Alameda County

Oakland City and School Candidates Talk Big Ticket School Issues at Engagement Forum

Families in Action hosted one of the many candidate forums being conducted locally with less than two months left before Election Day on Nov. 5. Families and students piled into the auditorium of Learning Without Limits Elementary School to hear directly from candidates for both City Council and Oakland Unified School District seats about issues plaguing students and families in Oakland.

Published

3 months ago

September 22, 2024

Oakland Post

Most of the candidates agreed that communication was essential when preparing students for their journey into higher education. Several emphasized the importance of early education literacy programs and continuing to cater as much as possible to individual students' needs as they arise.

By Magaly Muñoz

Families in Action hosted one of the many candidate forums being conducted locally with less than two months left before Election Day on Nov. 5.

Families and students piled into the auditorium of Learning Without Limits Elementary School to hear directly from candidates for both City Council and Oakland Unified School District seats about issues plaguing students and families in Oakland.

Seats up for grabs this November include City Council districts 1, 3, 5, 7 and at-large and OUSD districts 1, 3, 5, and 7.

Because candidates were limited to a minute and a half for responses, and many gave similar remarks to others, here are the main highlights from the forum:

College and Career Readiness

Candidates like Charlene Wang, at-large candidate, and Warren Logan, City Council District 3 candidate, mentioned traditional investment methods of preparedness such as summer internship programs so that students can gain experience as young as possible.

Patrice Berry, running for OUSD District 5, suggested the district implement a data transparency system that tracks where the funding is going and how much; where is their need for funding, and what resources are and aren’t working for students across all Oakland schools.

“We should know the extent to which [resources] are successful so that we can make decisions about how we can leverage the limited resources we do have to make sure every student’s needs are met,” Berry said.

Noel Gallo, incumbent for City Council District 5 and a former school board member, suggested using resources outside of school hours to allow students a place to study or interact with their peers.

He recalled his own experience attending Oakland schools and how having access to recreational centers and libraries after schools closed helped shape him as a student.

Gallo said he’s working on a plan with Parks and Recreation to keep facilities around the city open longer for students to be able to get out of the house because they are not getting their education by staying at home all day. He’s also urging schools to have their campuses open longer and have after-school assistance available for those who need it.

“We need to get our educational system back in order and open, so all of our children are able to learn, read or write, and at the same time enjoy the city,” Gallo said.

City and School Deficit

The City of Oakland and the school district are both dealing with budget deficits of well over $100 million. The city was able to reduce losses through the risky Oakland Coliseum sale, which was officially signed earlier this month.

OUSD has resorted to closing schools and cutting resources in order to reduce their debt to the state after being in receivership for 20 years.

LeRonne Armstrong, former Oakland police chief and candidate for the at-large seat, said he wants to conduct an independent audit of city resources to understand where the money is going and what is actually working. He believes the city needs to prioritize public safety and housing for residents.

Candidates Wang and Logan echoed similar ideas for an audit, insisting that people need to know how funds are being budgeted.

Several candidates, such as Berry and Dwayne Aikens, also suggested finding ways to bring in more revenue into Oakland, as opposed to only thinking about how the city can cut essential programs.

Gallo claimed that the current budget crisis is due to poor leadership in city government. He added that the City and County also need to do a better job at communicating because, as it stands, there is no cooperation, alluding to how the two governments handled the Coliseum deal.

Gallo, who previously worked in OUSD, said they also need to find a way to keep students in Oakland schools because the district is hemorrhaging in enrollment every year.

Candidates Upset by FIA Choice

After the forum concluded, Merika Goolsby, who had not originally been asked to speak at the event, told the Post that FIA excluded many City Council candidates from the discussion. She spoke only because fellow opponent Marcie Hodge gave up her spot for her.

Goolsby said FIA had chosen the “top two” candidates from each race and invited them to speak. She expressed disappointment that the organization would essentially “make a choice for voters” instead of creating an opportunity for each candidate to campaign to residents.

