Opinion : Our political involvement must continue

After 9 rounds of rank-choice mechanism, City Council Sheng Tao was elected as the next mayor of Oakland with about 680 more votes margin.

This also marked the 2022 local elections officially over. Although not every candidate that Chinatown community members voted for won the election, every vote we cast counts.

Democratic elections are not about acting in historic drama on TV, where you have to fight to the death, nor dividing politicians either friends or enemies. The significance of democratic elections is that all people clearly express their wishes, and let the elected officials clearly understand the will of the people.

For the candidates who won in the elections, they not only understand the public opinion that supports themselves but also take into account the voices of those who support the opponents, especially in the case of winning by a narrow margin.

Chinatown voters have stated loud and clear that Oakland needs good law and order, clean streets, and a better business environment instead the city council in the past years has been constantly raising taxes and cutting police funding, taking Oakland to the crisis of basic municipal services, crime soaring, and business loss.

We believe Sheng Tao has felt the strong demands of the voters and will reflect them in her future policies. Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce as well as the businesses will maintain close communication and cooperation with Mayor Sheng Tao as we did with all the past mayors.

Although the vast majority of businesses and owners in Chinatown do business and pay taxes, because they don’t live in Chinatown and cannot vote in the Oakland Election, and their wishes in municipal services are never counted.

Please don't be discouraged: The Community Benefit District (CBD) plan which Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce has advocated for 4 years is for the property owners and businesses to participate in Oakland Chinatown's municipal matters. Oakland Chinatown community cannot always rely on others to make decisions.

Despite the current CBD in the name of Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council (OCIC) is not controlled by the people who initiated the plan and it is not running by the original intent of "by and for the taxpayers", both the Management Plan and the City Contract clearly define CBD as an organization of property owners, which is the sole power to establish or terminate the CBD.

Chinatown property owners are entitled to evaluate the CBD performance via a year-end questionnaire to ensure OCIC does not violate the wills of property owners. Otherwise, property owners can start the termination procedure.

Chinatown property and business owners should continue their political involvement, especially in the matter of OCIC, which is related to their fundamental interests and within their power.

Don't give up the opportunity to defend your rights.