City Government

Great Oakland Public Schools (GO) Endorses Candidates for Oakland School Board

Published

11 years ago

September 22, 2014

Great Oakland Public Schools (GO), a nonprofit network of educators, families and community leaders, has endorsed four candidates for the Oakland Unified School District Board of Education in the November 4th general election.

The endorsed candidates are Aimee Eng (District 2), Nina Senn and Saleem Shakir-Gilmore (District 4), and Renato Almanzor (District 6).

GO’s Board of Directors made the endorsements after a comprehensive process of gathering feedback from over 100 teachers, parents, and other community members and thoroughly reviewing the qualifications and positions of each candidate. GO hosted candidate forums where they fielded questions from community members, and surveyed candidates on their platforms and experience.

“Aimee, Nina, Saleem, and Renato are thoughtful advocates for Oakland students and longtime community members,” said Mary Prime-Lawrence, OUSD middle school teacher, parent of three Oakland public schools students, and Vice President of the GO Board.

“All these very strong candidates will bring valuable skills and perspectives to our school board,” she added.

District 2 Candidate Aimee Eng, a fifth-generation Oaklander and the granddaughter of Oakland’s first Asian-American elected official, has devoted her professional career to expanding educational opportunity for children in the East Bay. As the Senior Program Officer at the Thomas J. Long Foundation, Ms. Eng manages a $30 million education initiative to improve student outcomes. She has direct experience working with programs related to many of Oakland’s most critical issues, including college readiness and access, early childhood education, and chronic absenteeism

District 6 candidate Dr. Renato Almanzor is the proud parent of a Skyline High graduate and has been active in the Oakland education community for over 15 years. Almanzor’s deep experience includes serving on school site councils at Oakland elementary, middle, and high schools; teaching as a professor in CSU East Bay’s educational leadership for social justice doctoral program; coaching Oakland principals and teachers on how to improve schools; leading community engagement programs at Oakland Unified School District as the Director of Family & Community Office; and, training Bay Area nonprofit leaders in organizational development

GO’s dual endorsement in District 4 with Nina Senn and Saleem Shakir-Gilmore provides two strong top choices for voters in the election’s ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank up to three candidates when marking their ballots.

Senn’s work as a mediator involves bringing together parties facing difficult issues and helping them navigate towards win-win solutions. Over the past seven years, she has volunteered with Oakland schools to institute Restorative Justice programs.

Shakir-Gilmore is an Oakland native and parent. He has Saleem taught middle school science, served as Executive Director of a youth development organization, and was a faculty member in the education department at Holy Names University. In recognition of his expertise and commitment, Shakir-Gilmore was appointed as the Chair of the Measure G Oversight Committee, which is charged with overseeing over $20 million for retaining great teachers, reducing class sizes, and maintaining libraries

These four endorsements will mobilize hundreds of volunteers to contact voters about the candidates. In 2012, GO endorsed three candidates in the Oakland school board elections and each won their race.

For more information about each candidate and GO, visit www.gopublicschools.org

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

2 days ago

May 25, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: Nate Holden, State Senator and Longtime Los Angeles Councilmember, Dies at 95

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.” Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Former Los Angeles Councilmember and California State Sen. Nate Holden. File photo.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

Former Los Angeles City Councilmember Nathaniel “Nate” Holden, a prominent figure in the city’s politics, passed away at the age of 95, his family confirmed on May 7.

Holden, who represented South Los Angeles for 16 years on the City Council and served one term in the California State Senate, was widely regarded as a forceful advocate for his community.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn described Holden as “a lion” in the State Senate and a force to be reckoned with on the Los Angeles City Council.”

Hahn added that she learned a lot working with Holden when she was a new councilmember.

Holden’s journey to political prominence began in the segregated South, where he was born in Macon, Georgia, in 1929. He often recalled the childhood moment when he first heard the governor of Georgia vowing to continue suppressing Black people.

“Doing the best you can for the people. Law and order. Make sure that people’s communities are safe. I did it all,” said Holden, reflecting on his legacy.

Holden is survived by his sons, including former California Assemblymember Chris Holden, who represented a district in Southern California that includes Pasadena and Altadena in Los Angeles County and cities in San Bernardino County.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.