Adena Ishii (Mayor of Berkeley, California, candidate 2024)

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Adena Ishii

Nonpartisan

Candidate, Mayor of Berkeley

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

University of California, Berkeley, 2014

Law

Santa Clara University School of Law, 2022

Personal

Profession

Education consultant

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign X

Campaign Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Adena Ishii ran for election to the Mayor of Berkeley in California. She was on the ballot in the general election on November 5, 2024.^[source]

Ishii completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Adena Ishii provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on October 18, 2024:

• Bachelor's: University of California, Berkeley, 2014
• J.D.: Santa Clara University School of Law, 2022
• Gender: Female
• Profession: Education Consultant
• Incumbent officeholder: No
• Campaign website
• Campaign endorsements
• Campaign Facebook
• Campaign Instagram
• Campaign X
• Campaign YouTube video
• LinkedIn

Elections

General election

General election for Mayor of Berkeley

Logan Bowie, Sophie Hahn, Kate Harrison, Adena Ishii, and Naomi D. Pete ran in the general election for Mayor of Berkeley on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Logan Bowie (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Sophie Hahn (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Kate Harrison (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Adena Ishii (Nonpartisan)
	Submit photo	Naomi D. Pete (Nonpartisan)

---

	Incumbency information for this election was not available.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Endorsements

To view Ishii's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here. Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ishii in this election.

Campaign themes

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Adena Ishii completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ishii's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Adena moved to Berkeley fifteen years ago, attended Berkeley City College and UC Berkeley, and made Berkeley her permanent home. Moving here didn’t come without its challenges. Yet, like so many others, she fell in love with the city and, in her work as a community organizer and advocate, has used these experiences to make life better for all of us.

Like many students, she experienced housing insecurity during her transition between community college and UC Berkeley. She lived in many different living situations from apartments and co-ops to a tiny shared room in a fraternity. She's been robbed in her neighborhood in South Berkeley. As a cyclist, she's been keenly impacted by Berkeley’s long-deferred infrastructure needs; she was actually hit on her bicycle by a car.

She shares these experiences not to complain, but to emphasize that she brings her perspective and compassion with her when it comes to addressing our toughest challenges.

She's worked on local policy issues for over a decade. She was appointed by both former Mayor Tom Bates and Mayor Jesse Arreguin to the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Product Panel of Experts (Soda Tax Commission). At Berkeley City College and UC Berkeley, she organized her peers against the budget cuts to education, fought for education equity, and worked to increase civic engagement.

As mayor, she will roll up her sleeves, turn down the noise, and get to work building a better Berkeley for all of us.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Her three priority areas are housing and homelessness, public safety and infrastructure. When it comes to housing and homelessness, she wants to build more affordable housing in all Berkeley neighborhoods and make shelters a safe and welcoming alternative to the street. When it comes to public safety, we need to invest in mental health, social services, youth programming, and appropriate resources for our fire and police departments. When it comes to infrastructure, we must make our streets, sidewalks, and transportation systems safe and accessible for everyone.
• Adena is running for mayor because it’s time for a reset at City Hall. We’ve had two city council members resign this year citing our city government as broken and toxic.

  She brings a different perspective – she learned politics the nonpartisan way – as the youngest and first woman of color to elected president of our local League of Women Voters.

  We focused on solving problems, not fighting each other. We worked to strengthen our democracy by increasing voter participation, informing voters about the issues, and advocating on issues. She thinks Berkeley city government needs more of that.

  That’s why she is offering a fresh approach to local government – by finding compromise and bringing people together around common sense solutions.
• We are great planners in Berkeley, with dozens of well-researched, thoughtful plans and hundreds of great ideas sitting on the shelf. Yet, there is a big piece missing: accountability. We need to increase transparency around implementation, including regular progress reports and financial statements, made available to the public. We need to increase public involvement around next steps when plans are completed, to provide input and hold city leaders accountable for making measurable progress. For example, if Berkeley has a great solution and no funds to implement it, the public needs to know and weigh in on possible reprioritization of funds. The city should work closely and cooperatively with the independent, elected City Auditor.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

She is passionate about housing and homelessness, public safety, and infrastructure.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

An elected official must be someone who is willing to work with all members of the community. They must have integrity, listen with an open mind, and be willing to acknowledge that they don't know everything. We have a set of campaign values that we follow that are also important for elected officials to follow:

1) Community: We believe in putting people first.

2) Inclusivity and Belonging: Every effort will be made to include volunteers and help them feel like they are welcome and belong regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, language, ability, income, parental status, religion, geographic location, or other identity.

3) Joy: We take things seriously but there's no reason we can't have fun. That means enjoying the process and toasting our victories.

4) Abundance Mindset: Strive to see opportunities instead of limitations.

5) Truth/Transparency: It’s important to tell the truth, be open, and be honest. People need to trust their politicians in order to trust our democracy. We want to be as transparent as possible in all decisions so that every volunteer understands what decisions our campaign is making and why.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

According to the Berkeley City Charter, the core responsibilities for a mayor is to facilitate city hall meetings and represent the City of Berkeley. It is imperative that the mayor help city council members work together to take action on policy that has passed.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

When Adena was eight years old, her father was diagnosed with early-onset dementia. Her mom went back to work, so Adena stepped in to help raise her younger sister and manage the house. This experience gave her insight into the deep inequities in our housing, transportation, food, and healthcare systems. We aren't doing enough to support our aging population.

If the mayor in your city is a member of the city council and there's a city manager appointed to handle the day-to-day administration of the city government, what do you believe should be the mayor's top priority in office?

In a city where the city manager is appointed to handle the day-to-day administration of the city government, the mayor's top priority should be ensuring cooperation within city council and facilitating city council meetings to ensure efficiency and stability. This will allow the city manager and staff to do their jobs without worrying about the politics of the city.

What do you love most about your city?

The people. Berkeley is a very diverse place, and the people have amazing stories. They come from around the world, and with them, they bring their culture, food, art and music.

As we door knock during the campaign, Adena loves the opportunity to talk to many people and hear their stories.

What do you perceive to be your city's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Berkeley's greatest challenge over the next decade is building enough housing for all of the people who want to live here. We need to be building housing in all Berkeley neighborhoods.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Organizations: East Bay for Everyone; Asian Pacific American Democratic Caucus; Berkeley Democratic Club; Berkeley Neighbors for Housing and Climate Action; Housing Action Coalition; Latine Young Democrats of the East Bay; Telegraph for People; Cal Berkeley Democrats

Individuals: State Senator Nancy Skinner; State Assemblymember Buffy Wicks; Berkeley Councilmembers Rashi Kesarwani, Terry Taplin, Mark Humbert (#2), and Cecilia Lunaparra (#2); Berkeley School Board VP Ka'Dijah Brown; Berkeley School Board Director Laura Babitt; Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Commissioner Xavier Johnson

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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