Pamela Drake (Pamela's Substack / DrakeTalk Oakland) 2026 voter guide

Yes, the charter needs reform. No, the answer is not to weaken our City Council. Most cities our size use the council-manager format, and for good reason. A city government can more easily can fire a city manager than recall a mayor. This mayor will not be here forever. There are large outside forces waiting in the wings and we could end up with a strong bad mayor instead of a strong good one! We should not succumb to the fashion for more authority-affirming rather than more democratic government. We can improve our charter without line-item vetoes, without requiring supermajorities to override unwise uses of funds. A number of years ago, we moved to district elections, and the change in the council was profound. We need our councilmembers to have sufficient power and control such that our city can withstand even an unwisely-elected terrible mayor. We have no quarrel with Mayor Lee and we have supported her--no loyalty oath is needed to show that. But this process was not right and the conclusion was also not right. Vote NO.

Currently, when hedge funds, banks, and investors acquire a property in Oakland by purchasing its debt (after the property goes into foreclosure,) they are exempt from paying the transfer tax that Oakland residents pay for any other real estate transaction. As of July 2026, Oakland has seen millions of dollars in untaxed transactions, missing out on as much as $13 million in transfer taxes that could have paved our roads, brought homeless people indoors, or supported public safety. This measure closes that loophole, taxing foreclosure transfers at the same rate as everyone else. It is not a new tax, it does not raise rates, and it does not tax individuals who are in home foreclosures. If you are selling your home or your small building, nothing changes for you. Buyers who convert these properties into social uses, shelters, health centers, etc will not have to pay the transfer tax. And during downturns, foreclosures go up which makes closing this loophole even more important to pass now. Thanks to Cathy Leonard for her help with this.

Additional bonds for affordable housing projects for veterans and families.

Increasing California's rainy day fund given the volatility of taxes that come in during downturns.

continues the existing income tax on higher income earning residents and helps fund schools and other good stuff.

It lifts California’s near-total ban on public campaign financing and allows the state and local governments to create voluntary programs. Doesn't provide funding, just permission.

changes statewide recall rules to require a separate election if the recall passes. Disallows a candidate running as part of the recall to win without a true majority.

haha, this is a good one. As the League od Women Voters in California says, “Borrowing is a poor way to pay for ongoing scientific research. Bonds are best suited to long-lived investments such as buildings and infrastructure.” Additionally, half of the fund would go to the one research institute which proposed this bond. Sheesh Where's my emoji? 😩

a trump inspired voter ID law. I have to say…I don't understand any of this voter ID crap. Our problem is not-too many people voting, who shouldn't be…but getting people to vote at all!!!

This is the Prop we've been waiting for. Add a tiny effing tax to the 200 effing billionaires who live here and don't know what to do with their money but lie about props they put on the ballot. It's only for 1 year but is the definition of a good start!

the League says, “Prop 41 could prevent all the revenue voters approved for a specific purpose from being spent on that purpose.” It's a work-around for those billionaires who oppose Prop 40 (as is Prop 42.)

Afrer the anti-taxer, anti-services Jarvis Gann folks tried to hobble state government, they did for a time hobble local governments ability to vote on raising taxes for a specific purpose-say zoos or cops. But a judge threw that out saying if folks gathered signatures for that service and it passed with a simple majority, that was enough. They want to take us back to a supermajority when a minority of voters could block funding for a service. These people. Jarvis Gann extremists are the reason, along with a huge inequality divide, why California remainss a troubled state. And those policies helped give us thst divide.

my Dem club struggled with this one but then doctors who run community clinics told us that the 90% restriction was too rigid for their clinics’ needs. What if they need a new security system, etc and they run afoul of it? They might be fined and shut down, nope, not workable.

Limits CEQA, environmental review for large projects. Yes, CEQA can be annoying and time consuming but this is NOT the way to do a thoughtful overhaul. It almost seems as if it were written with data centers in mind or detentions centers or…hmm maybe I'm just being paranoid….