With Skinner out in 2024 election, California State Senate race is on for East Bay seat

Skinner first gained the seat in 2008. Her coming departure opens the race as much as native politicians eyeing their subsequent political steps. Each Arreguín and Kalb are giving up their present positions to run.

Skinner’s district consists of Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, Piedmont, Emeryville, Richmond and different elements of the East Bay. Skinner hasn’t made any selections on her subsequent transfer, in keeping with a spokesperson. 

The information comes a day after Rep. Barbara Lee introduced plans to run for the U.S. Senate – which can depart her East Bay congressional seat open as effectively. 

Arreguín, 38, the son of migrant farmworkers who was elected as Berkeley’s youngest mayor in 2016, stated he’s proven management on the East Bay’s most urgent challenges – housing affordability, local weather change, public security, transportation and homelessness. He was elected to the Metropolis Council in 2008.

“My years of expertise as a mayor, as a regional chief, and my lived expertise as someone who grew up in poverty and who confronted housing insecurity and displacement … (who) was in a position to overcome these odds and obtain the California dream, makes me uniquely certified to be the subsequent state senator,” Arreguín stated.

Kalb, 63, was elected to the Oakland Metropolis Council in 2012, representing elements of North Oakland. He’s a longtime environmental and social justice advocate. He cited his expertise in drafting laws as an necessary qualification for the job. Kalb’s platform will concentrate on environmental sustainability, local weather justice, clear power and reasonably priced housing. 

“Being a state legislator … is lots of good, onerous, usually tedious work on advanced public coverage issues, and that’s the sort of work that I’m excellent at,” Kalb stated. 

Each politicians have led their respective cities throughout tumultuous instances – from the worldwide coronavirus pandemic to a nationwide counting on police violence after the 2020 homicide of George Floyd by the hands of Minneapolis police. 

Each Berkeley and Oakland undertook main efforts to reimagine the function of police. Final 12 months, the Berkeley Metropolis Council voted to approve Arreguín’s plan to workers up the Police Division and create extra violence prevention applications – the primary of which, a psychological well being disaster crew, will launch this summer time.   

In 2021, Kalb voted to take a position extra in violence prevention applications so the Oakland Police Division can concentrate on violent crime. He beforehand authored a metropolis constitution legislation to create town’s police fee, one of many strongest such commissions within the nation; it has the authority to fireplace the police chief.

Along with public security, each politicians stated they plan to prioritize local weather change and environmental points if elected. In 2019, Arreguín voted to ban the set up of pure fuel strains in new houses. That very same 12 months, he additionally launched a legislation banning single-use plastic, which handed. 

Kalb stated his environmental dedication stems from his background as an advocate in Sacramento previous to his election to the Oakland Metropolis Council. He beforehand labored for the Sierra Membership and the Union of Involved Scientists. 

As an Oakland council member, Kalb authored the ordinance that banned the dealing with and storage of coal in Oakland in 2016. He additionally wrote a legislation that banned using fuel leaf blowers. 

Housing is one other key situation within the East Bay, and throughout California. 

Arreguín was a part of the shift towards a pro-housing angle in Berkeley and stated he plans to prioritize constructing extra housing, defending tenants and preserving present housing. Underneath his management, town has authorised greater than 800 reasonably priced housing items. He’s presently negotiating with BART about constructing housing on the Ashby BART Station and the problems of reasonably priced housing and preserving the flea market that has been held on the station’s car parking zone for almost 50 years. Rising up in San Francisco, Arreguín stated he skilled the influence of the housing disaster firsthand when his household was evicted. 

“I do know firsthand how scary and the way tough it’s to lose your private home and never know the place you are going to stay,” he stated.

Arreguín additionally stated he desires to make sure that cities have constant entry to state funding to deal with homelessness. Final 12 months, Arreguín, Kalb and different East Bay leaders joined to induce Gov. Gavin Newsom to incorporate extra versatile homelessness funding within the state price range.

Berkeley, which really noticed a lower in its homeless inhabitants at the latest point-in-time rely, has prioritized shifting folks into inns, Arreguín stated. 

“What we have been actually specializing in in Berkeley is housing first, and actually specializing in what we all know are the long run options that may make an influence on ending homelessness,” he stated. 

Whereas the state simply rejected Berkeley’s housing component, Arreguín stated he’s assured metropolis workers will make the required adjustments to realize compliance. Arreguín is the president of the Affiliation of Bay Space Governments and was in control of growing a plan to create greater than 440,000 new items of housing all through the area. 

Arreguín’s different priorities embrace establishing common single payer well being care statewide and constructing the general public training system. 

Kalb, for his half, helped write Oakland’s eviction moratorium and a legislation to develop sick depart for metropolis staff throughout the early phases of the pandemic. He additionally authored the Tenant Safety Ordinance in 2014, which protected 1000’s of renters from hire will increase and strengthened anti-displacement legal guidelines. 

Within the final election, Kalb authored quite a few poll measures that in the end handed. These measures embrace giving noncitizen mother and father or authorized guardians of Oakland college kids the power to vote in native college district races; and democracy {dollars}, a program that provides each Oakland grownup — whether or not they’re registered to vote or not — $100 in vouchers to spend supporting a candidate in metropolis or college board elections.

“I like and am good at stepping into the main points of the laws and what the laws does and easy methods to get one thing handed,” he asserted. 

Attain Sarah Ravani: sravani@sfchronicle.com; Twitter: @SarRavani