Bay Area
Attorney Pamela Price Takes Lead in Alameda County DA Race
In school board races, progressive candidates opposed to closing neighborhood schools, Jennifer Brouhard in District 2, and Valarie Bachelor in District 6, are in front. If they maintain their leads, they will join Board members Mike Hutchinson and VanCedric Williams to form a majority on the seven-member board against closing schools and opposed to charter school expansion. (Because of redistricting, Hutchinson is running for a seat in District 4, but his current term as the District 5 representative doesn’t end for two more years.)

Progressives lead in City Council races, new progressive majority on school board
Gap narrows between Sheng Thao and leading Oakland mayoral candidate Loren Taylor
By Ken Epstein
(Editor’s note: This article reflects standings and vote totals as of press time, Wednesday afternoon, November 16th)
With thousands of ballots still to be counted, progressive candidate Pamela Price has taken the lead in the Alameda County District Attorney race, while likely winners of several Board of Education races are on the verge of forming a new progressive majority on the school board for the first time in decades.
“(Tuesday evening,) our campaign took the lead in the race for Alameda DA…There are still so many more ballots to be counted, and we must continue to wait for the victory,” Price wrote in an email to supporters.
“I remain confident that the final tally will be an exclamation point in history… it will be our charge to reclaim and fix our broken criminal justice system, restore public trust and rebuild public safety,” Price wrote.
In school board races, progressive candidates opposed to closing neighborhood schools, Jennifer Brouhard in District 2, and Valarie Bachelor in District 6, are in front. If they maintain their leads, they will join Board members Mike Hutchinson and VanCedric Williams to form a majority on the seven-member board against closing schools and opposed to charter school expansion. (Because of redistricting, Hutchinson is running for a seat in District 4, but his current term as the District 5 representative doesn’t end for two more years.)
“We ran a good campaign …It was about the issues and people placed their votes in wanting to see an end to school closures and funding our schools,” said Brouhard on Facebook. “I’m optimistic about the outcome of our people-powered campaign.”
In District 4, Nick Resnick, backed by Mayor Libby Schaaf and pro-charter leaders, remains in the lead.
Progressive and very liberal candidates are also far ahead in Oakland City Council races.
Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas is well ahead of her opponent in her race to win reelection in District 2, and Janani Ramachandran has already declared victory in District 4. District 6 candidate Kevin Jenkinshas a comfortable lead over three opponents.
Still undecided is the race to replace Libby Schaaf as mayor of Oakland. Councilmember Loren Taylor holds the lead over Councilmember Sheng Thao, but the gap is narrowing this week with updated vote counts, released at 5:00 p.m. each day by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters.
Only 1.78% separated Taylor and Thao on Wednesday.
According to reports, at the beginning of this week, there were over 70,000 votes remaining to be counted. About 13,000 were counted today, leaving about 42,000 still uncounted.
Observers notice that in recent elections the ballots of progressive and very liberal voters in Oakland are counted later, meaning that their influence is not fully felt until the final days of tallying the vote.
Vote totals as of Wednesday afternoon:
Alameda County District Attorney
- Pamela Price 51.08%
- Terry Wiley 48.95%
Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 3
- Lena Tam 06%
- Rebecca Kaplan 46.94%
Mayor of Oakland (with Ranked Choice ballots)
- Loren Taylor 50.89%
- Sheng Thao 49.11%
Oakland City Council District 2
- Nikki Fortunato Bas 97%
- Harold Lowe 34.03%
Oakland City Council District 4
- Janani Ramachandran 67.71%
- Nenna Joiner 32.29%
Oakland City Council District 6
- Kevin Jenkins 69.86%
- Yakpasua Michael Gbagba Zazaboi 11.51%
- Nancy Sidebotham 11.36%
- Kenny Session 7.28%
Board of Education District 2 (with Ranked Choice ballots)
- Jennifer Brouhard 62.66%
- David Kakishiba 37.34%
Board of Education District 4
- Nick Resnick 39%
- Mike Hutchinson 31.29%
- Pecolia Manigo 29.71%
Board of Education District 6 (with Ranked Choice ballots)
- Valarie Bachelor 53.25%
- Kyra Mungia 46.75%
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 19 – 25, 2025

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.
Activism
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Lateefah Simon to Speak at Elihu Harris Lecture Series
The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.

