VOTE411 Voter Guide

My top three priorities are: 1) Affordable Housing for People, not Profit 2) Public Safety for All and 3)Making Berkeley Work for Working Families. You can read about the details of my proposals and further priorities at www.soli.vote/priorities.

Soli Alpert is proud to serve Berkeley as the Vice Chair of the Berkeley Rent Board. He became involved in local progressive activism as a student at Cal, first with UC Berkeley Students for Bernie, which became the Progressive Students Association, and then with the campaign of Councilmember Kate Harrison in 2017. After her victory, he joined her staff as a part time Legislative Assistant. He was elected to the Rent Board in 2018 with the Right to Housing Slate. The following year, Soli worked with his coworkers to unionize the City of Berkeley’s Legislative Assistants with SEIU 1021, the union representing most City of Berkeley employees, and served as a steward and delegate for the union until 2022. He was first elected Vice Chair of the Rent Board by his colleagues in 2020, and re-elected in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

As a Council Aide, Soli has advanced policies in support of workers’ and tenants’ rights, affordable housing and anti-speculation and anti-displacement, and open and transparent governance reforms. Soli helped to draft and pass Berkeley’s Fair Workweek Ordinance, setting a new national standard for hiring and scheduling protections for shift workers.

As a Commissioner and now Vice Chair, Soli has collaborated on proposals to expand the coverage of eviction control to more Berkeley tenants, shone a light on government inaction to protect tenants facing dangerous and uninhabitable living conditions, and advocated for mitigations in City upzoning proposals to protect vulnerable communities from displacement. He is proud to have helped author the Empty Homes Tax with Councilmember Harrison, which was overwhelmingly adopted by Berkeley voters in 2022.

Soli is also active in progressive Democratic politics, being twice elected as an Democratic Party Delegate from our Assembly District to the State Democratic Party Central Committee. He currently serves on the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club Coordinating Committee and as an Alternate Member to the Alameda County Democratic Party Central Committee. He is a member of Local Progress, a national coalition of local progressive elected officials, and East Bay DSA.

I'm proud to be endorsed by a wide variety of elected officials and progressive organizations. These include: District 4 Councilmember Kate Harrison, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021, East Bay Democratic Socialists of America, the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club of the East Bay, the Berkeley Tenants Union, Our Revolution East Bay, Berkeley School Board President Ana Vasudeo, and Oakland Councilmember Carroll Fife. You can see my full list of endorsements at www.soli.vote/endorsements.

1) Create actual affordable housing for working people and their families.

2) If we want to reduce crime, we must address the root cause, poverty. I will champion proven community-centered public safety initiatives that decrease crime. 3) Reviving and revitalizing our downtown, which includes tending to our unhoused community. Learn how we can accomplish all of this and more at www.elana4berkeley.com/issues

When our council member resigned in January, many friends and neighbors urged me to run for the vacated seat. They knew about my years of on-the-ground advocacy and activism and the vast network of local community organizations and causes I’ve rallied around and advanced. They also knew that I had a mediation practice for years supporting families and community members to resolve their conflicts with respect and collaboration. And, some knew about my career in the 1990’s in commercial real estate finance. The primary reasons that I’m running for the District 4 seat is to reclaim our city for the people and bridge the divide that has always separated Berkeleyans from one another, particularly along the artificial lines of class and race. These divisions have always cheated Berkeley out of realizing its great promise and potential — for everyone. My nonwhite Berkeley sisters and brothers have helped me to recognize how these dangerous divisions have historically privileged and protected some while disadvantaging others. While I continue to have to deconstruct the white liberal racist lens through which I’ve been conditioned to view the world, my life and campaign are now centered on doing whatever I can to encourage, promote and help manifest what is best for all Berkeleyans. Our brightest future must be anchored in our rich diversity, which is our greatest strength. My life experience, my roots in this community, and my years of diligent civic and political activism qualify me for this position. I have lived in Berkeley for nearly 20 years, raised my son here, found my community here, and my spouse and I plan to live here the remainder of our lives. Over the years, I’ve dedicated myself to serving our community in many ways. As a member of the Berkeley Community Safety Coalition, I was on a committee that created the template for what would become our Specialized Care Unit (SCU): first responders to non-criminal mental health and substance use crises. With assistance from Christina Murphy of the Options Navigators, we ensured that a 78 year-old disabled veteran named Cadillac spent the last few weeks of his life at a nursing facility and didn’t die on our streets. I’ve also supported some of our small businesses to stay afloat, including the Berkeley Community Physical Therapy Clinic, the only PT Clinic in Berkeley to take MediCal and serve some of our most marginalized neighbors. For the past four years, I’ve attended nearly every city council meeting and given public comments in support of issues ranging from a Ceasefire in Gaza to ensuring everyone in Berkeley has the SCU number in their phones. I have held our city leaders accountable to their own legislation, their promises and what our community needs. I have called out lapses in integrity, accountability, and transparency. And I’ve written about all of this in a column in the Berkeley Times called “Reimagining Berkeley.” I have joined the UAW, AFSCME, and Lifelong Medical workers’ picket lines, organized lunches for SEIU 1021 workers during negotiations, and otherwise supported our public workers when our city management was being unfair to them. I have also been a leader in numerous Berkeley political organizations to address the primary issues of our times. I was on the Steering Committee of the Berkeley Tenants Union and helped homeowners and tenants alike to resist gentrification. As a member of Berkeley Copwatch, I’ve investigated and shined a light on police misconduct and racist practices of the BPD. I’ve also volunteered to provide housing, food, and shelter to our unhoused neighbors through the Women’s Daytime Drop-In Center and Consider the Homeless. I’ve advocated with senior tenants and for disability rights, including ensuring we have accessible shelters. I’m a proud member of Berkeley’s Jewish community, where I am now doing all I can in the interests of peace, education, and understanding. Before all of this, I graduated from UCLA with a degree in Math & Economics. I worked as a Management Consultant in Los Angeles, and then in New York, where I worked in commercial real estate finance. I rapidly came to understand the realities of finance, real estate, and their impact on city governance. From there, I realized that I wanted a better world for myself and those after me. That meant I must leave an extractive industry and shift my focus to being a benefit to the community. I trained as a community and family mediator and started a mediation practice. I understand the forces both intentional and accidental which work against good, transparent, and accountable government in small communities and cities alike. I understand the accounting, the studies, the parliamentary and governmental procedure, the rules, and more importantly, the communities and the challenges which make up Berkeley. I want to represent District 4 not as a career move, but because this neighborhood, district, and city are my community and my future. I am running as an

