Oakland Mayor: Councilmember Treva Reid's campaign focuses on her East Oakland roots
As November 8 Election Day approaches, KPIX 5 offers a series of reports highlighting the candidates as well as measures and issues affecting voters.
OAKLAND -- With residents wary of a recent rise in violent crime, homelessness, and continuing struggles with blighted streets, Oakland is about to elect a new mayor.
Libby Schaaf will be termed out after eight years in office and her successor will take the job as many see Oakland at a crossroads.
"Well we have been right here for about 20 years," said East Oakland resident Pharoah Powell "A little bit over 20, actually. About 25 years."
A self-described proud Oaklander, Powell says his neighborhood has seen ups and downs over those 25 years. The recent surge in violence has not skipped his street, he says the past two years have been a challenge.
"Yeah, violence," Powell said. "The dumping. The trash. The roads. Like I said, everything is going in the wrong direction, and there's been a spike in the violence. I don't know, but I'm still optimistic. I love Oakland, I'm here, and I'm going to do my part to make a change."
That is not an uncommon sentiment in Oakland where a lot of residents say change is needed, just as voters are deciding who will serve as the city's next mayor."
"They want to see outcomes," explained Oakland Mayoral Candidate Treva Reid. "People want to see what our city is going to auction, and that we are going to show up delivering for them. Things that they deserve. Taxpayers are not seeing us show up on the basics, like keeping our city clean and beautiful."
The District 7 Councilmember, Reid was holding a neighborhood town hall on International Boulevard.
"My corner's got candles and balloons," Reid told the room. " And it's not celebrating nobody's birthday. Many of the things we are facing today in the city I have lived. We're enduring that deep trauma of losing our son Brandon to gun violence on Halloween night, 2013. I've lived being unemployed. I've lived working multiple jobs trying to hold onto my welfare."
And the councilmember says it's her connection to this community that could be transformative if she became mayor.
"As mayor I want to double that investment from the city into violence prevention," Reid told the crowd. "I want to double it for school safety. I want to double partnerships with organizations like Men of Influence."
Reid is one of two council members running from East Oakland
"Never had a mayor from deep East Oakland," she said. "Never had a mayor, certainly, from District 7. We've never had a black woman mayor."
The race for mayor comes as even the most optimistic of Oaklanders acknowledge that things are not going well, and the course needs to change.
"Whoever comes in is going to have to do something about jobs programs for the young people between those ages of like 18 to 24." Powell said.
"It's about making sure that people have what they need," Reid said of her candidacy. "It's not about the politics, and the politics. I don't like any of that, because it really disserves our community. I see people where they are, I want to meet them with what they need."