City Government

Post Endorsements: Sheng Thao, Pam Harris and Joseph Simmons for District 4 City Council

Published

7 years ago

October 12, 2018

Incumbent Annie Campbell Washington is not running for reelection in District 4, and seven candidates are campaigning for the empty seat, which represents the Montclair, Dimond and Laurel neighborhoods.

The Oakland Post endorses Sheng Thao, who has worked for five years for councilmember Rebecca Kaplan and is her chief of staff.

The Post also recommends that voters choose Pam Harris, who works in fiscal management for nonprofits, for their second choice and Joseph Simmons, senior pastor for the Greater St. Paul Church in Oakland, for third choice.

Working in City Hall, Sheng Thao has experience developing the city’s budget and has sought ways to secure local funding for public safety, transit and capital improvement.

She is endorsed by elected officials, including Assemblyman Rob Bonta, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín, school board President Aimee Eng and City Councilmember Noel Gallo.

She is also endorsed by the International Association of Firefighters Local 55, National Union of Healthcare Workers, the Black Young Democrats of the East Bay and the John George Democratic Club.

Sheng Thao comes from a Hmong American family, which arrived in the U.S. as asylum seekers in the wake of the Vietnam War. A single mother and domestic violence survivor, she graduated from Merritt College and U.C. Berkeley.,

In an interview on ABC7, she said, “My campaign is a reflection on how I will govern…

Everyone in our community deserves to be part of the democratic process.”

Because she already has experience working on the council she said, “Our district will have a seat at the table on day one.”

Pam Harris is running on a platform of dignity “a city where everyone who wants to live here can afford to be here; equity, a city with “a living wage, union jobs, and economic opportunities for all; and compassion, “shelter and basic services for all who need them.”

She has 25 years’ experience serving in the nonprofit, documentary film, and philanthropy sectors. Over the course of her career, she has worked in youth development, violence prevention, health care reform, LGBTQ rights, racial and socioeconomic inclusion, and fiscal management for nonprofits.

Pam Harris earned a bachelor’s degree from Vassar College and a master’s degree in journalism from UC. Berkeley. She lives with her mother, her two children and her wife.

Her endorsements include Assemblymember Rob Bonta, Councilmember Annie Campbell Washington, Mayor Libby Schaaf, the Oakland Police Officers Association and the Sierra Club.

Joseph Simmons stands for “housing security, safe and secure neighborhoods, community beautification, transparent city government, community beautification and local business empowerment and promotion.

“We need to tackle some of the problems that are not being tackled (by) City Hall,” he said.

Simmons says he is deeply committed to help families who are “struggling to keep a roof over their heads.”

“Progress is great, but we need balance in our city,” he said in an interview on ABC7. “While we’re bringing new people in with new businesses, we also need to take care of the people here that we have under the bridges.”

“As the Senior Pastor of Greater St. Paul Church in Oakland for over 20 years, I have been on the front line of every societal problem from beginning to end of life,” he says on his website.

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Related Topics:District 4 Joseph Simmons Oakland Pam Harris Politics Sheng Thao

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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

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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.