rebecca Kaplan, has supported many of the issues that are of particular importance to the African American community and people of color throughout this city.

Her leadership has been crucial on housing and tenant rights, police reform and an end to racial profiling, to improved air quality and toxics cleanup.

Her efforts have earned her the respect of many and the hostility of a few.

Kaplan is accessible and responsive to input. Her opponent has no experience in public office and sometimes seems confused by the issues.

Dan Kalb

District 1: Dan Kalb has served on the City Council since 2013. He has worked hard to create a strong police commission to oversee the Oakland Police Department. He has also collaborated with fellow councilmembers to create policies for affordable housing and tenant protections.

People in his district have raised that they do not find Kalb accessible. We hope that is something he will change.

Carroll Fife

District 3: Carroll Fife is a candidate who represents real reform in city government and has programs and a track record of working for practical, systemic changes in housing, jobs, racial justice, health and public safety.

Though she has never held or run for public office before, she is well known for her work in the neighborhoods and at City Council by staff and elected officials for years of work on behalf of the community on many of the most important issues in Oakland.

She was a strong community advocate for the fight to create Oakland’s Department of Race and Equity. She has worked for jobs and training resources for unemployed and job-seeking West Oakland residents. She advocated for Moms for Housing, and she has fought foreclosures and evictions.

Fife has a plan for innovative strategies for housing local residents, to help those who are fighting to stay in Oakland and to bring home those who want to come back to the city.

She has a plan to rethink criminal justice: improve public safety while reducing police costs and overtime, utilizing mental health and other supportive resources.

District 3 is severely impacted by housing displacement and a tremendous increase in unhoused individuals. She has a plan to address this tragedy in West Oakland.

Noel Gallo

District 5: Noel Gallo

Noel Gallo has served on the council since 2013. He formerly served on the school board. For years, he has organized neighbors to hold trash and waste cleanups in District 5 every weekend.

He has raised critiques of the Howard Terminal stadium project and opposed selling the Oakland Coliseum property to a private developer. He has been a long-time advocate of utilizing public land for the public good.

Standing up to resistance, Gallo was one of the council members who worked tirelessly to help create a police commission to promote public oversight of the police department. He has a reputation for being very accessible to his constituents. While serving together on the Oakland School Board, Post publisher Cobb and Noel Gallo led the fight for funding for La Escuelita Elementary School.

Members of the Post endorsement panel appreciated a lot of ideas of District 5 challengers Richard Santos Raya and Zoe Lopez-Meraz and hope they will stay engaged in the public dialogue.

Treva Reid

District 7: Treva Reid (first choice endorsement) is a newcomer to elected office and appears to be very accessible and thoughtful.

A graduate of Hampton University, she has worked as a Senior Field Representative for then Assemblymember (now State Senator) Nancy Skinner, She advocated for housing policies, gun violence prevention, job training programs and legislation for incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated individuals.

She serves as an Associate for Assembly District 18 on the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee and is an Emerge California Alumna. She is also a ministry leader at Shiloh Church in Oakland. During the campaign, she has exhibited a grasp of the totality of issues affecting the city and which council members must confront. The Post publisher was impressed with her voluntarism and church community service activities.

Aaron Clay

Aaron Clay (second choice endorsement) has a strong understanding of the issues and is very forthright about the need to protect public land for the public good.

He is a graduate of Morehouse College and Loyola University of Chicago Law School. His mother worked for over 30 years as a librarian in Oakland schools.

He serves on the board of the nonprofit Youth UpRising in East Oakland.

Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Michelle Snider

Associate Editor for The Post News Group. Writer, Photographer, Videographer, Copy Editor, and website editor documenting local events in the Oakland-Bay Area California area.

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Community

Four Candidates, Including Incumbent Barbara Lee, Qualify for Oakland Mayor’s Race

POST NEWS GROUP — Four candidates, including incumbent Mayor Barbara Lee, filed their papers to run for office by last Friday’s deadline, and the City Clerk issued a list this week of those who are qualified to run.

Published

10 hours ago

August 15, 2026

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View of downtown Oakland, California and City Hall. iStock photo.

By Post Staff

The four mayoral candidates who will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot are:

Brenda Grisham. A business owner in East Oakland and public safety advocate, Grisham led the successful recall campaign against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. As part of her platform, she pledges to work with local, state, and federal partners to secure stricter gun control measures and investments in community violence intervention programs.

