Nehanda Imara

Nehanda Imara

Education

Bachelor's

San José State University

Graduate

San José State University

Personal

Profession

Community organizer and educator

Contact

Personal website

Nehanda Imara was a candidate for District 7 of the Oakland City Council in California. She was defeated in the general election on November 8, 2016.

Although city council elections in Oakland are officially nonpartisan, Imara stated that she was a registered Democrat in a 2016 questionnaire for endorsement by the Asian Pacific American Democratic Caucus of Alameda County.

Biography

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Imara obtained a B.A. and an M.A. in environmental studies from San Jose State University.

As of her run for the city council in 2016, she was a community organizer for the environmental justice organization Communities for a Better Environment. Her professional experience also includes work as an educator for Peralta Community Colleges, where she created a course titled "Environmental Racism/Justice."

Campaign themes

2016

See also: Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey

Imara participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of municipal government candidates. The following sections display her responses to the survey questions. When asked what her top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

“

Affordable Housing and Jobs

”

When asked what she would most like to change about the city, the candidate made the following statement:

“

Racial and Economic Justice

”

When asked what she is most proud of about the city, the candidate made the following statement:

“

Community Engagement

”

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Government transparency
2	Housing
3	K-12 education
4	Unemployment
5	Environment
6	Civil rights
7	Homelessness
8	Crime reduction/prevention
9	Transportation
10	Recreational opportunities
11	City services (trash, utilities, etc.)
12	Public pensions/retirement funds

Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer four questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column:

Question	Response
Is it important for the city’s budget to be balanced?	Very important
Which level of government do you feel should set a minimum wage?	Local
What do you think is the best way to improve a city’s public safety?	Increased economic opportunities. Youth programs and quality education for them.
How do you think your city should emphasize economic development?	Focusing on small business development. Create measures to discourage real estate speculators from buying up homes and selling them to wealthy people.

Additional themes

Imara's 2016 campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“

Housing Oakland is at a crossroads, we need a Council that will work to balance development and the growth of our City with the needs of our most at need residents. I am committed to creating that balance and ensuring that Oakland grows in the ways that preserve the soul of our city. I will work to make robust Community Benefits Agreements (CBA’s) a standard for all construction projects in the city of Oakland. CBA’s are designed to provide residents necessary improvements while mitigating issues to be caused by the development. Working with community groups to ensure that the voices of residents are heard is critical to this process. The Oakland Army Base project is a perfect example of this policy at its best. The policy, brokered by a coalition led by EBASE, includes the nation’s first standard in the warehousing industry limiting the use of temp agencies and created the West Oakland Job Resource Center, which has become a national model for creating a pipeline into construction careers Public Safety I like many of you want to walk my neighborhood, visit Oakland’s great local businesses, and enjoy our city without the increased worry of public safety. I know that Oakland can do better and I know that our police force can be better prepared to tackle the challenges facing our city. We need a different approach to public safety, one that takes into consideration the specific and varied needs of the different communities that are represented in our city. I will work to clean-up the corruption within the Oakland Police Department and make sure that the hard questions are asked when it comes to public safety. I will also push for better training of our officers so that they have the tools needed to de-escalate situations and take a better approach to policing. The reality is that we need a better equipped, better trained, and more effective police force that serves the needs of our city. When emergency services are needed they need to respond to all needs and all neighborhoods. Community Jobs Oakland’s District 7 needs good paying jobs that reflect the needs of our community. For too long we have seen businesses and industry leave District 7 and this can no longer be the case. Cities around Oakland are attracting new businesses yet we remain stagnant, especially in District 7. There are large footprints of vacant buildings that can be transformed into local businesses and industry that serve our local economy. I will explore options that we have to attract the businesses that we need in Oakland. I will build on private-public partnerships to bring investment into District 7 and build a future for residents that mean good paying, community-based jobs.

”

Elections

2016

See also: Municipal elections in Oakland, California (2016)

The city of Oakland, California, held elections for city council in 2016. Five of the eight city council seats were up for election. Incumbent Larry Reid defeated Marcie Hodge and Nehanda lmara in the general election for the District 7 seat on the Oakland City Council.

Oakland City Council District 7, General Election, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Larry Reid Incumbent	53.45%	8,392
Marcie Hodge	24.88%	3,907
Nehanda lmara	20.97%	3,292
Write-in votes	0.71%	111
Total Votes		15,702
Source: Alameda County Registrar of Voters, "Certified Election Results," accessed December 1, 2016

Endorsements

Imara received endorsements from the following in 2016:

• Green Party of Alameda County
• John George Democratic Club
• Oakland Justice Alliance
• Sierra Club, San Francisco Bay Chapter
• Transport Oakland
• Former Berkeley Mayor Eugene "Gus" Newport

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Imara has a daughter, Nia.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Nehanda Imara Oakland. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Nehanda Imara - Google News

See also

• Oakland, California
• Municipal elections in Oakland, California (2016)
• United States municipal elections, 2016

External links

Suggest a link

• Campaign website
• Social media

• Facebook