FIA said in an email that because of the large pool of candidates, only two to three people per race were asked to speak. The organization narrows down which candidates to pick “through a process of evaluating fundraising to date, endorsements and campaign infrastructure.”

“Unfortunately, with up to nine candidates in each race, we were unable to host all candidates due to time limitations of one hour to host candidates in seven races. This is a very common challenge for organizations who host forums,” Kimi Kean, CEO of FIA, wrote.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Up Next

Oakland Environmental Justice Advocates Want A Seat at the Table to Fight For Healthy Neighborhoods

Don't Miss

Sen. Bradford Calls for Special Session on Reparations

Oakland Post

Click to comment

Activism

Outgoing D.A. Pamela Price Releases Report on County Gun Violence Epidemic

The 84-page report is divided into two parts: the Public Health Impact of Violence and the Contribution of Structural Inequalities; and the Public Safety Impact of Gun Violence and the Regulation of Firearms. Each section documents trends in rising gun violence in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with special attention to the rise in gun-related deaths of women and children in Alameda County. Each section advises innovative approaches for the County to address gun violence and build safe communities.

Published

1 week ago

December 8, 2024

Oakland Post

Exclusive interview with County D.A. Price days before recall election. Photo by Ken Epstein.

Pamela Price was recalled in the election on Nov. 5. File photo.

By Post Staff

Criminal Justice Reformer District Attorney Pamela Price, who is leaving office this week after losing a recall election, released a comprehensive report on the gun violence epidemic and public health emergency in Alameda County: “Tackling Gun Violence Epidemic in Alameda County: A Public Health Emergency (2019-2023).”

This report represents an unprecedented collaboration between public safety and public health partners and provides data and recommendations to guide the County’s continued work to reduce violence while advancing justice reform.

Each section documents trends in rising gun violence in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with special attention to the rise in gun-related deaths of women and children in Alameda County. Each section advises innovative approaches for the County to address gun violence and build safe communities.

“Between 2019 to 2023, an average of three residents were killed by firearms each week in Alameda County, and behind every statistic is a shattered family and community,” said Price.

“Under my administration, the DA’s office has taken bold steps to combat gun violence while promoting equity and healing for survivors,” she said.

The report highlights strategies for keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Last month, the DA’s office secured a $5.5 million grant from the California Judicial Council to help improve compliance and case management for gun cases and gun relinquishment orders —the removal of guns from people prohibited from possessing a firearm – with law enforcement and court partners.

This effort builds on Price’s work in 2023 and 2024 in attacking the gun violence epidemic.

“We launched an innovative Gun Violence Restraining Order Outreach Project to educate communities about the availability of tools to remove guns and ammunition from people who are a danger to themselves and others and the intersectionality of domestic violence and gun violence and convened gun violence roundtable conversations with our law enforcement partners and collaborated with the Alameda County Public Health Department to produce this comprehensive report,” she said.

“We supported Oakland’s CEASEFIRE program through its transition and implemented a pilot Mentor Gun Diversion Program with our collaborative court partners, offering non-violent youth in possession of a gun pathways to interrupt the potential for escalating harm.” added Price.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Activism

D.A. Pamela Price Receives Hugs from Teary-Eyed Supporters as She Leaves Office

Crowding the sidewalk around Price were many teary-eyed supporters and well-wishers, who embraced her and carried homemade signs, singing, and chanting in recognition of her brave work as a champion for justice with compassion.

Published

2 weeks ago

December 7, 2024

Oakland Post

While holding a bouquet of flowers, District Attorney Pamela Price waves goodbye to supporters as she leaves her East Oakland office. Courtesy photo

By Ken Epstein

District Attorney Pamela Price left her office near the Oakland Coliseum Thursday afternoon for the last time after losing the recall election in November.

The crowd shouted and chanted, “We love you D.A. Price,” “You’re our hero,” and “We will not give up.”

They also sang: “We love you; we love you, Pamela Price. Just like a tree that’s planted by the water, we shall not be moved.”

Signs read: “Pamela Price: The D.A. who fought for us all:” and “Thank you for standing for justice. We love you.”