Barbara Lee. A former congressional representative and state Assembly member, Lee was elected by voters in a special election last year for a two-year term. Now running for a four-year term, she points out that her administration achieved major successes in addressing some of the city’s major challenges, including balancing the city budget, dramatically reducing crime, and making significant inroads into homelessness and illegal dumping.

Mindy Pechenuk. An educator and activist, Pechenuk is a registered Republican and supporter of Lyndon LaRouche, who has been described by observers as a conspiracy theorist and cult leader. She ran unsuccessfully for mayor in last year’s special election and for the at-large council seat in 2024. She seeks to end Oakland’s police commission and MACRO and invest in more police while launching a new local war on drugs.

Julius Robinson. While little information is available so far about Robinson, he was quoted in a KTVU story about Thao’s recall, stating that people in Oakland want to come together as a community but lack infrastructure and leadership.

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Black History

Oakland Observes Black August with Block Parties, Film Showings, Workshops

POST NEWS GROUP — Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

Published

13 hours ago

August 15, 2026

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George Jackson wrote two books: “Soledad Brother,” and “Blood in My Eye” before her was killed in an attempt to escape prison on Aug. 21, 1971.

By Jana Lang, Propel Youth Reporter

Study. Train. Fast. Fight.

These are the four tenets of Black August, a month dedicated to commemorating the sacrifices of political prisoners and Black revolutionaries in the struggle for Black liberation.

Observers are urged to study the history of the Black struggle for freedom, train their bodies for health and self-defense, fast to cleanse the mind, body, and spirit, and fight ongoing oppression alongside their communities and local political organizations.

Beginning in 1979 in San Quentin State Prison, the Black Guerrilla Family called for the remembrance of political prisoner George Jackson and his brother Jonathan Jackson who were assassinated in the early 1970s. George Jackson was considered a political prisoner in that it was the anti-Black justice system that led to his incarceration for armed robbery with a sentence of one year-to-life in 1960.

While in prison, George befriended fellow prisoner W.L. Nolen, who introduced him to the works of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon. This radicalization coupled with his experiences of violence while imprisoned led to him writing and publishing two books, “Soledad Brother” (1970), and “Blood in my Eye” (1972). In January of 1970, George and two other prisoners were charged with murdering a corrections officer at Soledad State Prison in Monterey County.

On Aug. 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson burst into a Marin County courtroom armed with a shotgun to demand the freedom of the Soledad Brothers. He, along with the inmates he freed, was shot and killed while driving away. This involved one of the Black Panther Party’s most notable associates, Angela Davis, because the shotgun was registered in her name. She was later acquitted of charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder in 1972.

On Aug. 21, 1971, George Jackson was assassinated by a corrections officer after attempting to escape and free other inmates. As a result, there were uprisings and protests within prisons all over the country that year, calling forth resistance against racial oppression and mass incarceration.

Since its outset, Black August has evolved across the country, taking many forms to honor this history and embody the four tenets.

In Oakland, the upcoming Black August Experience, hosted by Youth Alive! and the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), is a free, family-friendly event celebrating the legacy of Black August. Activities include free food and drinks, a kids’ activity zone, interactive workshops, live cooking and boxing demonstrations, and more.

Happening on Aug. 21 from 4-8 p.m. at the EOBA Patio, Carolyn Flynn, director of administration at EOBA, said the event, in its second year, will be an opportunity to engage with people in person through food, shared space, and education.

“We do regular classes in education, and those are ongoing programs that we offer, but we wanted to have [an opportunity] for our neighbors to utilize this space.” Combined with Youth Alive’s work in community violence prevention and youth leadership, this event surely aims to bring the Oakland community together to capture what Black August means today.

Here are additional Black August events happening in Oakland:

Forum and Community Discussion hosted by the Oakland Liberation Center, 1499 Fruitvale Ave., Aug. 14, 7 p.m.

“George Jackson/San Quentin” Screening hosted by Nostalgic for Nothing Cinema at Moments Co-Op, 410 13th St., Aug. 16, doors at 6 p.m., show at 6:30 p.m. (Masks required and scent-free)

Commemorating the Struggle, Building the Altar for Liberation: Black August at Bandung Books, 2269 International Blvd., Aug. 23rd, 1-5 p.m.

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), will host “Black August: The Arc of Liberation” at Oakland City Hall on Sat. Aug. 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.