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Housing Issues Will Be a Priority for District 2 Councilmember Abel Guillen

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Abel Guillen, recently elected as the District 2 representative on of the Oakland City Council, has already begun reaching out to fellow councilmembers as he prepares to take office in January.

 

“During the campaign I met with Desley Brooks, Dan Kalb and Noel Gallo” he said. “My goal is to meet with all the council members. I’m meeting with Rebecca Kaplan this week.”

 

He plans to plunge from day one into the issues that affect his district and the community as a whole

 

“Housing is a big issue,” said Guillen.” I will champion efforts citywide to create more affordable housing options linked to public transit programs,” he wrote in his campaign literature.

 

Among the complex housing problems facing councilmembers and Mayor-elect Libby Schaaf are the need for homes for the thousands of new people moving into Oakland, raising rents and continuing foreclosures that are driving many people out of the city and the pressure to provide space for high-price condominium developments that most people in Oakland cannot afford.

 

The New Brooklyn Basin development is being built along the Embarcadero, bringing 3,100 market-rate units and many new voters to Guillen’s district.

 

District 2 incumbent councilmember Pat Kernighan did not run for reelection. The district includes Chinatown, Crocker Highlands, San Antonio, Grand Lake and East Lake neighborhoods.

 

Guillen said he will also focus on basic city services – public safety and repairing streets – potholes become a greater problem during winter months – and graffiti and blight removal.

 

Prior to his election, he served on the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees. He is a professional financial advisor, working with school districts and other public agencies to secure bond funding to build schools and other structures.

 

 

 

 

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Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 26 – December 2, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 19 – 25, 2025

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IN MEMORIAM: William ‘Bill’ Patterson, 94

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

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William "Bill" Patterson, 94. Photo courtesy of the Patterson family.

William “Bill” Patterson, 94, of Little Rock, Arkansas, passed away peacefully on October 21, 2025, at his home in Oakland, CA. He was born on May 19, 1931, to Marie Childress Patterson and William Benjamin Patterson in Little Rock, Arkansas. He graduated from Dunbar High School and traveled to Oakland, California, in 1948. William Patterson graduated from San Francisco State University, earning both graduate and undergraduate degrees. He married Euradell “Dell” Patterson in 1961. Bill lovingly took care of his wife, Dell, until she died in 2020.

Bill devoted his life to public service and education. In 1971, he became the founding director for the Peralta Community College Foundation, he also became an administrator for Oakland Parks and Recreation overseeing 23 recreation centers, the Oakland Zoo, Children’s Fairyland, Lake Merritt, and the Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center.

He served on the boards of Oakland’s Urban Strategies Council, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission, and the Oakland Workforce Development Board.

He was a three-term president of the Oakland branch of the NAACP.

Bill was initiated in the Gamma Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

In 1997 Bill was appointed to the East Bay Utility District Board of Directors. William Patterson was the first African American Board President and served the board for 27 years.

Bill’s impact reached far beyond his various important and impactful positions.

Bill mentored politicians, athletes and young people. Among those he mentored and advised are legends Joe Morgan, Bill Russell, Frank Robinson, Curt Flood, and Lionel Wilson to name a few.

He is survived by his son, William David Patterson, and one sister, Sarah Ann Strickland, and a host of other family members and friends.

A celebration of life service will take place at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center (Calvin Simmons Theater) on November 21, 2025, at 10 AM.

His services are being livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/events/1250167107131991/

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Euradell and William Patterson scholarship fund TBA.

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