Oakland City Council Explained

House Type:	Unicameral
Leader1 Type:	President
Leader1:	Nikki Fortunato Bas
Party1:	Democratic
Leader2 Type:	President Pro Tem
Leader2:	Dan Kalb
Party2:	Democratic
Leader3 Type:	Vice Mayor
Leader3:	Rebecca Kaplan
Party3:	Democratic
Members:	8
Oakland City Council
Structure1 Res:	200px
Political Groups1:	Officially nonpartisan Democratic (8)
Term Length:	4 Years
Voting System1:	instant-runoff voting (all seats) Single-member districts (7) At-large (1)
Last Election1:	November 8, 2022
Next Election1:	November 5, 2024
Meeting Place:	Oakland City Hall1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA 94612

The Oakland City Council is an elected governing body representing the City of Oakland, California.

Since 1998, Oakland has had a mayor-council government. The mayor is elected for a four-year term. The Oakland City Council has eight council members representing seven districts in Oakland with one member elected at-large; council members serve staggered four-year terms, and are all elected using instant-runoff voting. The mayor appoints a city administrator, subject to the confirmation by the city council, who is the chief administrative officer of the city. Other city officers include: city attorney (elected), city auditor (elected), and city clerk (appointed by city administrator).^[1] Oakland's mayor is subject to a tenure limited to two terms.^[2] There are no term limits for the city council.

Current Council

District	Councilmember	Party (officially nonpartisan)	First elected
1	Dan Kalb (President Pro Tem)	Democratic	2012
2	Nikki Fortunato Bas (Council President)	Democratic	2018
3	Carroll Fife	Democratic	2020
4		Democratic	2022
5	Noel Gallo	Democratic	2012
6	Kevin Jenkins	Democratic	2022
7	Treva Reid	Democratic	2020
At-large	Rebecca Kaplan	Democratic	2008^[3]

Past Councils

2018 members

• District 1 – Dan Kalb (elected in 2012, 2016) (President Pro Tempore)
• District 2 – Nikki Fortunato Bas (elected in 2018)
• District 3 – Lynette Gibson McElhaney (elected in 2012,2016) (also Council President)
• District 4 – Sheng Thao (elected in 2018)
• District 5 – Noel Gallo (elected in 2012, 2016)
• District 6 – Loren Taylor (elected in 2018)
• District 7 – Larry Reid (elected in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016) (Vice Mayor)
• Councilmember At Large – Rebecca Kaplan (elected in 2008, 2012, 2016) (City Council Chair^[4])

2016 members

• District 1 – Dan Kalb (2012)
• District 2 – Abel J. Guillen (elected 2014)
• District 3 – Lynette Gibson McElhaney (2012) (also Council President)
• District 4 – Annie Campbell Washington (2014)
• District 5 – Noel Gallo (2012)
• District 6 – Desley Brooks (2002, ...) (elected 2002, 2006,^[5] 2010,^[6] 2014)
• District 7 – Larry Reid (also President Pro Tempore) (1997, ...) (re-elected in 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016)
• Councilmember At Large – Rebecca Kaplan (also Vice Mayor) (2009, ...) (2008, reelected in 2012, 2016)

2012 members

• District 1 – Dan Kalb (2013)
• District 2 – Patricia Kernighan (also Council President) (2005, ...) (re-elected 2010^[7])
• District 3 – Lynette Gibson McElhaney (2013)
• District 4 – Libby Schaaf (2011, ...) (elected 2010^[7])
• District 5 – Noel Gallo (2013)
• District 6 – Desley Brooks (2002, ...) (elected 2002, 2006,^[5] 2010^[6])
• District 7 – Larry Reid (also Vice Mayor) (1997, ...) (re-elected in 2004,^[8] 2008,^[9] and 2012)
• Councilmember At Large – Rebecca Kaplan (also President Pro Tempore) (2009, ...) (2008,^[10] reelected in 2012)

Former Councilmembers

• Frank H. Ogawa, first Japanese American on the City Council,^[11] served from 1966 until his death in 1994.^{[12] [13]}
• Henry Chang, Jr appointed to at-large seat 1994 after death of Frank Ogawa, elected in 1997.^[14] Served until 2009.^[15]
• Jean Quan, councilmember for District 4 from 2003–2011, subsequently elected mayor, then defeated for re-election to mayor.
• John A. Russo, served 1994–2000
• Danny Wan, served 2000–2005
• Moses Mayne
• Wilson Riles (son of Wilson Riles, Sr.), councilmember from 1979 to 1992^[16]
• Nancy Nadel, served 1996–2012
• Ignacio De La Fuente, served 1992–2012^[17]
• Libby Schaaf, former Oakland mayor
• Desley Brooks, served 2002–2018
• Abel Guillen, served 2014–2018
• Annie Campbell Washington, served 2014–2018

External links

• Map of council districts

Notes and References

1. http://bpc.iserver.net/codes/oakland/ Oakland Municipal Code
2. https://library.municode.com/ca/oakland/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=THCHOA_ARTIIITHMA Oakland City Charter, Article III
3. News: BondGraham. Darwin. 5 January 2021. Oakland City Council's new leaders want to pursue a more progressive agenda. Oaklandside. 5 February 2021.
4. News: Veklerov . Kimberly . City Council Chair . 10 February 2019 . SF Chronicle . 7 January 2019.
5. http://www.smartvoter.org/2006/06/06/ca/alm/race/027/ 2006 Election results
6. http://www.smartvoter.org/2010/11/02/ca/alm/race/019/ 2010 Election results
7. http://www.smartvoter.org/2010/11/02/ca/alm/city.html November 2 2010 Election results
8. http://www.smartvoter.org/2004/03/02/ca/alm/race/27/ 2004 results
9. http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/06/03/ca/alm/race/52/ 2008 results
10. http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/06/03/ca/alm/race/48/ 2008 results
11. Web site: Oakland History Timeline . City of Oakland, Oakland History Room of the Oakland Public Library . https://web.archive.org/web/20111112140840/http://oaklandnet.com/celebrate/Historytimeline.htm . 2011-11-12 . live . 2011-11-10.
12. Book: Lowenthal . Abraham F. . Global California: rising to the cosmopolitan challenge . registration . 2011-11-10 . 2009-02-25 . . 978-0-8047-6227-4 . 64 . Frank Ogawa, also Japanese American, served twenty-eight years on the Oakland City Council. Foreword by Kevin Starr
13. Allen . Annalee . Lee . Sam . Oakland City Center: Frank H. Ogawa Statue (video) . EzineMark.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20120425123910/http://video.ezinemark.com/exploring-the-oakland-city-center-oakland-city-center-frank-h.-ogawa-statue-44bf4d7e134.html . 2012-04-25 . dead . 2011-11-11 .
14. Web site: Homepage .
15. News: Oakland runoff: old guard vs. outsider. Christopher. Heredia. San Francisco Chronicle. October 14, 2008. February 12, 2010. Oakland school board member Kerry Hamill faces AC Transit board member Rebecca Kaplan ... to replace incumbent Councilman Henry Chang Jr., who served 14 years in the citywide seat..
16. Web site: Full Biography for Wilson Riles. smartvoter.org. March 18, 2020.
17. News: Oakland council: De La Fuente concedes. The San Francisco Chronicle. Matthai. Kuruvila. November 13, 2012. March 18, 2020.