One man in the crowd said, “I’ve opposed pretty much every D.A. I’ve encountered. I guess that’s why they got her out. They can’t stand having a district attorney that believes in justice for everyone.”

After leaving work, she went to the Claremont Hotel in Oakland, where she was scheduled to receive an award from Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA).

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

Councilmember Carroll Fife, on Track to Win Reelection, Looks to Oakland’s Progress

District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife, though outspent by hundreds of thousands of dollars and facing a bitter campaign of slander, misrepresentations, and physical threats, seems to have emerged with a fairly comfortable lead in her reelection bid, well ahead of her nearest competitor (44% to 30%). In an interview with the Oakland Post Thursday, Councilmember Fife said she is hopeful that Congresswoman Barbara Lee would be willing to run for Oakland mayor if Mayor Sheng Thao is recalled.

Published

1 month ago

November 6, 2024

Oakland Post

Carroll Fife. Courtesy photo.

By Ken Epstein

In an interview with the Oakland Post Thursday, Councilmember Fife said she is hopeful that Congresswoman Barbara Lee would be willing to run for Oakland mayor if Mayor Sheng Thao is recalled.

She also explained why she thinks her campaign has done so well against extreme challenges and talked about her priorities for the coming year, especially the need to stabilize leadership in city government.

“We’re on the right path,” said Fife. “We just need to bring in the right leadership, and I’m praying that Barbara Lee will consider running for mayor. I think she has the gravitas to pull Oakland together and unite everyone in a way that none of the top potential contenders will.”

Fife explained why she feels she has been able to overcome very powerful opponents to win reelection.

“There are several thousand votes outstanding (left to be counted), but it looks pretty good,” Fife said, emphasizing the impact of the door-to-door work her supporters have done over the past four years and her close ties with her constituents.

“I attribute that to ongoing base-building and community organizing, outside of the election years,” she said. “I have an amazing field team that was able to penetrate through the negative messaging and the narratives that these millionaires and billionaires were trying to craft.”

In addition, she said she spoke with most of her opponents, and they agreed to support each other in ranked choice voting. “I was able to coordinate with them, except for the two candidates that were perpetuating false narratives, and were part of former Mayor Libby Schaaf’s talking points,” and the doom-loop narrative trashing Oakland promoted by corporate public relations operative Sam Singer.

One of the local groups working to unseat Fife, Empower Oakland, received over $500,000 raised by crypto industry leader Jesse Pollak. The National Association of Realtors and other real estate groups also poured over $1 million into the campaign against the councilmember.

Though the billionaire and multimillionaire backers may be successful in recalling Oakland’s mayor and the Alameda County district attorney, they appear to be failing in their attempt to remake the leadership of City Hall.

“With all the money they’ve spent, they were successful with the two recalls and nothing else,” she said, explaining that corporation-backed candidates are not winning.

She noted that some local leaders are organizing to repeal ranked-choice voting in Oakland and that eliminating or preventing ranked-choice voting “is one of the (right-wing) Heritage Foundation’s flagship campaigns in cities and states across the nation.”

People “should be aware of how these Republican policies are creeping into the Bay,” she continued. Ranked-choice voting is a threat to those with money because it allows for “unlikely candidates who are not necessarily connected to wealth and or political connections,” to succeed, she said.

Oakland is poised for economic growth and is becoming a much safer city, Fife says.

At the same time, considerable economic challenges remain.

“We are dealing with some of the most challenging financial times in the history of Oakland, and I want to make sure that our infrastructure is solid. There are a lot of things to do and understanding that we’re going to need some help, and we’re not going to even have consistent leadership in the mayor’s office,” she said.

“If you want to empower Oakland, you don’t destabilize it,” Fife said. “You don’t destabilize it by creating mass hysteria in one of the largest businesses in the city, which is our city government.”

Looking at the impact of the Nov. 5 elections, she said, “I know people are feeling really dejected about some local and national races. But I think these are the opportunities for people who have big ideas and who are concerned about the beloved community to step up.

“We’ve seen how people have voiced their positions and their anxieties around our country, our city. But now is the time to organize,” Fife said.