Empower Oakland 2026 voter guide

Charlene Wang has been a force on the city council since taking office in 2025. She is a workhorse for her constituents who tirelessly gathers feedback from the community and then puts that into practice at City Hall. The true hallmark of a great city councilmember is the ability to move forward while balancing trade-offs and she’s done that extremely well. On homelessness, she has expanded shelter capacity so that when an encampment is closed, people have somewhere to go. On public safety, she’s supported the camera technology that helps solve crimes while remaining a firm advocate for the much-needed privacy protections that keep it trustworthy. On housing, she’s moved new development near transit hubs even when neighbors pushed to slow it down. And she’s worked to get survivors of sexual exploitation the services and protection they need. District 2 is a uniquely diverse place. It includes Little Saigon and Chinatown, Crocker Highlands, Jack London Square, and parts of Downtown. Charlene is perfect for this district as she is both progressive and practical.

Janani Ramachandran is running unopposed, and she earned this on her track record rather than by default. For the past four years, she has been working diligently to be a voice for good governance in Oakland. When she found out that Oakland's HR department had left more than 1,000 applications for 911 dispatcher jobs unanswered, she made it public and kept pushing until hiring and response times improved. She was also one of the few voices in City Hall who warned that the 2024 budget irresponsibly relied on funds from the sale of the Coliseum it hadn’t yet received (and still hasn’t received to this day). She has a consistent record of asking hard questions and following through. We look forward to seeing her continue to push for pragmatic solutions to Oakland’s biggest challenges.

Kevin Jenkins is currently city council president, and briefly served as interim mayor. A native of deep East Oakland, Kevin has spent his career in public service in District 6. During his tenure, he’s demonstrated an ability to help lead Oakland through its most unstable stretch in recent history. His leadership reflects the kind of steady, solutions-oriented governance Oakland needs — focused on safer neighborhoods, reliable city services, economic opportunity, and responsible stewardship of public resources. Our endorsement also reflects Kevin’s willingness to pursue greater accountability and effectiveness within City Hall. He has supported reforms designed to clarify responsibility, strengthen oversight, improve access to objective fiscal analysis, and make city government more responsive to residents. At a moment when Oakland needs leaders who can bridge competing interests while remaining focused on results, we believe Kevin offers the experience, relationships, and commitment to effective government necessary to continue serving District 6 and strengthening Oakland as a whole.

We recommend ranking Arielle Fleisher #1, and leaving the #2 spot blank. Arielle Fleisher is an OUSD parent, a PTA member, co-leader of her neighborhood council, and founder of a 300+ member moms group. Before becoming a candidate, she helped build an independent parent-led guide to the OUSD budget, so families could actually engage instead of tuning out. In many ways, she started doing the work of a school board member long before she ran to be one. She’s spent her career working on public systems that people depend on, from managing vaccine clinics to advancing affordable transit and street safety. An avid biker and a product of public schools, she is an active leader in both local and state politics, currently serving as an elected delegate for the California Democratic Party. As an OUSD board member, she wants an open and transparent search for a permanent superintendent, budgets based on fiscal reality, and experienced teachers who can actually afford to live in Oakland. Notably, Fleisher is running against current board president Jennifer Brouhard, who has presided over OUSD’s tumultuous decline since she was elected in 2022. Fleisher would be a welcome addition, and much needed breath of fresh air, to a board in desperate need of overhaul.

We recommend ranking Mike Hutchinson #1 and Kathryn Camp #2. Incumbent board member Mike Hutchinson has often been in the minority vote of the board’s 4-3 majority. His record shows a clear understanding of the job he was elected to do. When the board majority wanted to approve cuts without naming what it was cutting, he moved to make them come back with a real plan first. When the board extended the interim superintendent’s contract in closed session, he told the public about their antics. He reads the material, asks for specifics before the vote, and is an unequaled voice of authority on OUSD’s budget. He “goes hard in the paint” and at times we would like to see him be more collaborative with other pragmatic board members. But his passion for Oakland, and his willingness to lead on tough decisions warrant him keeping his seat. Kathryn Camp is our strong second choice. She’s an OUSD parent and part of a wave of families who stopped waiting for the current board to invite them in. She has stood at the microphone at board meetings asking for something the district has never produced: a plain report on their priorities, what’s improved, where things are off track, and what’s being done about it. District 4 is fortunate to have two candidates willing to do this work.

Cindi Reiss has served on the Peralta Board since 2018, through accreditation probation, chancellor turnover, and the threat of state takeover. Despite a turbulent tenure, she has not shied away from hard conversations, including saying plainly that a shrinking district cannot sustain four colleges. She put forward the June resolution to merge Laney and Merritt into Oakland City College by fall 2027, and we believe she is in a strong position to see it through. As that work progresses, we expect the financial case to be made in public, with the enrollment and savings assumptions shown rather than asserted.

Michael Houston is unopposed for the second time, and he still completed our questionnaire and participated in the endorsement process, demonstrating his commitment to transparency and engaging with his constituents. He is a certified internal auditor who has done government audit work since 2008 and ran Oakland's whistleblower program before winning the 2024 special election. He runs his office against stated goals and reports publicly against them, which is rarer in Oakland government than it should be. He focused his team on critical areas such as 911 response times, and under his leadership the share of audit recommendations the administration has actually implemented is up 20 points. This fall, his office will begin a citywide financial-management audit. Given the state of Oakland’s finances, this may be some of the most useful work anyone at City Hall does this year. We look forward to seeing him continue to be an advocate for good governance and accountability.

