On Tuesday, Oakland City Councilmember-At-Large, Rebecca Kaplan announced her run for Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 3.

Rebecca has been representing all of Oakland and was unanimously chosen as Oakland’s Vice Mayor by her colleagues.

Prior to that, she represented the East Bay region as an elected AC Transit director, as a Board member on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, as a housing rights attorney, and State legislative aide.

She has advanced important region-leading innovative projects, such as the civilian crisis responder program (known as MACRO), new zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell trucks to reduce dangerous air pollution, expanded bicycle, pedestrian, and transit access, improving access to COVID vaccination and support, improving equity and economic opportunity in development, and expanding solutions for homelessness, including use of hotels and housing on public land.

Kaplan looks to continue to build and expand on actions to improve community health, protect and strengthen our public hospitals, transportation connectivity, environmental justice, and expand affordable housing and cut homelessness, and grow economic opportunity for our community.

Serving on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors could provide a vital opportunity to build a healthier and more vibrant future for our community.

These experiences helped Kaplan make the decision to run for Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors District 3, which includes much of Oakland, along with Alameda, San Leandro and San Lorenzo. If elected, Rebecca Kaplan would become the first ever openly-LGBT Supervisor in Alameda County and would be the only woman now on the Board.

She would bring experience and dedication, working for environmental justice and clean air, housing for all and innovative homeless solutions, and community safety, along with her track record of effective regional leadership, coalition-building, and interagency coordination.

Kaplan also brings her education and training, including a bachelor’s degree from MIT, a master’s in Urban and Environmental Policy (Tufts University) and J.D. from Stanford Law School.

“The County governs major issues and controls substantial funding, including for social services, homelessness, public health and hospitals, and other vital community needs,” said a Kaplan. “The County also owns significant properties which could provide an opportunity to expand housing for all and other community revitalization.

“In addition, the County Supervisors get to serve on important regional boards controlling considerable resources, and impacting people’s lives, including the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC), the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and more. I would be honored to serve the public in these important ways, and to work to build stronger communities together.”

Some of the important projects Kaplan initiated in Oakland could also be strengthened through countywide coordination and support, such as the innovative civilian responder program, known as MACRO, which provides trained civilians, in the fire department, to respond to non-violent 911 calls for service, such as mental health and related issues.

This program has been widely recognized as an important step to save money and save lives and has received tens of millions of dollars in State funding. She has helped usher forward important community revitalization, affordable housing, and jobs programs, including through the use of public lands which also could be expanded. Kaplan worked together with County, State and Federal leaders to provide large scale COVID vaccination projects and community sites, and other supports, and would be dedicated to making sure the County expands on these efforts, as well as supporting work to provide improved access to healthy food, clean air, quality jobs, and more.

For more information, please visit Rebecca Kaplan’s website at https://www.supervisorkaplan.org/

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