Candidate for
Council Member; City of Oakland; District 2

Local control of our public schools

Oakland can do much more to advocate for our public schools and to hold Randolph Ward, Administrator for the Oakland Unified School District, accountable.

• The city can supplement our schools by offering city facilities for the use of after school programs.
• The city should be forging partnerships between businesses, non-profits, and community and volunteer efforts to improve facilities and programming.
• We must pay our teachers, who are essential to our children's future, a fair wage.

City funds -- the tax dollars of Oaklanders -- are being spent to attract people who don't live in Oakland. Developers should be required to enter into Community Benefit Agreements that benefit Oaklanders, with below market rate housing, neighborhood parks and services, and the basic infrastructure that makes it possible for communities to thrive.

• We must not encourage anti-worker companies like Wal-Mart to come here.
• We need living wages at the Port and for all full-time workers
• The Port must pay its fair share of revenues to the city.
• The City should do business with companies that hire Oaklanders first.

Jerry Brown has made Oakland friendlier for the military by pushing the Military Academy as a panacea for our students, by inviting the Army for war games, and by encouraging the growth of a militarized police force. I know that the military isn't a game. I am outraged that in a time of unjust war anyone thinks that our children should be encouraged to look upon the military as just another educational option.

• We must develop programs to counteract the message of Army recruiters on our high school campuses
• We must educate all parents that under Bush's "No Child Let Behind Act" the only way for our children to stay out of military directories is for them to opt-out of the program.

Police officers are encouraged to make arrests rather than forge ties with neighborhood residents. The police are not held accountable for misconduct -- like many people of color in this city I have had very bad experiences with the Oakland police.

• The culture of our police force must be changed to respect the diversity of our communities and stop racial profiling.
• Officers should be promoted for emphasizing nonviolent problem solving and for taking the time to meet the kids in the neighborhoods.
• When community policing does not get you promoted but high-arrest anti-drug task forces do, young officers learn where the power is in the force and act accordingly.

This is a city full of arts and artists, yet we need to go to Berkeley or San Francisco to find theaters and performance spaces, community arts programs, and the infrastructure that allows the arts to thrive.

• The city must do more to highlight and support the arts.
• City funding for neighborhood and community festivals must be more readily accessible.
• The city should be partnering with non-profits and for-profit businesses on artist housing, arts opportunities for kids, and the creation of an arts and performance district.

The image people have of Oakland is so different from our reality. For so many people like myself and my friends, people from interracial families, people from families with two mothers or fathers, Oakland is the only place we've ever felt at home.

• We need to ensure that we preserve our diversity as we move forward to make Oakland a better place for all families
• We need to support and celebrate Oakland's LGBT community (one of the largest in the country) and fight to pass ordinances supporting Gay marriage
• We need a thriving Oakland, with locally-owned neighborhood shops and clean streets that are pleasant to walk in for all our citizens.

Aimee Allison's Ten Key points for a better Oakland

1. Schools

• The city council needs to work with parents, the teachers unions and the board of education to regain local control of our public schools.
• The city should supplement our schools by offering city facilities for use in creating after school programs.
• The city should forge partnerships between businesses, non-profits, and community and volunteer efforts to improve school facilities.
• We must pay our teachers, who are essential to our children's future, a fair wage.

• The city should mandate that all large housing projects include a 30% affordable housing rate for rental and homeownership property.
• Community development should aim to preserve the multi-ethnic mosaic of Oakland, gentrification leads to homelessness and the destruction of local communities.
• Developers should be required to enter into Community Benefit Agreements, with below market rate housing, neighborhood parks and services, and the basic infrastructure that makes it possible for communities to thrive.

• Developers should be required to hire Oakland residents first and pay prevailing wages under a Project Labor Agreement.
• We must create tax incentives that promote small business development downtown, and not encourage anti-worker companies like Wal-Mart to locate here.
• The City should do business with companies that hire Oaklanders first.

• Oakland needs to join with Berkeley, Emeryville, Pleasanton, Marin County, Richmond and Vallejo to form an energy consortium that could negotiate bulk rates for electrical energy.
• Under a 2002 law allowing cities to establish bulk energy consortiums Oakland could help boost renewable sources of energy and move away from PG&E, and foreign oil.

• We must develop programs to counteract the message of Army recruiters on our high school campuses.
• We must educate all parents that under Bush's "No Child Let Behind Act" the only way for our children to stay out of military directories is for them to opt-out of the program.

• The culture of our police force must be changed to respect the diversity of our communities and stop racial profiling
• We must encourage community policing by promoting officers that emphasize nonviolent problem solving and that take the time to meet the kids in the neighborhoods.

• The city must do more to encourage local arts by supporting community arts programs and the infrastructure that allows the arts to thrive.
• City funding for neighborhood and community festivals must be more readily accessible.
• The city should be partnering with non-profits and local businesses to supply artist housing, arts opportunities for kids, and the creation of an arts and performance district.

• We need to support and celebrate Oakland's LGBT community (one of the largest in the country) and fight to pass ordinances supporting Gay marriage.
• We must ensure that as Oakland develops, we make it a top priority to preserve the our diverse neighborhoods and families.

• The city council should negotiate with the Port to ensure it pays its fair share of revenues to the city.
• All residential development on Port land must ensure adequate affordable housing and public access. The Public waterways belong to the public, not just the rich.

• All streets should be pedestrian and bike friendly. We must make it a top priority to increase the number of bicycle lanes on city streets.
• Oakland should develop long term plans for implementing more effect public transportation, including the development of a light rail system