Berkeley City Council

District 2: Darryl Moore

Moore has served as a trustee on the Peralta Community College Board of Trustees and hopes to work for safer neighborhoods, more affordable housing and after-school programs for youth in his Southwest Berkeley district.

He will likely not be a divisive, partisan voice on the council but instead will work with other council members to come to an agreeable consensus.

District 3: Max Anderson

Anderson has been on the Rent Stabilization Board since 1996, has served on the city's Planning Commission, and has in-depth knowledge of the city's workings and policies.

He will work to establish an arts district in South Berkeley, reduce crime and form partnerships with residents and businesses to revitalize South Berkeley's economy. He pledges accessibility and involvement while in office, which his constituents would benefit greatly from. This district needs the strong leadership and local knowledge Anderson will provide.

District 5:

Jesse Townley

While Townley is young and does not have much city government experience-he has only been on the city Disaster Council-he is the only candidate for this office who is not opposed to UC development.

The other two candidates have relatively anti-student policies and ideas, but Townley's are more student-friendly.

Townley supports creating more late-night activity on Shattuck Avenue, and pushing for restaurants and venues to be open later. This would hopefully reinvigorate the early-to-bed Downtown for students and other Berkeley residents.

Townley has extensive volunteer experience with KALX, disabled individuals and arts collective 934 Gilman.

District 6: No Endorsement

Neither candidate both supports students and is qualified, but incumbent Betty Olds has done a quality job of voting with property owners in her last four years.

Berkeley Unified School District Directors:

Karen Hemphill & John T. Selawsky

Karen Hemphill is a mother of two in the district, so she will bring the concerns and perspective of a parent to the board. Having never served on the board before, she will also provide a fresh voice and ideas to the district. She prioritizes building bridges between different Berkeley organizations and communities to better serve the district's children.

John Selawsky has served on the board for four years and during that time has been a proponent for the relocation and improvement of the Franklin adult school, Berkeley's early literacy program, and stabilizing the administrative turmoil within the district. He was a member of the school board in 2003, when the district faced a deficit in the millions. He was part of the team that rescued the district from possible state takeover.

Berkeley Rent Board: Jason Overman,

Jack Harrison, Eleanor Walden, Jesse Arreguin

Although there are five candidates on the ballot, Seth Morris has officially dropped out of the race, leaving an uncontested race.

Two of the candidates, Overman and Arreguin, are UC Berkeley students with a strong background in housing. They will bring a pro-tenant, pro-student contingency to the Rent Stabilization Board.

Arreguin has worked with the university on its Long Range Development Plan, which foresees university expansion decades into the future. Overman has served as ASUC Tenants Rights Director, working for students' rights as renters.

Harrison prioritizes handicapped accessibility and affordable housing, while Walden hopes to crack down on illegal evictions and unreasonably high rental costs.

A correction to this article can be found here.

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