This year, we looked at their voting records for the calendar year of 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were 30 full City Council meetings last year. We identified 138 opportunities where councilmembers could vote. These votes included routine things like approving the minutes for previous meetings, receiving informational reports from staff, and approving consent calendars. Other votes approved new laws, like changes to campaign finance rules, and greenlit contracts for goods and services, like surveillance cameras. And in June, the council voted to pass the city\u2019s $4.4 billion budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each councilmember had the opportunity to participate in these 138 votes. Councilmembers can be excused from a meeting or a vote if they have a scheduling conflict, which is logged in the meeting minutes as an \u201cexcused\u201d absence. If a councilmember doesn\u2019t give notice before missing a vote, they are listed as \u201cabsent.\u201d The council president is able to remove a councilmember from a committee if they\u2019re late or miss a meeting three times. That didn\u2019t happen this year.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s some of what we found.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charlene Wang and Rowena Brown had perfect voting records for full council meetings \u2014 neither of them missed any meetings or votes. In general, the newest members of the City Council had the best voting records.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carroll Fife had the worst record for full City Council meetings. She missed 27 votes, about 19% of the total votes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Noel Gallo sponsored or co-sponsored the most legislation of any councilmember last year, with 30 bills bearing his name. Most of these sponsored bills were for appointments to commissions or boards. Fife sponsored the next largest number, 27 bills, including more substantive items.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Councilmembers also sit on committees. The committees:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finance and Management\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rules and Legislation\u00a0<\/p>\n
Public Safety\u00a0<\/p>\n
Public Works and Transportation\u00a0<\/p>\n
Life Enrichment\u00a0<\/p>\n
Community and Economic Development\u00a0<\/p>\n
Committees get first pass on most policies and reports, and their members get to decide whether an item advances to full council for approval or gets held back for revisions or passed to another committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were 114 committee meetings last year, with 519 additional voting opportunities. However, no councilmember has 519 opportunities to vote because they are each assigned to different committees, with some considering more legislation than others. Also, one councilmember, Charlene Wang, was elected in April to fill a vacancy in the District 2 seat. We did not tally votes for Rebecca Kaplan, an outgoing councilmember who served as a temporary custodian of District 2 for the first half of 2025. Kevin Jenkins served as interim mayor for several months in 2025, taking him away from council business.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zac Unger, District 1
\n![\"20251007_StateoftheCity_EG_29\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20251007_StateoftheCity_EG_29.jpg\")
Councilmember Zac Unger had a near-perfect voting record last year. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n
Unger, who considers himself \u201cpathologically punctual,\u201d reportedly won an award in third grade for perfect attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still trying to live up to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In 2025, Unger did meet his childhood standard \u2014 almost. He missed one council meeting in May where there was a single vote around recommendations for the city budget. Unger was on the council\u2019s budget team and was present for the official vote on the budget in June. He also missed one council vote on a ceremonial item at the beginning of another May meeting, which was excused.<\/p>\n
He had a perfect record at meetings for the four committees he sat on at various points in the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think that showing up is respectful to our colleagues, to citizens, to the process \u2014 that\u2019s our job,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Unger sponsored or co-sponsored 16 pieces of legislation last year, among the lowest on the council.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he prefers to \u201cwork on substantive things,\u201d rather than going for a larger quantity of symbolic sponsorships. Among the legislation he authored or coauthored in 2025 were two significant items that will appear on voters\u2019 ballots this June. One measure would provide tax breaks to small businesses<\/a>. Another deals with police and firefighter retirement accounts.<\/p>\n Unger noted that working on the budget team was a significant lift that began just weeks after he took office. The budget he and his colleagues passed in June<\/a> closed a big deficit and avoided layoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Charlene Wang, District 2 Wang was sworn into office in May after a special election, so she didn\u2019t get to participate in every council meeting in 2025. For the full City Council meetings after she was sworn in, Wang had a perfect voting record. She also didn\u2019t miss any votes at her four committee meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s our job, it\u2019s a basic requirement,\u201d Wang said.