Election 2024: District 7 candidates answer Berkeleyside questions

James Chang: Of the 13 years I’ve lived in Berkeley, I’ve lived in District 7 for more than four years, and I’ve lived in every district in Berkeley except District 2.

Cecilia Lunaparra: I have lived in District 7 for about two consecutive years. Since August 2020, when I began as a first-year at UC Berkeley, I have cultivated personal and political ties to the Southside neighborhood. I have spent my undergraduate years proudly standing with the community I hold so dear to my heart.

James Chang: I am running for Berkeley City Council, District 7 because I believe in a hopeful, safe, community-focused Berkeley. I plan to tackle three key initiatives: housing accessibility, community safety, and mental health/harm reduction.

Cecilia Lunaparra: I’m running because it is unacceptable that as District 7 residents are disproportionately affected by our housing crisis, unsafe streets, and over-criminalization, we are kept out of decision-making processes. District 7 deserves someone that will fight not only for, but with and alongside us.

James Chang:

1. Secured $10+ million in city funds for social services and housing for unhoused and very low-income individuals.
2. As a Graduate Assembly Delegate, I brought the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board back to campus after the pandemic, and as an undergraduate affordable student leader, I raised $400,000+ for the Berkeley Co-Ops as BSP VP of External Affairs.
3. I was the first elected official in Berkeley to initiate the Ban the Box policy through the Berkeley Rent Board.
4. I co-founded the More Student Housing NOW advocacy group, which successfully fought for the Chancellor to create a long-term housing plan for students on 12 different sites near campus.
5. Co-authored the law that created Berkeley’s Specialized Care Unit, a professional non-police response to mental health crises.

Cecilia Lunaparra: It has been an honor to advocate tirelessly for student and youth power in the city of Berkeley. During my four years at UC Berkeley, I have seen the student community’s interaction with local government change dramatically. We have created a united, progressive voice of passionate student organizers, and it is beautiful to see and experience. I am so proud of all the work that we have done to get here.

Strengthened by our undergraduate solidarity work with UAW in the strike in Fall 2022, our coalition has written and sent letters, participated in countless public comments, and met with elected and appointed officials. While the examples of our victories are plentiful, from passing the Fair Workweek, building a united coalition around the strongest vacancy tax in the nation, to spearheading and hopefully passing the Berkeley Citizens for Safe Streets measure, to drastically improving student workers’ (UAW 4811) contracts, to electing Progressives up and down the ballot, the most rewarding aspect of this coalition has been the community and solidarity erupted from it. While many of us see this campaign for City Council as an extension of this student power, it is meant to go beyond that — my biggest accomplishment is a coalition that is intergenerational, resilient, and long-lasting.

As Cal Berkeley Democrats member, Political Director, and President, I have proudly worked to build student power at the local level during my undergraduate career at UC Berkeley, which has been the most rewarding part of my experience in this city. I have led multiple Berkeley local government crash course lectures, co-authored a Public Comment guide largely used by countless student organizations (bit.ly/HowToPublicComment) and held meetings with student political organizations to practice giving public comment. One of my favorite memories in Telegraph for People and Cal Berkeley Democrats has been seeing students give fake public comments to the organizations on made-up topics, allowing students to build community with one another while learning how to civically engage.

Young people are not only our future, we are the present, and I am proud to be the only candidate endorsed by any campus organizations or ASUC Executives (for ID purposes only). I look forward to representing them and generations to come on the City Council.

James Chang: I proudly support the plan that the Berkeley City Council and the Homeless Panel Expert unanimously support. This plan includes keeping two-thirds of the land as green open space, building over 1,100 affordable beds for students, and over 120 permanent supportive housing units for the unhoused. Instead of an open-air drug market, we need housing at People’s Park to address the need for affordable housing for students and a place where there are proper services and homes for the unhoused.

Cecilia Lunaparra: UC Berkeley’s plan for People’s Park is disingenuous and unnecessarily destructive. Southside desperately needs more student, affordable, and permanent supportive housing and I am prepared to fight for it by supporting new housing on other sites. The University chose the path of most resistance and fabricated a political calamity by failing to prioritize less controversial sites. In wasting our tuition money, delaying new student housing, refusing to commit to the return of groups like Food Not Bombs, and causing a rift in our community, the University has lost its credibility. While the site is outside the city’s jurisdiction, the University’s actions — unanimously condemned by the ASUC — including encroaching on public streets, … conducting ID checks, … are all entirely unacceptable and I will work to hold them accountable.

James Chang: I am categorically opposed to the City Council taking ANY position regarding this conflict. If elected, my job is to take care of the people of Berkeley and do the business of our City, and I will take that job very seriously. I will not take positions on matters beyond the borders of Berkeley that divide our community and contribute to anyone feeling or being unsafe.

