At-Large Candidates' Forum: Building Oakland for Everyone Continues

On May 14th, the Oakland Network for Responsible Development (ONWRD), the Oakland People’s Housing Coalition, and the League of Women Voters sponsored a “Building Oakland for Everyone Candidates Forum” for the At-Large City Council seat.

Sustaining the momentum of the Building Oakland for Everyone Summit last fall, where 400 Oakland residents gathered to articulate their vision for Oakland, the forum was an opportunity for Oaklanders to raise questions about issues important to working families and to hear directly from the candidates about their positions.

The forum was a vibrant illustration of Oakland’s diversity. Audience members - 100 strong - represented dozens of organizations and neighborhoods throughout the city.

A majority of the candidates for the At Large seat attended the event: Rebecca Kaplan, Clinton Killian, and Frank Rose were present to answer questions regarding affordable housing, job creation, industrial land, public safety, budget shortfalls, and other topics important to Oaklanders. Audience members also asked the candidates about their long-term visions for Oakland and inquired as to how they plan to build Council majorities to move towards those visions.

The sponsoring organizations are non-partisan and do not endorse any candidates; the forum was an educational event only.

This forum was only one step in continuing to “Build Oakland for Everyone.” The day before the forum, ONWRD members also presented their vision for job creation to the Oakland City Council Community Economic Development Committee. The presentation was based on EBASE and ONWRD’s report, Putting Oakland to Work, and recommended the Council take concrete steps to create good paying jobs for Oaklanders. These steps include:

• Increasing reporting from the local hire program
• Requiring developers to report on expected and actual job creation
• Strengthening the link between workforce development and economic development
• Conducting additional analysis to identify sectors that create good paying, accessible jobs.