<\/p>\n The council\u2019s deliberations about the controversial company Flock Safety<\/a> led to some of the most challenging votes Wang registered last year. As head of the Public Safety Committee, Wang presided over a meeting in November that lasted several hours<\/a> where scores of community members argued that the city shouldn\u2019t be doing business with Flock, citing privacy and civil liberty concerns. Wang voted to approve Flock\u2019s contract to provide surveillance cameras and the full council followed suit weeks later.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a vote that we had to make under not-ideal circumstances,\u201d Wang said. She made several amendments to the legislation, including imposing stiff fines on Flock if it abuses the city\u2019s data sharing rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wang sponsored or co-sponsored 15 pieces of legislation last year that were approved by the City Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n She introduced a resolution urging BART to study the feasibility<\/a> of creating a station<\/a> in the San Antonio neighborhood. She had the city receive a report from amateur illegal dumping crusader<\/a> Andy Wang (no relation to the councilmember), and another from OPD about its use of license plate readers<\/a> after troubling reports<\/a> surfaced showing federal agents may have been able to access the city\u2019s data.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wang also introduced a proposal last year to make parking illegal<\/a> after 10 p.m. on the Lakeshore Avenue cul-de-sac, which is in her district. Wang just held a town hall in the neighborhood and said it seems like the change was effective.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI know that made a drastic difference in the violence that was being experienced in that area,\u201d Wang said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Carroll Fife, District 3 Fife missed more votes than any of her colleagues in 2025: 78. Sixty-eight of these were excused.<\/p>\n In some cases, she missed full meetings and all the votes that happened during them; in others, she was present for part of a meeting, missing some individual votes. Fife missed five full council meetings and parts of eight other council meetings. She also missed seven full committee meetings and seven partial committee meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fife said some of these absences occurred during special meetings that were held at the same time as pre-scheduled travel or official obligations, including meetings of the Association of Bay Area Governments<\/a> board and the Alameda County Transportation Commission<\/a>. Fife and a couple of other councilmembers serve as appointed members of these regional governing boards.<\/p>\n Comparing missed vote counts among councilmembers might be \u201cequal, but it\u2019s not equitable,\u201d Fife told us, noting that each councilmember has a different number of activities and obligations in their district away from the dais.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDistrict 3 is different than some other places,\u201d Fife said. \u201cI\u2019m the most prolific and impacted councilmember in Oakland right now, legislatively and programmatically.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Fife is correct about her prolific legislative record. She sponsored or co-sponsored 27 pieces of legislation in 2025, more than anyone else aside from Councilmember Noel Gallo, who was council president for half of the year.<\/p>\n Several of these were requests for reports from staff on topics like a new homeless shelter the city opened. Two of the most noteworthy items included a budget amendment to restore the city\u2019s cultural affairs manager<\/a> and a proposal to pursue negotiations with Costco<\/a> for a store on the old Oakland Army Base.<\/p>\n However, Fife said her legislative record is not the most important part of her work as a councilmember. She\u2019s prouder of her neighborhood connections and advocacy.<\/p>\n \u201cOrganizing in community is the most effective thing,\u201d Fife said. \u201cLegislation is almost irrelevant now.\u201d<\/p>\n Janani Ramachandran, District 4 Ramachandran had a mostly great voting record for full council meetings. Between January and December, she was excused from five votes.\u00a0<\/p>\n She missed a vote in July in which the council agreed to withdraw<\/a> a proposed bill expressing support for a state law that would have commissioned a study to explore alternatives to using PG&E as a utility. PG&E lobbied against the resolution, and five councilmembers voted to table the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her record was less stellar for committee meetings. Ramachandran was excused from the May 13 Finance meeting<\/a>. She also missed three Community and Economic Development meetings and three Rules meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n All told, Ramachandran was excused from 24 votes and absent for four. Ramachandran did not respond to interview requests.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last year, Ramachandran sponsored or co-sponsored 22 pieces of legislation. Over the summer, she co-sponsored a series of amendments<\/a> to the proposed budget for fiscal years 2025-2027, which she introduced with councilmembers Unger and Kaplan. These amendments kept all 25 fire stations open<\/a>. She also co-sponsored legislation that granted a company the right to install billboards around Oakland<\/a> in exchange for millions of dollars to the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ramachandran co-sponsored legislation that changed some of Oakland\u2019s campaign finance rules<\/a>, allowing officeholders to raise more money. She also supported legislation to change the City Council\u2019s rules of procedure<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Additionally, the District 4 councilmember coauthored a proposed ballot measure that, if approved by voters in June, will provide tax breaks<\/a> for certain businesses. And she endorsed a resolution that authorized City Administrator Jestin Johnson to give a portion<\/a> of Oakland\u2019s hotel tax revenue to the Roots and Soul soccer teams to help attract a World Cup team to the region. Earlier this year, the Australian men\u2019s team announced<\/a> they will use the former Raiders training facility in Alameda, which Oakland sold last year<\/a> to a company that has leased it to the Roots and Soul.