City Government

Opinion: Why I am running for Richmond City Council

Published

6 years ago

October 31, 2020

I am a longtime resident of the Iron Triangle and of the Richmond Community as a whole. In fact, I have lived in Richmond over 50 years.

I am running for Richmond City Council, District 1, because I have witnessed how our community has been left behind. I am encouraged to fight for our community to make sure we get our fair share of resources, including public safety, economic development, grants, small business loans, youth programs, parks, and recreation.

I want to make sure that we can walk down clean streets. I want to stop the illegal dumping in our community that no one in public office seems to really care about. Have we really looked at the streets of the Iron Triangle? Have we seen the illegal dumping in Belding Woods? If we do not care, no one will.

Let us make a statement to City Hall that we care about the appearance of our community.

I am ready to serve our community on the City Council. My top priorities are safety for all, economic development, youth programs, and housing for the homeless. Your vote will help to determine whether we get what we have always gotten or something new and improved.

I am proud to be endorsed by The East Bay Times, Richmond firefighters and police officers, Laborers Local 324, BAPAC, BMW, Mayor Tom Butt, Vice Mayor Nat Bates, former mayor Irma Anderson, former councilperson Vinay Pimple, Trustee Mister Phillips, former trustee Elaine Merriweather, and many others.

I humbly ask for your vote this Tuesday.

Eleanor Thompson is a non-profit executive and candidate for Richmond City Council, District 1.

Eleanor Thompson

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Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

Published

4 days ago

July 5, 2026

Oakland Post

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Inaugural Juneteenth Awards Ceremony Celebrates the Fillmore’s Black History, Leadership and Resilience

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, Pastor Emeritus of Third Baptist Church, SF Mayor Daniel Lurie. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

By Linda Parker Pennington

The Fillmore Community Ambassadors held its first annual Juneteenth Wesley Johnson White Horse Awards ceremony on June 19 inside the newly reopened Fillmore Heritage Center.

The event featured awards for former San Francisco mayors London Breed and Willie Brown, along with Third Baptist Church Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown.

The Koret Heritage lobby at the newly reopened center at 1330 Fillmore St. held a standing-room-only, culturally diverse and multi-generational audience while the art gallery featured photos of Fillmore community members in action, red Japanese lanterns, art and calligraphy, and Chinese artwork, giving the space a multicultural feel.

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood acknowledged that “the Fillmore community has had a difficult history. Thanks to Rev. Amos Brown’s continuous focus on accountability and resistance, you hold us accountable and continue to inspire us.”

Mahmoud is referring to the Fillmore’s Japanese residents who were forced from their homes and sent to concentration camps during World War II. Black people occupied those homes until the return of their Japanese neighbors and then gave them back, while homes that had been unoccupied were lost. The presence of the Asian community on Juneteenth is a testament to that shared history.

In receiving his honor, Amos Brown elicited a powerful spontaneous call-and-response, where members of San Francisco’s many Black churches proudly shouted out the names: “Bethel AME! Providence Baptist! Jones Memorial! Glide!”

Awards program Master of Ceremonies Shawn Richards of Brothers Against Guns warmly introduced Breed, highlighting her many accomplishments, particularly on “March 16, 2020, when she became the first mayor to shut down a major U.S. city due to COVID-19, saving thousands of lives.”

The audience was captivated by Breed’s emotional speech touching on past traumas, present conditions, and future hopes for the neighborhood where she grew up.

She recalled another trauma of the neighborhood during the City’s redevelopment era in the 1960s, where Black residents were forced to move with a promise of being able to return that was largely unfulfilled.

“We remember when this land was just a field because they bulldozed hundreds of Victorian homes that Black people owned. They built the Fillmore Center, where most Black people can’t afford to live or start their own business. But we are still here.”