Berkeley Tenants Union, Friends of Adeline, Green Party of Alameda County, AC Transit Director Jovanka Beckles, Chair and Spokesperson for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Corrina Gould, Emeryville Councilmember Kalimah Priforce, Fmr. Rent Board Commissioner Paola LaVerde, Berkeley Police Accountability Board Chair John “Chip” Moore, Community Defense Inc. Chair Osha Neumann, Berkeley Tenants Union Chair Negeene Mosaed, Former Berkeley City Councilmember Max Anderson, Former Berkeley City Councilmember Cheryl Davila, Former Berkeley Rent Board Commissioner Mari Mendonca, Berkeley Copwatch Founder Andrea Prichett, Consider the Homeless Activist Paul Ke’Aloha Blake, UC Berkeley Professor Chana Kronfeld, Chair of Berkeley Community Safety Coalition Moni Law, Peace & Justice Commissioner Diana Bohn, Mental Health Commissioner Mary Lee Kimber, Mental health Commissioner Glenn Turner, Activist Kelly Hammargren, Disability Rights Advocate Tamar Michai Freeman, Rabbi Cat Zavis, Rabbi Michael Lerner, Austin Tam Alameda County Democratic Central Committee

My top three priorities are: addressing the housing supply and affordability crisis and protecting renters; advancing climate and mobility justice and creating safe streets; and revitalizing our Downtown economy while centering worker protections.

I was born in Mexico and raised in South Texas by a single mother in Section 8 housing along with my two siblings. Watching my mother struggle to make ends meet as a teacher’s assistant making minimum wage taught me the importance of hard work and education from a young age. After graduating in the top 10 of my high school, I was the first in my family to graduate from college, earning a degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the Ohio State University.

Since graduating, I have been committed to public service, working to ensure that disadvantaged communities receive the support they need. I have worked for four elected officials in Ohio and California at the federal, state, and local level, where I currently serve as Berkeley Councilmember Terry Taplin's chief of staff. I have worked to advance initiatives on gun violence prevention and criminal justice reform, creating housing near BART stations, developing a West Berkeley Green New Deal, expanding bus and ferry service alongside electric vehicle charging, and improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

After moving to Berkeley in 2018, I became deeply involved in the community. In addition to my work in Berkeley City Hall, I serve as president of the East Bay Young Democrats and as immediate past president of the Latine Young Democrats of the East Bay, where I have helped uplift voices of young people and people of color and give them a seat at the table.

As an immigrant, renter, and transit rider, I will fight to address the housing supply and affordability crisis and protect renters, advance climate and mobility justice and create safe streets, strengthen community policing and accountability, provide compassionate care for our unsheltered neighbors, and revitalize our Downtown economy while centering worker protections.