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Noel Gallo, District 5 Gallo had two different jobs last year. He served as the temporary council president while Kevin Jenkins filled in as mayor, returning to his regular council seat after Lee was elected.\u00a0<\/p>\n As president, the person responsible for facilitating and scheduling meetings, Gallo did not miss any full council sessions. But between May and December, Gallo missed one full council meeting and parts of four other meetings. He also missed four committee meetings and parts of two other committee meetings throughout the year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Overall, Gallo missed 12 council votes and 22 committee votes.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I miss a vote, it\u2019s for a reason,\u201d Gallo said. \u201cI don\u2019t just get up and leave.\u201d He missed some committee meetings to pick up his daughter from school, he said, and acknowledged that he might skip votes for urgent issues in his district.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I have an emergency and there\u2019s a meeting that\u2019s happening, I\u2019m going to the emergency. I\u2019m here to represent the community that got me where I am today,\u201d he said, noting during our phone interview that he was out in the neighborhood cleaning it up.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gallo sponsored or co-sponsored the most legislation \u2014 30 items. Many were appointments to commissions and boards that he had to make as council president. Another was a request to city staff for a report on Oakland\u2019s sanctuary city ordinance<\/a>; this year, he proposed legislation that reaffirmed rules prohibiting city workers from taking actions to help enforce federal immigration laws. Gallo\u2019s name was also on two proposed relocation agreements with billboard<\/a> companies<\/a>, and the legislation allocating tax money<\/a> to Oakland\u2019s professional soccer teams for a training facility.<\/p>\n But unlike some of his colleagues, Gallo doesn\u2019t consider legislating his primary role as a councilmember.<\/p>\n \u201cEstablishing an agenda that makes a difference in the city is important,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I have individuals who just got on council who don\u2019t understand \u2014 they can\u2019t just get on there and talk. I don\u2019t need any more laws and rules; they\u2019re there, and we need to enforce them.\u201d<\/p>\n Kevin Jenkins, District 6 Like Gallo, Jenkins had an unusual year. Between January and May, Jenkins served as Oakland\u2019s interim mayor<\/a>. The mayor does not participate in council meetings, aside from breaking ties, which is rare, so Jenkins did not vote on any legislation between January and May.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n After Jenkins returned to his job as council president on May 20, he only missed one full council meeting, on Nov. 4. For Rules, his single committee assignment last year, Jenkins only missed one meeting, on Nov. 6. In total, Jenkins was excused from six votes at full council meetings and four votes at Rules.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jenkins did not respond to interview requests.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jenkins sponsored or co-sponsored 26 pieces of legislation that appeared on council agendas last year. Some of these items were when he was interim mayor. He also introduced the proposed budget<\/a> for the city after Barbara Lee was elected but had not yet been sworn in. That budget was approved in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n As council president, he sponsored or co-sponsored 15 legislative proposals.\u00a0<\/p>\n When he returned to his council seat in May, Jenkins backed legislation that changed Oakland\u2019s campaign finance rules<\/a> to allow elected officials to raise more money through their officeholder accounts, among other things. He also championed legislation that changed the City Council\u2019s rules of procedure<\/a> by having meetings start with discussions about the most important legislation.<\/p>\n Jenkins also sponsored a resolution honoring John Beam<\/a>, the football coach at Laney College, who was shot and killed<\/a> last November.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ken Houston, District 7 During Houston\u2019s first year on council, he missed one full council meeting and parts of five others. While he wasn\u2019t absent from any complete committee meetings, he missed one or more votes at 13 of those sessions.<\/p>\n In total, Houston missed 14 council votes and 16 committee votes.<\/p>\n The councilmember told The Oaklandside he missed these votes for various reasons \u2014 sometimes because he went to the restroom and sometimes because, he said, he was conferring with the city administrator.<\/p>\n Houston is the only councilmember who told us he skipped a vote intentionally, as a protest. At a Life Enrichment Committee meeting on July 22, councilmembers considered a request by the city administration to renew Oakland\u2019s shelter crisis ordinance<\/a>. That ordinance allows the city to open emergency shelters and run homelessness programs that would otherwise face restrictions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Houston made a motion to table the item, expressing frustration over how much money Oakland spends on homelessness compared to the county and over the \u201clast-minute\u201d request by staff. When his motion failed, he walked out of the meeting. This caused the committee to lose quorum, so it wasn\u2019t able to vote. A few months later, the council unanimously approved the ordinance.