It’s easy to forget what Oakland looked like in 2024. A city council that was at war with each other, a mayor that was indicted by the FBI, and a crime epidemic spiraling out of control. Mayor Lee has brought steady leadership and righted the ship, laying the foundation for Oakland’s comeback. She has effectively brought together many constituencies to the table and taken the temperature down in local politics. Early signs show that she has successfully “done no harm” across public safety, homelessness, economic development, and housing. When contrasting this with Oakland under our prior mayor, there is no question that Barbara Lee deserves appreciation and support. Many may remember that we did not support Barbara Lee in the 2025 special election. Some of our concerns remain. At times, we wish the mayor moved more quickly and decisively. Her desire to build a big tent also meant that she often has too many cooks in the kitchen on major decisions. If the Strong Mayor charter reform (Measure EE) passes, we are hopeful she will move more aggressively on Oakland’s key issues. No matter what, we support her administration as a step in the right direction for Oakland and are optimistic about the city’s trajectory.

Adriana Valencia brings an infectious energy and user-centered perspective to the AC Transit Board. An Oakland resident of nearly 30 years and lifelong transit user, she pairs deep passion for rider advocacy with a product management background. Her understanding of root-cause analysis, system interdependencies, and complex stakeholder alignment is a helpful skillset to fix canceled routes, streamline interagency transfers, and build a dependable bus network. Her focus on transparency and accountability is demonstrated by her public-interest lawsuit against AC Transit over Brown Act violations following a closed-door $500,000 executive payout. You might hear: “Joel Young has 17 years of board experience and leads a national transit group. Adriana Valencia has not held elected office.” Tenure and national leadership do not replace responsive local oversight. Valencia will face a learning curve typical for a first-time local official. However, we believe she is the better choice to bring accountability, transparency, and operational focus to AC Transit.

Sarah Syed currently serves on the AC Transit Board for Ward 3, but with recent changes to district boundaries, she’s now running to represent Ward 4. She knows the system at both altitudes. In her questionnaire and interview, she was as clear on the budget and impact of service disruptions as she was on how operator schedules and fare payment methods affect whether a bus runs on time. When nighttime service on Broadway was terminated, she worked to bring it back. Her ideas for on-time performance are cheap and practical, like stop sign placement and traffic signal fixes. She was also candid about what AC Transit is getting wrong on ridership and reliability, and about who pays the price when service degrades or routes shift away from underserved neighborhoods. We can't guarantee we'll align with Syed on every vote. Still, we are confident that each one will come from a position of being well informed and motivated by a desire to make transit work.

Before Robert Raburn ever held office, he spent a decade chairing Alameda County’s Measure B Citizens Watchdog Committee (the body that makes sure voter-approved transportation dollars actually go where voters were told they’d go). He came to this work as a watchdog first, and he has governed like one ever since. As a professional transportation planner, with training and experiences that directly relate to being a successful board member, he championed the “Fleet of the Future” order that finally retired the last legacy BART cars in 2023, insisting the new trains include dedicated space for wheelchairs and bicycles. He helped drive BART’s transit-oriented development policy, which has already delivered 275 units at Fruitvale (including BART’s first supportive housing for veterans), 110 at Coliseum, and more than 250 affordable units in San Leandro. Robert also consistently shows up with his community. He is a fixture at neighborhood meetings, station walk-throughs, and community events across his district. His connection to his constituents is something to be recognized and it shows in how he can speak about specific conditions at individual stations in this district. You might hear: “He’s been on the BART board for 16 years. Isn’t it time for new blood?” Usually we’d agree that long tenure without a serious challenge is how boards get complacent, but BART is weeks away from one of the most consequential election votes in its history, followed by either a major rebuild or deeper service cuts than the system has ever made. Now is not the moment to hand District 4’s seat (with some of the most at-risk stations in the system) to someone learning the budget from scratch. Raburn’s institutional knowledge, fiscal discipline, and real relationships in these neighborhoods are assets we cannot afford to throw away this cycle.

Marguerite Young has served Ward 3 for more than a decade, and she has spent that time on the critical work of keeping a century-old water and wastewater system funded, maintained, and replaced before it fails. She has backed sustained investment in aging pipeline and treatment infrastructure, and paired it with attention to affordability — expanding customer assistance, supporting an end to water shutoffs, and pushing to get lead out of school drinking water. Her background in clean water advocacy shows in how she governs. Watershed protection, water quality, and climate resilience are treated as core utility business rather than add-ons. You might hear: “Rates keep going up every year. What are we actually getting for it?” A ten-year commitment of $1.9B to replace the aging pipeline. Young has consistently voted to do that work on a schedule rather than in an emergency, and to expand assistance for the households least able to absorb the cost in the meantime.

Empower Oakland endorses YES on Measure EE because Oakland needs clear accountability at City Hall. For too long, responsibility for the performance of city government has been divided in ways that make it difficult for residents to know who is actually accountable when basic services fail. Measure EE will make the position of mayor a true chief executive role, with clear responsibility for managing city affairs and delivering results. If the streets aren’t clean, public safety isn’t improving, or departments aren’t performing, Oaklanders should know exactly who is responsible. Just as importantly, oversight stays strong. The city council would retain its legislative and budget authority, gain confirmation power over key department leaders, have the ability to override mayoral vetoes, issue subpoenas, and establish an independent Budget and Legislative Analyst's Office. To ensure that accountability holds, we strongly urge the mayor and city council to restore full funding to the Public Ethics Commission, the independent body responsible for investigating elected officials. With a stronger mayor’s office, the more important those checks and balances. You might hear: “This puts too much power in one office.” It puts responsibility in one office. Oakland currently spreads responsibility too thinly across too many bodies so that nobody is truly accountable. We believe effective government starts with clear authority, clear responsibility, and no more excuses about who is in charge.