Loren Taylor

Loren Taylor (born July 1977) is an American politician, member of the Democratic Party, and Councilmember on the Oakland City Council representing District 6 which includes the East Oakland neighborhoods of Maxwell Park, Oakland, California, Millsmont, Oakland, California, Havenscourt, Oakland, California and Eastmont, Oakland, California.[1]

For the New Zealand actress, see Loren Taylor (actress).
Loren Taylor
City Councilmember District 6, Oakland, California
Assumed office
January 2018
Preceded byDesley Brooks
Personal details
Born1977
Oakland, California
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
Education
ProfessionPolitician, Biomedical Engineer, Management Consultant
Website/ Councilmember Loren Taylor

Engineering and business career

Prior to his election to represent District 6 on the Oakland City Council in 2018, Loren Taylor worked as a biomedical engineer and management consultant for businesses and non profits.[2] After serving as Director in PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PWC) health strategy & innovation practice, Taylor launched Custom Taylor Solutions (CTS), a social impact consulting firm based in Oakland. Taylor's community involvement included serving as a Board member of the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area and the West Oakland Health Center.[3]

Political career

Taylor first ran for public office in 2018 and defeated 16-year incumbent Desley Brooks and three other candidates earning 64.3% of the vote after 5 rounds of ranked choice voting.[4]

Taylor's stated priorities during the election were (1) creating economic opportunities in East Oakland, (2) stop the pushing out / pricing out of Oaklanders, and (3) making government more effective and efficient.[5][6] Among Taylor's proposals to make government more effective was civilianizing certain police jobs and strengthening the existing Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils[7]

Policy and legislation

Vibrant East Oakland Economy
  • In 2020, Taylor partnered with the Merritt College and Peralta Colleges Foundation to launch Eastside Oakland Ventures (ESO) a business incubator supported by entrepreneurs with deep roots in Oakland in an effort to develop a strong entrepreneurial pipeline in East Oakland.[8]
  • In response to concerns about outside investors exploiting Oakland's District 6 and East Oakland for Opportunity Zone tax breaks without creating equitable opportunities for current residents, Taylor authored a council resolution directing the city to set up controls to guide responsible opportunity zone investment in Oakland.[9][10]
  • Taylor coauthored amendments to the 2019-2021 Budget to allocate $6 million to small businesses, $2 million to support low-income areas of District 6, and $1 million for technical assistance for small businesses.[11]

End the Push-Out/Price-out of Longtime Residents
  • In response to the 68% increase in Oakland's unhoused population, and the explosion of encampments in the city, Taylor partnered with other Councilmembers to enact the Permanent Access to Housing (PATH) plan that seeks to close the racial disparities of homelessness with a multipronged approach around (1) prevention, (2) crisis response, (3) transitional housing, and (4) long-term supportive & affordable housing.[12]
  • In addition to the initiatives in the PATH plan, Taylor spearheaded the creation of Oakland's first ever homeless encampment management policy that engaged 1,200 Oakland residents in a 9-month planning process that sought to balance the "health and safety of Oakland's unhoused community" against concerns from "residents and businesses who do not want encampments to be allowed."[13] The measure was approved in October 2020 by unanimous consent of the city council.[14]
  • Taylor worked with the Black Cultural Zone, a community development corporation consisting of 20 Oakland nonprofits, to establish the Akoma Outdoor Market one of several programs it runs on a city owned lot in East Oakland.[15][16]
  • Taylor coauthored amendments to the 2019-2021 Budget to allocate $1 million to worfkorce development programs that would support career transitions for 100 Oaklanders and $7 million to residential rent and mortgage relief during the Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.[17]

Safer, Cleaner, More Attractive Streets
  • Taylor coauthored a resolution creating a Reimagining Public Safety Task Force charged with developing the plan to defund the Oakland Police Department by 50% and reallocate those funds to alternative public safety and crime prevention services.[18]
  • Taylor coauthored a resolution that placed a measure on Oakland's November 2020 ballot to strengthen the Police Commission by retaining its autonomy and independence even during ppublic safety emergencies.[19]
  • Taylor coauthored amendments to the 2019-2021 Budget allocating $500,000 to remove abandoned vehicles and illegal dumping.[20]

Improved Efficiency, Effectiveness of City Operations
  • Taylor coauthored a city resolution to implement a performance management program in order to increase "accountability" and "public confidence" in city departments through greater reporting discipline and transparency.[21]

Council leadership and committee assignments

Loren Taylor holds the following city council leadership positions and committee assignments for the 2019-2021 session:[22]

  • Chair, Life Enrichment Committee
  • Member, Community & Economic Development Committee
  • Member, Public Safety Committee
  • Member, Education Partnership
  • Co-Chair, Reimagining Public Safety Task Force[23]
  • Board of Commissioners for The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority Board [24]
  • Executive Board of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG);[25] and
  • Board Of Trustees Of The Youth Ventures Joint Powers Authority.[26]

Personal life

Loren Taylor is a 3rd generation Oaklander whose grandparents moved to Oakland from the segregated south in the 1940s. His mother was a public school teacher in the Oakland Unified School District. He began his professional career as a biomedical engineer after earning masters in biomedical engineering from the University of Connecticut. He later earned an MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business.[27] Taylor lives in Oakland with his wife, Dr. Erica Taylor and two children and has served as PTA President, soccer coach and Boy Scout leader.[28][29]

