This past election, Berkeley voters elected Adena Ishii to serve as mayor, who was officially sworn in on Friday Dec. 6, 2024. Ishii, the City of Berkeley’s first mayor who's a woman of color not only accomplished an important and long overdue milestone but has also pledged to enact progressive and effective policy to address issues in affordable housing, education, and support for the unhoused Berkeley community.
Ishii, who has said she has personally faced housing insecurity, has expressed pro-housing stances encouraging the construction of more affordable housing in Berkeley. According to the Daily Californian, Ishii proposes revisions to “exclusionary rules around land use.” Such revisions would decrease the barriers to building affordable housing. In 2018, Ishii was instrumental in passing Measure O, which helped increase affordable housing in Berkeley, and Measure P, which provided funding for homeless services. For a city that prides itself on progressive values, it is essential to have a leader who understands that increasing affordable housing is key to equitably addressing the housing crisis. We encourage Ishii to maintain her pro-housing stances as she serves as mayor.
Ishii also brings relevant political experience to the mayoral position: She is the youngest and first woman of color elected President of the League of Women Voters Albany Emeryville Berkeley and serves as the co-chair of the Berkeley Unified School District Reparations Task Force, which is involved in proposing and implementing reparations to students with enslaved ancestors in the United States. She was appointed by former Mayor Tom Bates and former Mayor Jesse Arreguín to serve on the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Product Panel of Experts Commission. Perhaps more notably, she also brings the valuable perspective of a political outsider and a newcomer to Berkeley City Hall. Unlike the second and third-place mayoral candidates, Sophie Hahn and Kate Harrison, Ishii has never served on the Berkeley City Council. Ishii previously told the SF Chronicle that she decided to run for mayor because city hall needed a reset, and she expressed interest in “moving forward from a toxic and broken past.”
“When we’re talking about ‘resetting,’ that’s what we’re talking about,” Ishii said in a Berkeleyside article after she had won the election, “Less of a change of direction, generally, but more how we work with each other and how we interact with the constituents and the people who live here.”
Ishii emphasizes non-partisan politics and common-sense solutions, both of which could benefit Berkeley politics. Berkeley citizens deserve a leader who prioritizes solving issues within our community, not one who indulges in personal drama.
Ishii has also shown dedication to Berkeley schools, not only through serving as co-chair of the Reparations Task Force. In her interview with the Berkeley High Jacket, Ishii said she wanted to increase communication between the city and BUSD and to hear directly from teachers, students, and administrators about what support they need from the city. For Ishii, gaining feedback means reaching out to community groups, attending events, visiting classrooms, and ensuring students can contact her office. Ishii also suggested providing high school students with internship opportunities through the mayor's office, demonstrating thought-out plans to assist BUSD students in their education. Ishii’s own educational journey has its roots in Berkeley – she attended both Berkeley City College (BCC) and University of California, Berkeley, offering an understanding of the Berkeley education system and opportunities. At BCC, she advocated against educational budget cuts. We hope Ishii will continue this pattern of supporting the educational systems in Berkeley by advocating for fair teacher pay, adequate mental health resources, and sufficient, well-managed school funding.
In the wake of a general election that revealed a nationwide shift to the right, addressing issues of equity, safety, and housing on a local level is becoming increasingly important to combat this regression in federal policy. We are hopeful that Ishii can be the right person for this.