elected<\/a> in April 2024, was the first undergraduate student elected to the Berkeley City Council. In May 2024, she graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Urban Studies.<\/p>\nDuring her time on the City Council, Lunaparra focused on \u201chousing and tenant protections, safe streets and third spaces, holistic public safety (and) community engagement,\u201d according to her statement.<\/p>\n
In her statement, Lunaparra endorsed Micael, a recent UC Berkeley graduate, former ASUC transfer representative and lifelong Berkeley resident.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told myself that I would not be willing to step away from this role unless I believed there was someone who could carry the mantle and continue the work we\u2019ve started,\u201d Lunaparra said in a statement. \u201cI believe that person is Syrak Micael.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two other candidates have stated their intent to run, and official filing to declare intent to run will open in July.<\/p>\n
Aiden Hill<\/p>\n
After previously running for Berkeley\u2019s mayor in 2020, Aidan Hill is back to run for District 7\u2019s council seat. Hill is a UC Berkeley alumni and first-generation college student who earned his bachelor\u2019s degree in political science after transferring to the university. He has organized around People\u2019s Park, previously served as vice chair of the Berkeley Homeless Commission and is now working as a clinical health worker in medical case management.<\/p>\n
Hill\u2019s campaign focuses on keeping the Southside neighborhood affordable, strengthening public space and neighborhood infrastructure as well as focusing on accountability from institutions such as UC Berkeley. Hill believes that with increased housing development pressure in the district, there should also be services, maintenance and public investment in order to make the growth livable for residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cDistrict 7 does not just need someone who understands students culturally,\u201d Hill said in an email. \u201cIt needs someone who is willing to represent students politically, especially when their rights, housing, and safety are on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hill is endorsed by former Councilmember Cheryl Davila.<\/p>\n
John Espinoza<\/p>\n
John Espinoza, who calls himself \u201cSombrero Agent,\u201d announced his intent to run for the District 7 City Council seat on his social media March 14. He is a real estate agent with eight years of experience and a campus transfer student studying urban planning and sociology.<\/p>\n
Espinoza highlighted both personal and professional experience, including his first-generation Mexican American identity as experience that qualifies him to represent District 7. Since March 17, he has held multiple tabling events on the intersection of Telegraph Avenue and Bancroft Way to promote his campaign.<\/p>\n
If elected, he plans to facilitate a \u201cbarter system\u201d for students and homeowners to negotiate cheaper housing, increase public transportation funding to reduce overcrowding on certain bus lines, and create a campus dining plan scholarship and bring a grocery store to Southside, according to an email from Espinoza.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents are facing intense housing scarcity and affordability, food insecurity, and decreased public and traffic safety,\u201d Espinoza said in an email. \u201cThese significant issues must be addressed by a qualified and experienced candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Syrak Micael<\/p>\n
Syrak Micael announced his campaign for the District 7 seat on March 30 with the endorsement of current District 7 Councilmember Lunaparra.<\/p>\n
He is the current Vice Chair of the Berkeley Housing Advisory Commission and a member of Berkeley Copwatch. Micael graduated from campus last December with a bachelor\u2019s degree in economics and minor in public policy.<\/p>\n
Micael is the former ASUC transfer student representative and was involved with multiple groups on campus, such as Cal Berkeley Democrats, Cal Young Democratic Socialists of America, the Berkeley Student Food Collective and the Triad, which consists of the Black Student Union, the Black Recruitment and Retention Center and African American Student Development.<\/p>\n
If elected, Micael\u2019s priorities include affordable housing, tenant and labor union protections, maintaining Berkeley\u2019s sanctuary city status, bicyclist and pedestrian safety, transparent leadership, disability rights, health justice, climate resilience and sustainable development.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still remember the joy I felt walking from Yogurt Park, to the library, to People\u2019s Park,\u201d Micael said in an email. \u201cI want to preserve the essence of this city, not through freezing it in amber, but through progressive policy that nurtures our City\u2019s character and moves us forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Monday, District 7 Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra announced that she would not be seeking reelection. With Berkeley City…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246660,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[35805,110271,110277,110275,764,7981,110274,110276,110278,35806,35804,15176,30098,13775,75143,38812,110272,143,145,144,11650,5293,110273,5294,149],"class_list":["post-246659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-african-american-student-development","tag-aidan-hill","tag-asuc-transfer-student-representative","tag-bancroft","tag-berkeley","tag-berkeley-city-council","tag-berkeley-homeless-commission","tag-berkeley-housing-advisory-commission","tag-berkeley-student-food-collective","tag-black-recruitment-and-retention-center","tag-black-student-union","tag-cal-berkeley-democrats","tag-cal-young-democratic-socialists-of-america","tag-cecilia-lunaparra","tag-cheryl-davila","tag-district-7","tag-john-espinoza","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-peoples-park","tag-southside","tag-syrak-micael","tag-telegraph","tag-uc-berkeley"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246659","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=246659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}