THE NEW 2021-22 LWVBAE BOARD: Change & Continuity

Kandea Mosley will be the new 2021-22 President of LWVBAE beginning on July 1. Kandea has been serving as the Director for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Social Media and had been working with the Communications Team for more than four years.. With a MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University and a BA in African American Studies from UCLA, a career in nonprofit and social enterprise management with a focus on workforce development in the solar and tech industries, and awards for outstanding service and achievement, Kandea is well equipped to take on the League presidency. Kandea strongly believes in the League’s mission to create a more just, equitable society by actively promoting and building democratic participation. She has structured the League’s internship program for high school and college students, encouraging them to take on important projects and report on them in online articles. Members who have worked with Kandea have found her a cheerful, diplomatic and considerate colleague.
Kandea will be following Ruby MacDonald, who will complete her two years of energetic service as President and four years as a Board Member on June 30.

Continuing officers and board members pictured above will be: Elise Mills, Secretary, Cynthia Chen, Treasurer, Eric Arens, Linda Carothers, Jinky Gardner, Adena Ishii, and Christine Wenrich Directors.

Greg Magofna will join the Board for the first time. He currently serves as Director of Development and Outreach for the California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund, making sure cities build the amount of housing they are currently zoned for and that cities follow state laws to build housing in a balanced way that prevents displacement, gentrification, sprawl, and the loss of green space. Previously, he was the Digital Marketing and Communications Manager at BOSS, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency, an organization that works with and for homeless, formerly incarcerated, and/or low-income populations. In addition, he is one of the co-founders and Co-Executives of the social equity nonprofit East Bay for Everyone. Greg has a Master of Urban Planning from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and a BA in Political Science from UC Berkeley.

Nick Pilch, will continue as Chair of the Nominating Committee. Sherry Smith will continue and be joined by Pam White. Retiring Nominating Committee members are Adena Ishii and Patricia Kates.

The Board will be seeking members for many League tasks and Teams as well as the Nominating Committee—so if you are interested, contact Kandea@lwvbae.org. You can learn more about the interests and activities of the new Board members by reading their brief bios. They will be posted on “The League Board 2021-2022” page, located on the website under “ABOUT” in the Menu at the top of every webpage.

LWVBAE members who also serve at other levels of League:
Diz Swift, LWVC Director of the Natural Resources & Climate Change Program and
LWVUS Co-Chair of the Climate Interest Group.
Adena Ishii, LWVC Board Member.
Sherry Smith, President of LWV Bay Area.

THE MEETING

About 30 League members attended the virtual Annual Meeting on June 17, 2021, and voted on the Board, the Budget, and the Program. The votes were largely positive, with a few abstentions on some votes.
The membership adopted a Budget for the 2021-22 League Year, based on the Budget submitted by Chair Tom Coulter and Committee Members Annette McCoubrey and Sarah Miyazaki. The total budget will be $75,066, of which about $60,000 will be transferred from various savings accounts.

Click here to see the whole Annual Meeting Kit including the budget.

At every Annual Meeting, members are reminded of the whole range of LWVBAE local policy positions and asked to confirm the recommendations made by members at the Program meeting, which usually happens each January. Based on the results of that meeting, Action Chair Jinky Gardner asked members to retain all current policy positions and adopt as issues for emphasis in our observing and action:
• Climate change, including electrification and fire hazard.
• Criminal justice, including: in Albany, the Social and Economic Justice Committee; In Berkeley, the new Police Accountability Board; In Emeryville, the Public Safety Committee; and in Alameda County the Sheriff’s election.
• Health Care Reform, specifically single payer health care system.
The motion as initially passed was corrected, as suggested in a Direction to the Board by Janice Blumenkrantz, to include a preface stating the need to apply the standards of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to the retained positions and the issues for emphasis.

President Ruby MacDonald summarized her report on this year’s highlights not mentioned elsewhere:
1)The Board agreed to sign a new lease for our office.
2) We had a modest increase of membership to 173 and were one of 11 Leagues out of 60 Leagues in California to grow.
3) The intern program under the guidance of Kandea Mosley was successful for the second year.
4) Of the Measures we endorsed in the March primary, all BUSD funding measures E, G, and H passed. In the November election, BB for Ranked Choice Voting in Albany passed, but HH for the Utility Users’ Tax in Berkeley did not pass.

Our most disappointing loss was Prop 15 (a modification of the old prop 13) providing needed funding for schools and local governments, failed narrowly. California is still between 30th and 40th in various rankings of schools in the 50 states.

Carol Stone, in the section for Directions to the Board, requested that LWVBAE write in support of saving Pt. Molate in Richmond. In discussion, Sherry Smith, president of the Bay Area League, pointed out that Pt. Molate is entirely in Richmond and therefore not a regional issue, so, after some discussion, it was suggested that the Board consider writing to or communicating with the LWV of West Contra Costa to encourage them to write to the Richmond City Council.

PANEL DISCUSSION: Addressing Housing Inequality During COVID-19

The video of the Annual Meeting and the panel discussion that preceded it can be viewed below. The panelists were: Erin Baldassari, journalist at KQED, where she is the staff writer covering housing. Carol Galante, I. Donald Terner Professor of Affordable Housing and Urban Policy,   Faculty Director, Terner Center for Housing Innovation and Professor of City & Regional Planning, UC Berkeley. and (formerly Assistant Secretary for US HUD). Xavier Johnson, staff Attorney, Centro Legal de Raza and member of the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. Shajuti Hossain, staff attorney with Public Advocates in San Francisco, where she works with community partners to advocate for housing policies that protect tenants and ensure affordable housing.

–Nancy Bickel

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