Many tenants were stunned last week to hear that they could face the highest permitted rent increase in decades. Each year, landlords of rent-controlled buildings are allowed to raise rents by a certain percentage. Oakland determines that percentage based on the regional consumer price index (CPI), or inflation. Ever since the CPI increase was announced, many residents and organizations have reached out to Councilmember Carroll Fife and spoken up at City Council meetings about the hardships they will face if this allowable rent increase is not changed.

City Council approved a resolution introduced by Councilmember Carroll Fife directing the City Administrator to study the feasibility of establishing an emergency homeless intervention site to house one thousand individuals at the North Gateway Parcel, located at the former Oakland Army Base, returning the findings to Council no later than the first Council meeting of June.

Councilmember Carroll Fife talks to David DeBolt about her nuanced stance on the Howard Terminal Ballpark Project and the ways in which the proposal has sucked up time, attention, and city resources to the point that it’s hobbled the city’s ability to address more pressing issues facing Oakland residents.

Councilmember Carroll Fife said that putting the Oakland A’s $12-billion real estate development project on the ballot would ensure that the public has a voice in the project and to discuss whether public funds should be used to pay for it. “What I find to be lacking in some of the decisions that are made by people who have a position of power is the lack of input from the community,” she said. At present, she said, “Nobody is talking to District 3 residents or businesses about what they want to see in the area.”

Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan and Carroll Fife seek to turn the Oakland police headquarters into a mixed-use project with 600+ units.

In response to the threat of Oakland school closures, Oakland Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan, Council President Nikki Bas, Councilmember Carroll Fife, and President Pro Tempore Sheng Thao introduced a resolution calling upon Governor Newsom and the State Legislature to eliminate OUSD’s outstanding state debt to prevent closures, and amend state law to revise the Average Daily Attendance formula to remove penalizing schools when children are sick.

From Councilmember Fife’s January newsletter: I want to share some of what my office will be working on this year as we continue to represent District 3. We learned so much in our first year and now I look forward to getting back to the basic services all residents deserve, while building for the future we want to see. Thank you for your continued support; you are the reason I am in this role and why I continue to fight every single day for a better city for all of us.

An interview with Councilmember Carroll Fife where she shares the struggles of being a politician and organizer aiming for systemic level change.

Another aspect of our success this past year has been rooted in fundamentally engaging with constituents differently. A major part of this has required recognizing that those who are unhoused in our district are constituents as well. When unhoused residents are seen as constituents, we can evaluate ways in which the city can create systems, infrastructure and direct services that allow members of these communities to stabilize and begin new eras of their lives, and hold the city accountable for its obligation to all of its residents.