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Press Release: Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin Launches Campaign for Re-Election

From Noah Finneburgh
Wednesday August 28, 2019 - 04:47:00 PM

Mayor Running on His Record of Progress on Housing and Homelessness, Announces Endorsements from Key Leaders

Today, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin launched his 2020 campaign for a second term. 

“With our nation in crisis, with worsening climate change, growing inequality, and a hostile administration in Washington, it’s critical for cities like Berkeley to take on the challenges facing America in the 21st Century,” said Mayor Arreguin. “Berkeley is showing how it’s done. We’re leading the way forward and can’t stop now.” 

Arreguin told supporters in an email he is running on his record of progress on key issues like housing and homelessness. He noted that during his first term, the City oversaw more housing production than at any time in decades, approved hundreds of affordable housing units, and became the first city in the county to provide universal legal defense for tenants facing eviction, keeping hundreds of renters from losing their homes. 

Mayor Arreguin emphasized the bold, compassionate action his office has taken on homelessness, doubling the City’s number of emergency shelter beds and moving hundreds of homeless people into housing. 

He also touted his work with the Berkeley Promise initiative to provide scholarships to low-income students, his promotion of green building, the City’s hiring of more police officers, his Small Business Package which has helped make it easier to open a small business, and the City’s progress in paving miles of roads. 

He also stressed Berkeley’s important role in pushing back on the Trump Administration. 

“We’re standing up to Trump,” the Mayor said, “by protecting our immigrant communities and defending our progressive Berkeley values.” 

Arreguin begins his campaign with endorsements from Governor Gavin Newsom, State Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson, State Board of Equalization Chair Malia Cohen, Vice Mayor Susan Wengraf, former Vice Mayor Linda Maio, Councilmembers Ben Bartlett, Kate Harrison, Sophie Hahn, and Rigel Robinson, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Richmond Mayor Tom Butt, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, and many others. 

The Mayor will hold a formal kick-off for his 2020 campaign on October 5. 

About Mayor Jesse Arreguin 

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin has spent his life fighting for social and economic justice and delivering results. He was first elected Mayor in 2016, becoming Berkeley’s first Latino Mayor and its youngest in a century. 

A progressive leader from the start, Arreguin is the son and grandson of farm workers. Growing up in a working-class household, he was the first in his family to go to college, here at UC Berkeley. 

For 8 years, Arreguin served on the City Council, representing Downtown and portions of North Berkeley. In that role, he worked to expand affordable housing, raise the city’s minimum wage, and revitalize Downtown. On the Council, he authored more than 300 pieces of successful legislation. 

During his first term as Mayor, Berkeley has seen more housing production than at any time in decades, approved hundreds of units of affordable housing, and became the first city in the county to provide universal legal defense for tenants facing eviction, keeping hundreds of renters from losing their homes. Arreguin’s leadership on homelessness helped move hundreds of people off the streets and into housing. The Mayor has also promoted green building and a fossil fuel-free city, worked with the Berkeley Promise Initiative to provide scholarships to low-income students, helped make it easier to open a small business, worked with the Council to hire more police officers and promote community policing, helped make lasting investments in streets and infrastructure, and stood up to Donald Trump by protecting our immigrant communities and defending our progressive values.