![\"Newly](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/EBT-L-SWORNIN-0519-10-1.jpg\")
Newly elected Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, right, is sworn in next to Bill Patterson, a longtime civic leader in Oakland, at City Hall in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 19, 2025. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\nOakland civil rights leader and former East Bay Municipal Utility District Director William \u201cBill\u201d Patterson, who had been called the \u201cConscience of the District,\u201d died at the age of 94 on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Patterson was the first Black director at EBMUD, where he served for 25 years championing equity for the water agencies 1.4 million customers, guided public health efforts to address lead in schools, and promoted environmental sustainability for the Mokelumne watershed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBill Patterson was a devoted public servant whose exemplary leadership and thoughtful voice strengthened our board and enhanced our ability to serve our East Bay community,\u201d EBMUD Board President Marguerite Young said in a statement announcing Patterson\u2019s passing. \u201cHis passion for people, his integrity, and his readiness to work collaboratively will be deeply missed by his colleagues, staff and the many residents whose lives he touched.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patterson was elected to the EBMUD Board of Directors in 1997, representing swaths of Oakland in Ward 6 for 27 years until his retirement in 2024. Outside of the water district, Patterson was a three-term president of the Oakland NAACP to strengthen inclusion and investment in the East Bay\u2019s Black community. Current Ward 6 director Valerie Lewis said Patterson\u2019s legacy is tied to the success of EBMUD.<\/p>\n
\u201cBill\u2019s legacy is woven into the fabric of EBMUD and the East Bay,\u201d said Valerie Lewis, EBMUD Director for Ward 6. \u201cHe was a mentor, a bridge builder, a staunch believer in the power of informed decision making, and a fierce advocate for the people he served. His compassion and conviction inspired all of us to lead with heart, courage, and purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
Newly elected Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, right, is sworn in next to Bill Patterson, a longtime civic leader in Oakland, at City Hall in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, May 19, 2025. (Dai Sugano\/Bay Area News Group)\u00a0<\/p>\n
That includes Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, who described him as a \u201cpositive force in the lives of generations of Oakland youth.\u201d She praised him for his public service and his mentorship to legendary Oakland figures over the years like basketball hall of famer Bill Russell, baseball greats Frank Robinson and Joe Morgan, and former Oakland Mayor Lionel Wilson.<\/p>\n
\u201cBill was a close friend, a mentor, and an unwavering champion for Oakland\u2019s children and families. When I was sworn in as Oakland\u2019s Mayor at City Hall, it was Bill who held my grandfather\u2019s Bible \u2013 a moment that symbolized our deep personal bond, and his role as a steady hand guiding this city\u2019s future.\u201d Lee said. \u201cEven as our city faced tremendous challenges, Bill never stopped making this city better for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oakland civil rights leader and former East Bay Municipal Utility District Director William \u201cBill\u201d Patterson, who had been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[389,16125,184,7,8,400,332,181,205,100,143,145,144,10238,10374,13,14263,646],"class_list":["post-19370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-alameda-county","tag-all-obituaries","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-california-news","tag-california-politics","tag-east-bay","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-politics","tag-news","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-obituaries","tag-obituary","tag-politics","tag-racial-justice","tag-water"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}