This Women’s Month, I’m sharing the stories of inspiring female and femme leaders who are dreaming and achieving love and justice for the people. Check out our spotlights on the fierce young Radical Monarchs (pictured below), our newly appointed City Clerk Asha Reed, and more features to come of women who’ve inspired me deeply. 

The Oakland-founded Radical Monarchs are young girls of color forming fierce sisterhood, celebrating their identities and contributing radically to their communities. It was life-giving to meet with them recently and share our journeys navigating leadership, overcoming sexism and racism, and stepping into our voice and power. 🦋

REOPENING UPDATE: I’m also happy to share that Alameda County moved from the Purple to Red Tier this past week, meaning that more activities are now allowed, including indoor dining, movie theaters, museums, and zoos at 25% capacity, retail at 50% capacity, and gyms/fitness centers at 10% capacity. I urge us to remain vigilant and save lives as the majority of our communities have not yet been vaccinated. 

In this newsletter, you’ll find information about:

• Efforts to ensure rapid implementation of MACRO community responders
• Our recent videos: D2 Budget Town Hall and Community Visions for San Antonio Park 
• Important items for Tuesday’s Council meeting
• City and District 2 news and resources

The citywide process for developing Oakland’s next two-year budget (2021-23) has begun, with Council offices currently collecting input from residents on how resources should be prioritized to meet community needs. Adopting a balanced budget is the most important responsibility of the City Council, and we need to hear from you. 

Please complete and share my office’s 5-minute budget survey here by Friday, March 12. Your feedback is critical to improving services, infrastructure, and investments in Oakland.

With Lunar New Year around the corner, I’m wishing all Oaklanders and our Asian American communities health, safety, prosperity, and strength in the Year of the Ox. See below for ways you can celebrate and support our beloved Oakland Chinatown!

Unity image courtesy of Good Good Eatz

Monday is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. Though the service events we’d planned at District 2’s Bella Vista Park and Morcom Rose Garden were cancelled due to COVID, we can still honor his legacy of revolution, reimagining, and healing.

Tap into these virtual volunteer opportunities, as well as Anti Police-Terror Project’s 7th Annual Reclaim MLK’s Radical Legacy Weekend workshops and car caravan march on Monday -- I’ll be there and hope to see you.

I’m grateful to share that last week I was elected by my colleagues to serve as Council President. I’m excited to better serve Oakland in this role, in partnership with the Council, Mayor, and City Administration. Our residents, workers, and small businesses need us now more than ever to work boldly together to create a safer, healthier, more inclusive and vibrant city. 

As our community continues to struggle through this pandemic, as violence causes pain for our neighbors and loved ones, and as the City navigates a budget gap -- proposing to cut critical services that many of us know are not enough to begin with -- I want you to know I am committed to fight for and protect all Oaklanders. 

I’m inspired by the compassion so many of you have shown during this hard year, from organizing meal drops and donations, to raising funds for struggling local businesses and families, to organizing virtual meet-ups to bring folks together and battle the isolation and discouragement many of us feel.

I am grateful for you, and from my family to yours, we send our warmest  wishes for a safe, healthy holiday season and a 2021 filled with peace, connection, and love.

In this newsletter, you’ll find information about:

• The Bay Area’s stay-at-home order
• Paving and traffic safety projects happening now and coming up for District 2
• City and district news and resources, including legislation on all-electric buildings and vaccine access for our educators, and support local businesses

Last Monday, we began a Bay Area-wide stay-at-home order in which all sectors other than essential operations and retail at 20% capacity should be closed. This includes closure of outdoor dining, indoor and outdoor playgrounds, hair salons, barbershops, and personal care services. The new restrictions will remain in place until January 4, 2021.

In Alameda County, ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients have been increasing steadily since November 23rd and Bay Area-wide ICU capacity has fallen drastically in the last week. Let's all play our part to save lives: stay home unless for essential activities, wear a mask whenever outside your home and practice physical distancing.

Like many of you, I’m relieved and grateful for the election outcomes. Thank you to all who voted, got out the vote, and organized for these wins. Congratulations to my City Council colleagues — Councilmembers-Elect Carroll Fife and Treva Reid and Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan, Dan Kalb and Noel Gallo, as well as City Attorney Barbara Parker. Together, let’s keep moving forward for democracy and justice.

We are now under a limited state-issued Stay at Home Order. It  requires that non-essential work, movement, and gatherings stop between 10pm and 5am for Purple Tier counties, which includes ours. Please protect all of our health and reduce the spread of COVID-19 by restricting interactions with people outside of your households for non-essential activities and social gatherings.

During this time of year when we give thanks, I hope we also reflect on the legacy of settler colonialism and systemic violence + erasure of our Native and Indigenous brothers and sisters. 

Oakland is on stolen Ohlone land. Consider joining my family in our annual Shuumi Land Tax payment to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. It will help return land to Indigenous people, establish a cemetery to reinter ancestral remains, and build urban gardens, community centers, and ceremonial spaces for current and future generations of the Bay Area’s Indigenous people.

What a joyous day as our nation celebrates democracy and looks forward to continuing our struggles for justice. Congratulations to Oakland's own Vice President Elect Kamala Harris, making herstory as the first Black and Asian woman elected to the White House with President Elect Joe Biden. 

While Oakland votes are still being counted, I want to offer my congratulations to the likely winners: Councilmembers Elect Carroll Fife and Treva Reid; Councilmembers Dan Kalb, Noel Gallo and Rebecca Kaplan; and City Attorney Barbara Parker. See Oakland election coverage from Oaklandside.

As we head into the Fall of this rough year of 2020, I hope you are surrounded by care and support. And as the election draws near, I hope you have the information you need to cast an informed vote. 

In this newsletter, you’ll find information about:

• Historic win with Moms 4 Housing
• Lake Merritt Vending Pilot Program Update
• Tuesday’s Council meeting and agenda highlights
• “Know Your Rights” materials for Oakland workers
• Important news and resources, including COVID grants and voting information