New Mayor Adena Ishii pledges to make Berkeley a progressive beacon

Newly elected Mayor Adena Ishii hugs Berkeley’s Laureate poet Aya de León before taking the stage during her inauguration ceremony at Berkeley City College on Friday. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight Local

Newly elected Mayor Adena Ishii took office Friday, inaugurating a new era for the city’s politics with a pledge to make Berkeley a progressive beacon at a time when those values are under attack at the national level.

Ishii took the oath of office in a ceremony at Berkeley City College, which she attended when she first moved to the city from Southern California in 2009. New Councilmembers Shoshana O’Keefe and Brent Blackaby were also sworn in at the ceremony, along with re-elected Councilmember Terry Taplin.

This year has been a turning point for the council, where five of the nine seats have changed hands since January. Ishii’s unexpected victory as a relative political outsider in the mayor’s race was perhaps the most pivotal moment for the council, which also saw two members unexpectedly resign at the start of the year and two others opt not to seek re-election.

Speaking to an audience of supporters, family members and local leaders, Ishii said she would work as mayor to build more housing, improve the city’s infrastructure and give police and firefighters “the tools they need to keep us safe,” among other goals. Looming over the ceremony was the coming second presidential administration of Donald Trump, and the threat it could pose to liberal cities such as Berkeley.

“Many of us want to see a kinder country, a better country, a more compassionate country — the first step toward that dream starts here at home,” Ishii said. “It’s time to unite against the kind of forces in our country that threaten our values. It’s time to come together as one and create an example, an example of what a progressive city can be in the 21st Century.

“We are embarking on a movement for a livable, affordable, accessible and safe city for all our residents.”

Many in the audience cheered as Ishii took note of the fact that she is the first Asian American mayor of Berkeley, a city where one in five residents are Asian, as well as the first woman of color to hold the office.

“For too long Asian women have been seen as meek and subservient — certainly not leadership material,” she said. “Taking this oath is one step closer towards breaking this stereotype and showing young women and girls that they, too, can be leaders.”

Reelected council member Terry Taplin (center) and former District 6 councilwoman Susan Wengraf (right) cheered Adena Ishii after her speech during the inauguration ceremony at Berkeley City College. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/CatchLight Local

Still, the turnover in City Hall could prove challenging for the new council and Ishii, who was president of Berkeley’s local League of Women Voters chapter but had never before run for office when she launched her campaign. The departures of Mayor Jesse Arreguín and Councilmembers Susan Wengraf and Sophie Hahn has meant the loss of decades of institutional wisdom. At Hahn and Wengraf’s final meeting earlier this week, Councilmember Ben Bartlett joked it was “very alarming” that he is now the body’s most senior member, having been first elected in 2016.

Meanwhile, the administrative side of Berkeley’s government is led by City Manager Paul Buddenhagen, who has held that job for less than three months.

“Yesterday, we almost had a tsunami,” Buddenhagen said at Friday’s ceremony, referring to the brief period the prior morning when forecasters feared an offshore earthquake could send destructive waves to the Northern California coast. “Today we have a different kind of a metaphorical, democratic tsunami of an all-new group of people coming in to reshape the city in positive ways.”

O’Keefe, the newly elected representative for North Berkeley, said she believes the new council will work together effectively.

New Councilmember Shoshana O’Keefe signs her election certificate during Friday’s ceremony. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/ CatchLight LocalBrent Blackaby, the newly elected councilmen for District 6 holds his son during the inauguration ceremony at Berkeley City College. Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside/ CatchLight Local

“Everyone at their core is a very kind, decent human being who wants the best for Berkeley,” O’Keefe said. “As long as we can stick with that as our basis of interaction, I think we can do a good job.”

She and fellow incoming Councilmember Brent Blackaby, who won the seat Wengraf has held since 2008 representing the Berkeley Hills, said they have worked extensively to prepare for their new roles.

“I don’t think you’re ever fully ready, but we’re going to be as ready as we can” be, Blackaby said. “It’s a time of new ideas, new perspectives to help move the city forward.”