Pizza and victory for Brooks challenger

Woody Tadesse weaved through the dozens of people at Loren Taylor’s electionnight party at Skyline Pizza offering slices of cheese and pepperoni like they were hors d’oeuvres. The restaurant, on Keller Avenue near the Leona Canyon Regional Open Space Preserve in East Oakland, was Taylor’s unofficial campaign headquarters for his successful bid to end Desley Brooks’ 16-year reign as the District Six representative on the Oakland City Council.

Skyline Pizza, which Tadesse owns, is where I first met Taylor, a third-generation Oakland native, in January.

“(Skyline) was a great resource to our campaign when we didn’t have any resources, before we actually got some fundraising momentum,” Taylor told me Wednesday morning after he’d been declared the winner. “Being able to help showcase him, what he was doing, as well as support his business, was important for us.”

Showcasing East Oakland businesses, as well as helping to create and grow new ones, will be a focus for Taylor.

“For me, Skyline Pizza is an example of a family-owned small business that we need to have more of in East Oakland, and Oakland in general, where individuals take control of their own destiny by starting their own enterprises, growing their business and creating an

establishment that really is a community asset and resource,” said Taylor, 41.

Tadesse, 52, started working at the restaurant in 1994. He bought it a decade later. Taylor and Tadesse met at Shiloh Church, a nondenominational church on School Street in East Oakland. Taylor joined the Bible study group Tadesse hosts on Monday nights at the restaurant.

“We developed a friendship and brotherhood on that level,” said Tadesse, who encourages neighborhood groups to host meetings at the restaurant. “When he told me he’s going to be running, I said, ‘Anything you want — this is yours.’ ”

Tadesse’s 19-year-old son, Nathan, volunteered for Taylor’s campaign, knocking on doors and calling voters. He was there on election night serving pizza as children played tag while adults watched voting results trickle in.

Marlo Rodriguez, one of the District Six candidates, stopped by on Tuesday night. She was there to pick up a pizza — and left after an exchange of “good lucks” with Taylor. Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney popped in for the celebration.

Ché and Veronica Allen, who live in East Oakland’s Maxwell Park neighborhood, sat at one of the tables that had balloons taped to the sides. They helped set up the party. Ché Allen, a Berkeley native, has known Taylor and his twin brother, Preston Taylor, since they were in a summer program together during middle school. Like Taylor’s mother, Ché Allen’s father was an educator for decades with the Oakland Unified School District. Taylor’s mother, who is retired, occasionally fills in as a substitute teacher.

The Allens were at Arroyo Viejo Park in June when Taylor and his campaign volunteers were chased from a city event by security guards after Brooks told Taylor he wasn’t allowed to campaign there.

That was a turning point in the race, because the interaction made Taylor campaign harder.

“Nothing really ruffles him,” Erica, Taylor’s wife, told me on election night. “I’ve seen him shook maybe twice. I’m not that chill. This is why we work.”

What worked for Taylor was Brooks’ preelection vanishing act. She missed a month of council meetings, and she skipped four candidate forums where candidates pitched their worthiness to replace her. Taylor also raised more than $140,000 for his campaign, about $66,000 more than Brooks.

“The commitment to run for public office is something that a lot of people talk about,” said Preston Taylor, a project manager for a Seattle software company who left the election party early to catch a flight to Dallas. “The fact that he put himself out there, and that he followed through with a very strong campaign, is something to be proud of.”

Skyline Pizza usually closes at 9 p.m., but well after 10 p.m. on election night, Tadesse continued walking around with a pizza tray in his hand.

“It feels like the right thing is finally happening,” he said. “When I see how people can get up and do the right thing, that just gives me hope.”