Cecilia Lunaparra: Yes, the City should pass a resolution that calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, affirms our support for our Palestinian and Jewish residents, and unequivocally condemns the use of our tax dollars to fund oppression and human rights violations. Berkeley, the first city to pass a resolution condemning South African apartheid, has weighed in on a number of national and international conflicts and injustices. Thus, it would not only directly fall in line with Berkeley’s values, but a resolution will work to unify our city against injustice. The growing numbers calling for a ceasefire has been pressuring the US government to enact change, and I believe that our city’s inability to establish a powerful position against the civilian casualties, calling for the release of the hostages, and an end to the occupation is a moral and political failure.

James Chang: Throughout this short sprint that I have embarked on to represent District 7, the constituents of this district have repeatedly told me they care about safety. It’s one of the biggest concerns that students have, and with two shootings within the last two years in District 7, it’s time for us to address safety head-on. To improve safety in and around the Southside neighborhood, we need to be addressing it on a block-by-block basis. This can be accomplished by increasing street lighting, safe escort systems, bike and foot patrols, and other modalities to assure student safety. I will also enlist local businesses to assist in creating the conditions for safety, including installing additional lighting in front of their stores and private cameras that can assist the City in taking criminals off the streets.

Cecilia Lunaparra: Berkeley must address the root causes of crime. Rather than criminalizing poverty and circumstance, we should be working towards proactive solutions, including providing mental health services, permanently affordable and transitional housing, and harm reduction. For example, the Specialized Care Unit should be transitioned to be 24/7, Southside streets should have significantly more lighting, and night-time transportation service should be more reliable. Comprehensive public safety also means street safety. District 7 residents are mostly pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders, but our infrastructure leaves us more vulnerable to traffic violence. We must build concrete infrastructure, including protected bike lanes and intersections, expanded sidewalks, pedestrian prioritization, and a Car-Free Telegraph to improve safety for all street users and encourage higher foot traffic.

James Chang: Yifang on Bancroft is my absolute favorite boba shop. They offer the most delicious fruit teas, and my personal favorite is the Mango Pomelo Sago, which is incredibly refreshing. What I love about Yifang is that they use natural ingredients and fresh fruits rather than artificial syrups.

Cecilia Lunaparra: My go-to boba shop is TP Tea! I have a terrible habit of not eating breakfast in the morning, so it’s great to be able to get a Winter Melon Lemon fruit tea from TP Tea and an everything bagel with scallion cream cheese from Bagel Street next door on my way home from class.

James Chang: Yes

Cecilia Lunaparra: Yes

James Chang: I am proudly endorsed by: Lt. Governor Eleni Kounalakis, Berkeley Fire Fighters Association, IAFF Local 1227 Building and Construction Trades, Council of Alameda County Iron Workers Union Local 378, Nor Cal Carpenters Union, Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA), East Bay Young Democrats, East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, Berkeley Democratic Caucus, California State Senator Scott Wiener, Assemblymembers Alex Lee and Liz Ortega; Alameda County Supervisors Elisa Marquez, Lena Tam and Nate Miley; Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín, Berkeley Councilmembers Terry Taplin, Ben Bartlett, Sophie Hahn and Susan Wengraf; Oakland Councilmembers Janani Ramachandran and Kevin Jenkins

Cecilia Lunaparra: I’d like to point out that while I am inspired by a long line of women Berkeley organizers, the most recent student leaders who have taken the brave and honorable step to run for office have been men. When I learned that, if elected, I would be the first Latina to ever serve on the Berkeley City Council, I was disappointed, but not surprised. A woman hasn’t represented this district in over 25 years, even though a majority of UC Berkeley students are women. As a young woman — an organizer, a commissioner, a leader, and now a candidate — I more than understand the unique experiences, frustrations, and inequalities that we face. Young people, and especially young women of color, are repeatedly reminded of our supposed lack of experience, idealism, and stubbornness, as if our fresh perspective, passion, and dedication aren’t vital to a functioning, healthy, long-lasting democracy. I am committed to representing not only my communities but the entire city of Berkeley with the new lens and fresh perspective it desperately needs and deserves.

Individual Endorsements (partial list): Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, Former Councilmember Kate Harrison, Rent Board Chair Leah Simon-Weisberg, Vice Chair Soli Alpert, Commissioners Nathan Mizell, Ida Martinac and Vanessa Marrero; Berkeley School Board President Ana Vasudeo, a supermajority of current District 7 commissioners and of the executive board of the Associated Students of the University of California.

Endorsing organizations: UAW Region 6, SEIU 1021, East Bay Democratic Socialists of America, Berkeley Tenants Union, Gen Z for Change, Cal Young Democratic Socialists of America, Alameda County Green Party, Cal Berkeley Democrats, Berkeley Democratic Club, Our Revolution East Bay, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, and Telegraph for People.