Michaela Mendes

Oakland has recently become a national laughingstock due to our failed policies, brazen crime and alleged corruption. We, the voters, can change this. Today we launch Empower Oakland 2.0: a GrowSF-style voter education organization in Oakland. Over the past few months, I've spent my nights and weekends meeting with city officials, former/future mayors, current staffers in city hall, and community leaders. My goal has been to understand wtf is going on and to find a path forward. Along the way, I met Loren Taylor, a 3rd generation Oakland resident who started Empower Oakland and already had great success in their last election. This election is critical. There are 5 city council positions (out of 8) on the ballot. Two recalls. The city attorney and county supervisor positions. The entire city government could change in November (usually it takes 4-6 years!). We believe this opportunity is going to help set the foundation for the next decade. So we're going to help commonsense, effective and experienced candidates win their races. The main way we will do this is through voter education. Voters do not respond to last-minute political advertising that has no context or brand behind it. Instead, we are going to build a brand voters can trust and then share useful information with them each week through our newsletter. We're going to spend time in the community, talk with the police, and then report back on what we learn. We'll do deep dives on city hall so you can know what's going on and where we stand. Then, closer to the election, we'll ask candidates to answer questionnaires to share their positions on critical issues. That will be compiled into a voter guide where we will share which candidates we believe can be most effective. Ways to get involved: 1. Subscribe to our newsletter and share it widely! 2. Donate $500, $1,000, $5,000. We will be run by volunteers, so your money will go directly to campaigning for commonsense politicians through our voter guide. 3. Volunteer. DM me if you're interested, especially if you have digital marketing or web design/development experience. Links below :)