By Howard Dyckoff
East Oakland residents – if you’re looking for a City Council member who will best represent your interests, then don’t miss the District 7 Candidate’s Forum tonight at 6pm at the Allen Temple.
Here’s your chance to hear from all 3 candidates – 16-year incumbent Larry Reid, plus challengers Sheryl Walton and Beverly Williams. They are all seeking your vote this November. This is the only community event to date.
Allen Temple Allen Temple is hosting the free event, which is sponsored by Oakland Community Organizations (OCO), the NAACP, the Block by Block Organizing Network (BBBON) and the League of Women Voters. Stan Weisner, A BBBON representative working on the forum, said, “As one of the co-sponsors, BBBON hopes that the District 7 Candidate’s Forum will help inform all community residents about the candidates and what they stand for as voters decide .”
Pastor Billy G. Dixon of the At Thy Word Ministry was more specific in what he expects. “The first issue is crime. What are their plans for stopping crime? Crime prevents businesses from coming to East Oakland. They need to have a detailed plan on what they intend to do as council members.”
Dixon said the candidates need to have a plan for the east, and the rest of the city. “Schooling is another issue. We know young Black and Latino men are lost before the 4th grade. We need to know how they plan on motivating young people.”
Also concerned about Oakland’s economy, Dixon asked, “how are they going to fix the budget and how are we going to keep from becoming like Stockton? What are their plans for bringing businesses to Oakland? And how are we going to keep our sport teams? And can we bring jobs in for the people of Oakland ? We need to hold them more accountable to the community.”
The event will be held in the J. Alfred Smith Hall of Allen Temple, and it is open to the public. Allen Temple is at 8501 International Blvd, with its parking lot on 86th Avenue.
District 7 is the southern-most City Council district in Oakland and is representative of Deep East Oakland, including the Elmhurst and Stonehurst neighborhoods.
I live in D7 and I know there are many structural problems that need to be addressed. Public safety and economic development are major concerns here, as are opportunities for youth, the lack of fresh food outlets, and the high rate of foreclosures, which are tearing our fragile communities apart. I look forward to hearing what approaches and solutions the candidates will propose.
Please come hear the candidates at the forum and ask your own questions to find out who would be best as the City Council person from Deep East.
Questions about the meeting should be directed to BBBON coordinator Evans Daniels, at (510) 388-4599, or Kimblyn Bryant, OCO Organizer, at (510) 435-6244.
Howard Dyckoff has lived in Oakland for over 40 years and has been involved with many community groups, including Oakland Digital and Oakland Local, Block by Block, the East Oakland Boxing Association (EOBA), and CBE. A Brooklyn, New York, transplant, and an Aerospace Engineering graduate of NY Polytechnic, Howard also attended Laney College, where he wrote for the Laney Tower newspaper and was elected editor. Howard also attended the Starr King School at the Theological Union in Berkeley.
He has served as the Berkeley Free Clinic’s Outreach Coordinator, and also worked as an information technology professional at Chevron, Sybase, and Wells Fargo. He worked in both the 2010 and 2020 Census. Howard has been a regular contributor to Oakland Local and online publications such as TechTarget and Linux Gazette and currently writes for Oakland Voices. He currently does event photography and portraiture around the Bay Area.
I live on 102nd Avenue in East Oakland. There are too many cars in the area and it is creating a huge parking problem. I live on a corner. Between my next door neighbor and the house across the street there is a total of 10 cars. They’re parking on the sidewalks and on their lawns. It is difficult for my visitors to find parking close to my house when they attempt to visit, especially on the weekends. Can Oakland limit the number of cars per household? Can we apply for an additional driveway to provide parking for family members? What can be done?