OAKLAND — Oakland City Councilmember Loren Taylor has officially jumped into the race to become the city’s next mayor, announcing his plans Wednesday to kick off his campaign for the 2022 election.
Taylor is the first to launch a public campaign for the 2022 mayoral race, which will be wide open next year as current Mayor Libby Schaaf will reach the end of her second term. Oakland mayors can serve for two terms.
Taylor, who has represented District 6 — including the Eastmont, Havenscourt, Millsmont, Arroyo Viejo and Maxwell Park neighborhoods in East Oakland — since 2018, said he wants to be a “unifying” force as a mayor.
“I believe that one of the biggest issues in Oakland is that we aren’t coming together in a way that allows us to move forward. We need to both be progressive and make progress,” he said in an interview.
Later, in an email to supporters that kicked off his campaign Wednesday, he said “My wife Erica and I have chosen to stay and raise our family here because of everything The Town represents: grit and hard work; diversity and equal opportunity for all; creativity and innovation. But too often, a focus on what divides us gets in the way of building the Oakland we all deserve.”
Among the recent debates in Oakland governance is how to fund public safety at a time when the rate of gun violence crimes and homicides has continued to rise since last spring.
Taylor has supported recent efforts to beef up the police force, including a resolution put forth earlier this month by Councilmember Sheng Thao and approved by a majority of the City Council that will add police academies and thus more police officers to the force.
That approach has been criticized by some progressive voices in the city, who question the effectiveness of funneling more money into the police department. But Taylor maintains his perspective on policing has been informed by talking to people all over Oakland.
“As a third-generation Oaklander, I have connections to many of the groups that end up being on opposite sites (of an issue),” he said in an interview this week. He pointed to his experience co-leading (with Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas) the Public Safety Task Force, a group charged with figuring out ways to reallocate police funding in Oakland.
He said that while he supports many of the recommendations made by that group, he cautions against “eroding” law enforcement in Oakland without effective solutions to take its place.
Taylor touts his pragmatism and breadth of experience, which includes a background in engineering before getting a master’s in business administration, working as a consultant and taking on leadership positions at nonprofits and other organizations.
But he had never been in political office before 2018, when he managed to unseat longtime Councilwoman Desley Brooks, who had won handily in four previous elections.
Since then, Taylor said he’s proud of his leadership in East Oakland, particularly when it comes to workforce development, like a state-funded initiative to invest in East Oakland entrepreneurs that Taylor championed.
Taylor also emphasized the need for an Oakland mayor to adequately execute policy that has been passed by the City Council, which he says he would do if elected next year.
“We’re talking about the executive branch of the city,” Taylor said. He pointed to the encampment management policy, a controversial set of rules passed unanimously last year by the council that dictate where people can and can’t camp and how their campsites must be maintained. “It passed unanimously but has not been effectively implemented with the city. It’s one thing to pass the policy — it’s another thing to execute and deliver,” he said.
Running for mayor means Taylor won’t be in the race for his District 6 seat, which is up for election in the same election. Also up for election next year are the council positions in Districts 2, currently held by Nikki Fortunato Bas, and District 4, currently held by Sheng Thao. Neither has indicated whether they plan to seek re-election.
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September 30, 2021 at 04:47AM
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