Building and Construction Trades Council of Alameda County Nor Cal Carpenters Union East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín El Cerrito Mayor Tessa Rudnick Albany Mayor John Miki Former Richmond Mayor Tom Butt Berkeley Vice Mayor Susan Wengraf Berkeley City Councilmember Rashi Kesawani Berkeley City Councilmember Terry Taplin Berkeley City Councilmember Ben Bartlett Berkeley City Councilmember Mark Humbert Former Berkeley City Councilmember Rigel Robinson Former Berkeley City Councilmember Linda Maio Former Berkeley City Councilmember Darryl Moore Former Berkeley City Councilmember Gordon Wozniak Berkeley School Board Vice President Ka’Dijah Brown Berkeley School Board Director Laura Babbitt Berkeley Rent Board Commissioner Stefan Elgstrand Berkeley Rent Board Commissioner Andy Kelley Berkeley Rent Board Commissioner Vanessa Danielle Marrero Peralta Colleges Trustee Dyana Delfín Polk Barry Fike, Former Berkeley Federation of Teachers President Jeff Vincent, Chair, Planning Commission Claudia Kawczynska, Chair, Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront Commission Weldon Bradstreet, Chair, Disaster and Fire Safety Commission Bob Dixon, Chair, Personnel Board Noelani Fixler, Chair, Transportation and Infrastructure Commission Karen Parolek, Vice Chair, Transportation and Infrastructure Commission Cameron Woo, Vice Chair, Civic Arts Commission Kimberly Gaffney, Vice Chair, Design Review Committee and Zoning Adjustments Board Jim Novosel, Former Chair, Planning Commission, and Former Member, Board of Library Trustees Ben Gould, Former Chair, Environment and Climate Commission Theo Gordon, Disaster and Fire Safety Commissioner Kathi Pugh, Disability Commissioner Kim Walton, Transportation and Infrastructure Commissioner Brent Blackaby, Police Accountability Board Member Adam Berman, Founder, Urban Adamah Susan Medak, Former Managing Director, Berkeley Rep Theatre Stephanie Allan, Career Technical Education Advisor

1) Fight for a Berkeley we can all call home. 2) Prioritize a safe and vibrant downtown. 3) Help the unhoused rebuild their lives.

Learn more about these and other priorities at https://www.igortregub.com/priorities

Igor Tregub is the experienced consensus builder running to represent Downtown Berkeley on the City Council. He is the progressive Democrat who gets things done.

As Chair of the Alameda County Democratic Party and California Democratic Party’s Environmental Caucus, Igor has worked to bridge divides in the Democratic Party as we elect Democrats up-and-down the ballot who will push back against MAGA extremists and polluting industries ​ Igor has served as Chair of the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board, Housing Advisory Commission, Commission on Labor, and three different budget oversight committees.

He previously served two terms on the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, where he was known as someone focused on professionalizing the Board’s important work helping tenants and small landlords navigate complex bureaucracies. He was also a long term member of the Sierra Club’s California and Northern Alameda County Executive Committees, centering environmental justice and housing insecurity into the Sierra Club’s regional work.

Professionally, he serves as the Strategic Partnerships Director and Senior Policy Advisor at Reimagine Power, a women-owned boutique consultancy advocating for renewable energy solutions for multifamily housing and those who have been historically left out of the clean energy transition.

He holds an M.S. in Engineering Management from Duke, a Certificate in International Security from Stanford, a Certificate in Public Leadership from the University of San Francisco, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and B.A. in Political Science from UC Berkeley. He is nearing completion of an M.A. in Public Leadership from the University of San Francisco.

Igor knows that democracy is fragile and something to be cherished. He is an immigrant from Ukraine, and outside of his local and state advocacy, he is organizing to bring distributed solar and storage and energy democracy through the deployment of an Energy Security Marshall Plan to the country of his birth.

Sierra Club League of Conservation Voters of the East Bay 350 Bay Area Action Alameda County Building and Construction Trades Council (#2) Berkeley Firefighters, IAFF Local 1227 (#2) Evolve California Plumbers & Pipefitters UA Local 342 Sprinkler Fitters UA Local 483 East Bay Jewish Democratic Club Berkeley Neighbors for Housing & Climate Action (#2) Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin Berkeley Councilmember Ben Bartlett Berkeley Councilmember Sophie Hahn Berkeley Councilmember Mark Humbert (#2) Berkeley Councilmember Terry Taplin (#2) Berkeley Councilmember Susan Wengraf Former Berkeley Councilmember Linda Maio Former Berkeley Councilmember Kriss Worthington Berkeley School Board President Ana Vasudeo Berkeley School Board Member Mike Chang Berkeley School Board Member Laura Babitt Former CA State Controller Betty Yee Former CA State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones CA State Treasurer Fiona Ma CA Board of Equalizations Member Sally Lieber Alameda County Sheriff Yesenia Sanchez Alameda County Assessor Phong La Alameda County Treasurer Hank Levy Alameda County Board of Education Trustee Aisha Knowles Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Marquez Alameda County State Senator Aisha Wahab Former Alameda County State Assemblymember Bill Quirk Former Alameda County State Assemblymember Johan Klehs Former Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan (#2) East Bay Regional Parks Board President Elizabeth Echols East Bay Regional Parks District Board Member Dee Rosario AC Transit President Joel Young AC Transit Director Chris Peeples Former Peralta Community College District Trustee Karen Weinstein East Bay Municipal Utilities District Boardmember Andy Katz East Bay Municipal Utilities District Boardmember Doug Linney Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Member Stefan Elgstrand Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Member Vanessa Marrero Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Member Ida Martinac (#2) Former Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Chair; Library Board President John Selawsky