City Government

Lynette McElhaney to Serve as New President of Black Elected Officials of the East Bay

Published

5 years ago

January 23, 2020

Black Elected Officials (BEO) of the East Bay announced the election of Lynette Gibson McElhaney as the new President of the Board of Directors. The Oakland Councilwoman succeeds founding Board President and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. Gibson McElhaney assumes the presidency as BEO looks to aggressively grow its geographic footprint over the coming months to further expand its services and membership reach. The Councilwoman will also oversee the organization’s transition from being volunteer-led to having a professional paid staffing structure.

A member of the Board of Directors for four years, prior to becoming President, Councilwoman Gibson McElhaney served as BEO’s Board Secretary. Gibson McElhaney also makes history as the first women to serve as Board President since the organization’s founding in 2001.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity at such a time as this,” said Gibson McElhaney. “This is an incredibly exciting time for our Black elected leaders to confront persistent inequities and confront bigotry and bias at every level.”

BEO also announced the hiring of Kimberly Ellis as a Special Advisor to the Board, providing strategic advice and counsel on organizational and resource development. For nearly a decade, Ellis led Emerge California (the state’s premier training program for women to run for office) with incredible success, growing what had been a regional training program into a statewide electoral powerhouse for Democratic women, earning her the reputation for revolutionizing Democratic politics in the Golden State.

As a nonprofit public benefit corporation founded in 2001, the mission of BEO is to improve the quality of life for all African Americans by enhancing the quantity and quality of Black elected representation.

Today, the organization consists of over 100 elected and appointed officials from throughout the region with BEO leaders holding key elected positions representing over 2 million residents throughout the greater Bay Area.

BEO will host an Officer’s Welcome Reception from 6:00 – 8:00pm on Wednesday, January 29th at Lemat Ethiopian Restaurant in Berkeley

For more information contact blackelecteds@gmail.com

Kimberly Ellis, Black Elected Officials

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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

4 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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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

2 weeks 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.