By Scott Horton
United States House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY-8) will be a speaker at the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series on Friday, Feb. 21.
The event will be held at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, 10 Tenth Street in Oakland, at 7 p.m.
The popular lecture series is co-produced by the Oakland-based Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Peralta Community College District. Jeffries’ appearance marks the 32nd lecture of the Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series, which has provided thousands of individuals with accessible, free, high-quality information.
The overarching goal of the lecture series is to provide speakers from diverse backgrounds a platform to offer their answers to Dr. King’s urgent question, which is also the title of Jeffries’ latest book: “Where do we go from here: Chaos or Community?”
In addition to Jeffries, Congresswoman Lateefah Simon (D-CA-12) will also speak.
“Certainly, now is a time for humanity, in general, and Americans in particular to honestly and genuinely answer Dr. King’s question,” said Dr. Roy D. Wilson, Executive Director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center and Executive Producer of the lecture series.
“Dr. King teaches that time is neutral but not static. Like the water in a river, it arrives and then quickly moves on,” continued Wilson. “We must urgently create conditions for listening to many different answers to this vital question, and generate the development of unity of action among all those who struggle for a stronger democracy.”
In his book, Jeffries shares his experience of being unanimously elected by his colleagues as the first African American in history to ever hold the position of House Minority Leader.
In January 2023 in Washington, Jeffries made his first official speech as House Minority Leader. He affirmed Democratic values one letter of the alphabet at a time. His words and how he framed them as the alphabet caught the attention of Americans, and the speech was later turned into a book, The ABCs of Democracy, bringing Congressman Jeffries rousing speech to vivid, colorful life, including illustrations by Shaniya Carrington. The speech and book are inspiring and urgent as a timeless reminder of what it means to be a country with equal opportunities for all. Jeffries paints a road map for a brighter American future and warns of the perils of taking a different path.
Before his colleagues unanimously elected him Minority Leader in 2022, Jeffries previously served as Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and as an Impeachment Manager during the first Senate trial of the 45th President of the United States.
Jeffries was born in Brooklyn Hospital, raised in Crown Heights, grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church and he is a product of New York City’s public school system, graduating from Midwood High School. Jefferies went on to Binghamton University (BA), Georgetown University (master’s in public policy) and New York University (JD).
He served in the New York State Assembly from 2007 to 2012.
Admission is free for the Feb. 21 Barbara Lee and Elihu Harris Lecture Series featuring Congressman Jeffries. Please reserve seats by calling the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center at (510) 434-3988.
Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase at the event.
Alameda County
After Years of Working Remotely, Oakland Requires All City Employees to Return to Office by April 7
City Administrator Jestin Johnson recently told city unions that he is ending Oakland’s telecommuting program. The new policy will require employees to come to work at least four days a week. These new regulations go into effect on Feb. 18 for non-union department heads, assistant and deputy directors, managers, and supervisors. All other employees must be back at work by April 7.

By Post Staff
The City Oakland is requiring all employees to return to the office, thereby ending the telecommuting policy established during the pandemic that has left some City Hall departments understaffed.
City Administrator Jestin Johnson recently told city unions that he is ending Oakland’s telecommuting program. The new policy will require employees to come to work at least four days a week.
These new regulations go into effect on Feb. 18 for non-union department heads, assistant and deputy directors, managers, and supervisors. All other employees must be back at work by April 7.
The administration may still grant the right to work remotely on a case-by-case basis.
In his memo to city unions, Johnson said former President Joe Biden had declared an end to the pandemic in September 2022, and that since then, “We have collectively moved into newer, safer health conditions.”
Johnson said “multiple departments” already have all their staff back in the office or workplace.
The City’s COVID-era policy, enacted in September 2021, was designed to reduce the spread of the debilitating and potentially fatal virus.
Many cities and companies across the country are now ending their pandemic-related remote work policies. Locally, mayoral candidate Loren Taylor in a press conference made the policy a central issue in his campaign for mayor.
City Hall reopened for in-person meetings two years ago, and the city’s decision to end remote work occurred before Taylor’s press conference.
At an endorsement meeting last Saturday of the John George Democratic Club, mayoral candidate Barbara Lee said she agreed that city workers should return to the job.
At the same time, she said, the city should allow employees time to readjust their lives, which were disrupted by the pandemic, and should recognize individual needs, taking care to maintain staff morale.
The John George club endorsed Lee for Mayor and Charlene Wang for City Council representative for District 2. The club also voted to take no position on the sales tax measure that will be on the April 15 ballot.
-
Activism4 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of January 22 – 28, 2025
-
Activism3 weeks ago
Oakland Poll: Tell Us What You Think About the Cost of Groceries in Oakland
-
#NNPA BlackPress3 weeks ago
PRESS ROOM: Top Climate Organizations React to Trump’s Executive Orders Attacking Health, Environment, Climate and Clean Energy Jobs
-
Activism3 weeks ago
OP-ED: Like Physicians, U.S. Health Institutions Must ‘First, Do No Harm’
-
Activism3 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of January 29 – February 4, 2025
-
#NNPA BlackPress3 weeks ago
Trump Exploits Tragedy to Push Racist and Partisan Attacks
-
#NNPA BlackPress3 weeks ago
Black Reaction to Trump DEI Blame on The Plane Crash
-
#NNPA BlackPress3 weeks ago
BLACK HISTORY MONTH 2025 We Proclaim It