Brooks trailing Taylor in early voting
Oakland City Councilwoman Desley Brooks was trailing a challenger in her bid for re-election Tuesday, in a race that could end her 16-year term in office after a series of recent scandals.
With about 20 percent of the precincts reporting in District Six, Loren Taylor, a nonprofit leader and businessman, had 41 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Brooks. The other votes were divided among three more candidates, and the winner was likely to be determined by their supporters’ preferences in rankedchoice voting.
In the ranked-choice system, voters select up to three candidates in order of preference. If no one receives a majority, the last-place candidate is eliminated and his or her votes are redistributed to the second choice on those ballots. The process continues until someone reaches a majority.
Brooks championed police accountability, job training and racial equity programs, particularly in the city’s cannabis permit system. But her combativeness has not been limited to fierce exchanges on the council dais. Her assault on former Black Panther leader Elaine Brown at a downtown restaurant in 2015 cost the city $2.2 million this year.
An Alameda County Superior Court judge found Brooks repeatedly lied under oath in the case — a finding Brooks has denied. Last month, she filed a claim against the city, alleging the city attorney’s office did not adequately defend her against Brown’s lawsuit.
Brooks’ four challengers said the community deserves better and promised to bring more opportunity, city investment and affordable housing to the East Oakland district.
The city and Brooks now are fighting another lawsuit, this time from a former aide to the councilwoman. The complaint alleges Brooks ordered the staffer to collect money from vendors of a farmers’ market that she helped establish and deliver the cash payments directly to her and her sister’s boyfriend with no proper accounting. The suit also described episodes of alleged emotional and physical abuse by Brooks.
In District Four, which covers the hilly, northeastern region of the city, Sheng Thao was leading a sevenperson field to replace Annie Campbell Washington. Thao, chief of staff for Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan, had 32 percent of the vote, with Pam Harris second at 23 percent, early returns showed.
Washington did not seek a second term and said she was frustrated by “antics and corruption that exist with some members of the City Council.” She endorsed Harris, a financial consultant for nonprofit organizations.
In District Two, which covers a swath of neighborhoods surrounding Lake Merritt, incumbent Abel Guillén and challenger Nikki Fortunato Bas, head of a nonprofit that supports labor unions. were virtually deadlocked in early returns, with 47 percent for Guillén and 46 percent for Bas.