References
  1. "District 6 Councilmember Loren Taylor". City of Oakland. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  2. Debolt, David (November 7, 2020). "Longtime Oakland Councilwoman Desley Brooks loses in upset". The Mercury News. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  3. "Loren Taylor Wants More Support for East Oakland Black Business". Post News Group. April 16, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  4. "Municipal elections in Oakland, California (2018)". Ballotpedia. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  5. "City of Oakland Candidate for City Council, District 6". Voter's Edge California. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  6. Dirks, Sandhya (January 6, 2019). "The New Oakland City Council Members Who Beat the Incumbents (and the Odds)". KQED. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  7. BondGraham, Darwin (September 3, 2020). "The Fight for Oakland's District 6". Oakland Magazine. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  8. "East Side Oakland Ventures - Who We Are". ESO Ventures. eso-ventures.com/who-we-are. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  9. Epstein, Ken (December 15, 2019). "Loren Taylor Hopes to Use Federal "Opportunity Zone" Tax Breaks to Foster Local Development". Post News Group. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  10. Taylor, Loren (January 21, 2020). "Resolution in Support ofRecommendations for Guiding Responsible CommunityCentered Opportunity Zone Investments". City of Oakland Website. City of Oakland. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  11. Monifa, Kiki (July 2, 2020). "$28.2 Million Grant for Oakland's 'Better Neighborhoods, Same Neighbors' and 'District 6 Matters'". Post News Group. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  12. Sekiranda, David (October 25, 2019). "Oakland committee approves new plan to address homelessness". Oakland North. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  13. Rendon, Cristina (September 21, 2020). "Oakland City Council will consider where to allow homeless encampments". Fox KTVU 2. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
  14. Ravani, Sarah (October 21, 2020). "Oakland restricts locations where homeless encampments can set up". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  15. Tyska, Jane (September 27, 2020). "New Black Cultural Zone helps East Oakland neighborhood thrive". East Bay Times. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  16. Boerner, Dean (October 13, 2020). "Is This Oakland Group CRE's Answer To Gentrification?". BizNow. BizNow. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
  17. Monifa, Kiki (July 2, 2020). "$28.2 Million Grant for Oakland's 'Better Neighborhoods, Same Neighbors' and 'District 6 Matters'". Post News Group. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  18. Kawamoto, Jon (July 28, 2020). "Oakland City Council OKs task force - with goal of defunding police by 50%". East Bay Times.
  19. Kawamoto, Jon (July 23, 2020). "Oakland City Council puts measure to strengthen police commission on November ballot". East Bay Times. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  20. Monifa, Kiki (July 2, 2020). "$28.2 Million Grant for Oakland's 'Better Neighborhoods, Same Neighbors' and 'District 6 Matters'". Post News Group. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  21. Taylor, Loren (April 23, 2019). "esolution In Support Of Performance Management". City of Oakland Website. City of Oakland. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  22. "Council Committee Assignments and Schedule". City of Oakland. August 31, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  23. "Update: 'Reimagining Public Safety Task Force' Will Have Aim Of Cutting More From Police Budget". SF Gate. July 28, 2020. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  24. "RESOLUTION RE-APPOINTING AND APPOINTING MEMBERS TO THE OAKLAND-ALAMEDA COUNTY COLISEUM AUTHORITY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AS FOLLOWS - RE-APPOINTING COUNCILMEMBER LARRY E. REID FOR THE TERM BEGINNING JANUARY 20th 2019 AND ENDING JANUARY 19th 2021 AND APPOINTING COUNCILMEMBER LOREN TAYLOR FOR THE TERM BEGINNING JANUARY 20™ 2019 AND ENDING JANUARY 19™ 2021 TO THE SEAT PREVIOUSLY HELD BY COUNCILMEMBER LYNETTE GIBSON MCELHANEY". City of Oakland. January 19, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  25. "RESOLUTION REAPPOINTING COUNCILMEMBER LYNETTE MCELHANEY AND APPOINTING COUNCILMEMBER LOREN TAYLOR AND COUNCILMEMBER NIKKI FORTUNATO BAS AS DELEGATES TO REPRESENT THE CITY OF OAKLAND TO THE ASSOCIATION OF BAY AREA GOVERNMENTS (ABAG) EXECUTIVE BOARD". City of Oakland. January 16, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  26. "RESOLUTION APPOINTING COUNCILMEMBER LOREN TAYLOR TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE YOUTH VENTURES JOINT POWERS AUTHORITY TO THE SEAT FORMERLY HELD BY COUNCILMEMBER ANNIE CAMPBELL WASHINGTON FOR THE REMAINDER OF HER TERM". City of Oakland. January 24, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  27. "Meet Oakland City Council candidate Loren M. Taylor". ABC 7 News. KGO-TV San Francisco. September 29, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  28. Taylor, Otis (November 8, 2020). "The low-key East Oakland booster who unseated Desley Brooks". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
  29. "City of Oakland Candidate for City Council, District 6". Voter's Edge California. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
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