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI did that on purpose \u2014 I know my rights,\u201d said Houston.\u00a0<\/p>\n In general, Houston said, he believes councilmembers should attend all meetings, unless there\u2019s an emergency. Even when he was out of town taking care of his 89-year-old mother, he said he joined meetings virtually. \u201cWhen I vote, I vote for things that will affect us in my district,\u201d so it\u2019s important to be there.<\/p>\n Houston sponsored or co-sponsored 14 pieces of legislation in 2025, the fewest of anyone on the council.<\/p>\n That number doesn\u2019t tell the full story, he said. Houston said he\u2019s made many \u201cheavy lifts\u201d behind the scenes, advocating for policies and perspectives even when his name isn\u2019t on a piece of paper.<\/p>\n \u201cI pushed the [police] pursuit policy with the governor. Flock cameras, that was me\u2026I have the highest push of courage,\u201d he said, taking credit for items supporting small businesses, ending a city lawsuit<\/a> against Southwest Airlines in closed session, enabling police to tow abandoned cars in his district, and calling attention to disparities among Oakland contractors.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cEven if I wasn\u2019t a co-writer of a policy, I spearheaded it,\u201d said Houston.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a major piece of legislation Houston did write \u2014 a proposal to overhaul Oakland\u2019s encampment policy<\/a>. Under this policy, the city would crack down on homeless camps, clearing more of them regardless of whether other shelter is available. But, to his increasing frustration, the councilmember has not been able to garner much support from his colleagues, who keep tabling it<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n He was also behind legislation that amended details of the Coliseum sale<\/a>, and was part of the successful proposal to increase campaign finance and officeholder contribution<\/a> limits.<\/p>\n Rowena Brown, At-Large Brown notched an almost perfect voting record during her first year on council. She missed zero votes at full city council meetings. She was excused from a single vote at a Rules meeting on Oct. 16. She couldn\u2019t recall why she missed the vote, which had to do with approving the council\u2019s legislative calendar.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brown was a participant in several contentious council meetings, including deliberations around the Flock surveillance contract<\/a>, the appointment of members of the Police Commission<\/a>, and the proposed encampment abatement policy<\/a>. Brown said she navigated controversial decisions by following her values. One advantage she says serves her well is a thorough understanding of how every level of government works.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn this moment, it\u2019s really just focusing on the work and making sure I\u2019m being collaborative,\u201d Brown told The Oaklandside.\u00a0<\/p>\n For example, Brown authored an ordinance<\/a> last year to boost foot traffic and Oakland\u2019s nightlife<\/a> by creating economic activation zones around commercial corridors. Brown said she worked closely with several business improvement districts, educational institutions, and nonprofits to get this bill over the finish line. \u201cThat\u2019s coalition building,\u201d Brown said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Brown sponsored or co-sponsored 23 pieces of legislation last year, including ceremonial items like a resolution celebrating Black History and Future Month<\/a>, another supporting rainbow crosswalks<\/a> in the Lakeshore LGBTQ Cultural District, and another naming a new bikeway after a child who was killed near Lake Merritt<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n She also sponsored a bill that authorized the city administrator to accept and extend funding for a homelessness prevention pilot program<\/a>. Brown, who chairs a committee that liaises with OUSD, also sponsored reports about safety and other issues<\/a> at Oakland schools. And Brown endorsed a proposal to have the city extend grant funding for Centro Legal De La Raza<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n How we analyzed voting records<\/p>\n
\n![\"20251007_StateoftheCity_EG_30\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20251007_StateoftheCity_EG_30.jpg\")
Councilmember Charlene Wang served just half of the year, but didn\u2019t miss any votes once in office. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n
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Councilmember Carroll Fife participated in the least votes in 2025. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n
\n![\"20251007_StateoftheCity_EG_27\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20251007_StateoftheCity_EG_27.jpg\")
Councilmember Janani Ramachandran was in the middle of the pack for attendance and sponsorship in 2025. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n
\n![\"20251007_StateoftheCity_EG_22\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20251007_StateoftheCity_EG_22.jpg\")
Councilmember Noel Gallo spent half of the year as council president. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n
\n![\"20251007_StateoftheCity_EG_21\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/20251007_StateoftheCity_EG_21.jpg\")
Council President Kevin Jenkins had a strong voting record after returning to his council seat in May. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n
\n![\"Rashidah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Rashidah-GrinageResolution_EG_035.jpg\")
Councilmember Ken Houston intentionally skipped a vote last year, as a protest. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n
\n![\"Rashidah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Rashidah-GrinageResolution_EG_030.jpg\")
Councilmember Rowena Brown missed one vote all year. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for The Oaklandside<\/p>\n