Last month Oakland Rising co-hosted a nonpartisan Mayoral & District 2 Candidate Forum for the Oakland Chinatown Community.  Held at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, over 250 local residents attended along with staff and members from the 13 participating organizations including the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, League of Women Voters Oakland, Asian Health Services, and others.

Attendees were provided food, tea, voting information, an opportunity to register to vote, and translation services in a number of languages. Being a nonpartisan forum, no candidate-specific literature was allowed during the forum.

For District 2, only one of three scheduled candidates appeared, Nikki Fortunato Bas, who was given two minutes to introduce herself as a longtime organizer, including of garment workers in Chinatown, and talk about her platform.

Nine mayoral candidates attended the forum, with only the incumbent mayor absent. Candidates had the opportunity of answering questions covering issues such as homelessness, economic development, affordable housing, and illegal dumping. They also used up to two “wild cards” to answer another question not addressed to them.

The event gave local residents the chance to ask questions about the issues impacting their lives, to get answers directly from candidates, and to be better prepared to vote on November 6.