Oakland residents care deeply about the future of their city.
That much was clear from the sold-out, engaged crowd at The Oaklandside’s mayoral candidate forum Wednesday evening at Castlemont High School.
For two riveting hours, seven candidates for the city’s top office tried to prove that they’re best equipped to tackle Oakland’s toughest challenges, from public safety concerns to the budget deficit and shrinking support for the arts.
Oaklandside reporters Azucena Rasilla, Roselyn Romero and Eli Wolfe peppered the candidates with a wide range of questions, not shying away from holding them accountable for past statements and positions that haven’t aged well. In crafting our questions for the candidates, we took inspiration from the more than 500 Oaklanders who submitted a question in advance that they wanted us to ask.
Here’s some of what we asked the mayoral hopefuls about:
- Their plans to improve safety despite the city’s dearth of financial resources
- How they’ll balance the Oakland’s budget and raise new revenue
- Whether Oakland should change its approach to managing homeless encampments
- How can Oakland keep supporting the arts despite the hard economic times we’ve fallen on
While most gave earnest answers, only some offered tangible solutions.
Candidates present were Barbara Lee, Mindy Pechenuk, Suz Robinson, Eric Simpson, Elizabeth Swaney, Loren Taylor and Renia Webb.
Around 900 people tuned into the forum remotely on Zoom.
A portion of the forum focused on the new federal administration and President Donald Trump’s threats to withhold funding from sanctuary cities like Oakland. Ximena Loeza, reporter from our partner newsroom El Tímpano, asked the candidates questions submitted by their audience of Latino and Mayan immigrants in Oakland.
The forum closed out with a question, submitted by an Oaklandside reader, one that’s likely on many people’s minds. “Being mayor seems like an impossible, thankless job,” they said. “Why do you want it?”
If you prefer audio, you can listen to our partner KALW’s recording of the evening.
Find more in-depth coverage of the April 15 special election from The Oaklandside. Let us know what questions you have and what you’d like to see from our reporting as Election Day nears.
