Five out to replace retiring councilman
With Larry Reid stepping down in District 7, ballot hopefuls make their pitch to city voters
OAKLAND >> Larry Reid’s decision to step down from the Oakland City Council after serving six terms has triggered a scramble for his District 7 seat among five candidates hoping to replace him, including his daughter, a well-known church pastor and a former college trustee.
It’s the only council seat in the
Nov. 3 election that won’t be defended by an incumbent, and all five candidates say their ties to the city run deep, having either grown up in or lived there for a long time.
As in the contests for other council seats, affordable housing, homelessness and police accountability are key issues in District 7. But the candidates have also emphasized a need to reel in good jobs, stop illegal dumping and curb gun violence, which has risen sharply this year.
The campaign’s leading fundraiser to date is Larry Reid’s own daughter Treva Reid, a PG& E public affairs representative who has worked with numerous local nonprofits and previously served as a field representative for thenAssemblywoman Nancy Skinner.
She has raised more than $140,000 in contributions so far, according to campaign finance records, and has a long and varied list of endorsements — from numerous local elected officials to labor unions, environmental groups, faith leaders and other community leaders and organizations.
Also running is Bishop Bob Jackson, the founder and longtime pastor of Acts Full Gospel Church of God in Christ. He’s received endorsements from multiple faith leaders and business people, as well as a few current and former politicians, according to his campaign website. Jackson has collected more than $64,000 for his campaign so far.
Marcie Hodge, a former Peralta Community College District trustee who is the director of a residential home for boys, also is in the race. She has run for the seat and for mayor in previous years and has raised $2,300 from individual donors for this one.
Another candidate is Marchon Tatmon, a government affairs manager at the San Francisco/ Marin County Food Bank and an Oakland native. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2018 and has picked up $8,300 in contributions for his current campaign.
Aaron Clay, the co-founder of a green energy company based in Oakland, has received nearly $40,000 so far in his bid to win Reid’s seat.
Tatmon, who has experience in housing people through his
former position at Building Futures, said tackling the city’s homelessness problems should involve the use of housing vouchers or rental assistance in the short-term and creation of a “buyers and renters priority policy” in the longterm to give displaced residents the first chances at buying former homes in their city.
Reid’s proposed solutions
to homelessness are many, from securing more public land for shelters and RVs to expanding rental assistance and mortgage subsidies to people who have come into hardship because of the coronavirus pandemic. She also wants to redirect funding used for police toward building housing on public land to boost a housing trust fund to buy affordable housing for low-income residents.
Jackson said his solution to homelessness would be facilitating close relationships with the county, other
cities and the state to get more resources and ideas. He said he wants to find ways to help subsidize lowincome homeowners and dedicate public land for affordable “homeownership projects.”
Hodge proposes expanding residential programs that offer support for unhoused people who struggle with addiction or mental health issues and suggests relaxing zoning regulations to allow developers to build denser, taller housing complexes.
Clay did not respond to
questions from this news organization, but says on his website he wants to “renew a focus on affordable housing and transitional supportive housing for our neighbors coming out of homeless situations.”
Jackson supports realloacting some funds from the police department to other services to deal with issues such as mental health, but does not want to substantially cut the police budget. Jackson said he would want to see the department make a more concerted effort to
hire local men and women.
Hodge spoke in favor of strengthening the police commission, boosting training for police officers and requiring police officers to maintain a $1 million insurable bond so they’re “more accountable” when using force.
Tatmon said he supports cutting the police budget by half and holding police officers “financially accountable.”
Reid supports the current city task force’s goal to cut the police department’s budget by about 50% and to reallocate those funds toward programs that aim to reduce and prevent violence.
“We must open all the books and make informed decisions on how to reallocate and reinvest millions in the challenging areas we face with new resourced strategies and approaches— trauma-informed community policing and culturally competent training, with empowered police oversight,” she said.