There are nine people running for City Council this year, eight running for five seats on the rent board, and six vying for three seats on the Berkeley school board. Two candidates are facing off in the Alameda County District Attorney race and in the race for an at-large seat on the AC Transit board.
You may already be familiar with a few of the contenders, but what about the rest? How can you learn more about the candidates before casting your vote?
Thankfully, there are lots of forums and debates hosted by various groups during a typical election year, and this year will be no exception. We’ll be tracking them as best we can, but could use your help. If you see upcoming debates not listed below, or links to videos or articles about previous forums that aren’t included here, let us know and we’ll add them to this post, which we’ll be keeping updated between now and November. All these forums are free and open to everyone, but be aware that some may require registration.
Berkeley City Council
Thursday, Sept. 8, 5-6 p.m. A Zoom forum for District 8 candidates hosted by The League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville. All four D8 candidates were in attendance.
Thursday, Sept. 8, 6:30-8 p.m. A Zoom forum for candidates running for District 7 and District 8, co-hosted by Berkeley Neighbors for Housing & Climate Action, CalDems, Telegraph for People and Walk Bike Berkeley.
Thursday, Sept. 8, 6:30-7:30 p.m. A Zoom forum for District 1 candidates hosted by The League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville. All three D1 candidates will attend. Residents can submit potential questions for this race before Sept. 7.
Tuesday, Sept. 13, 7-9:30 p.m. An in-person forum for District 8 candidates at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. The event is hosted by the Claremont Elmwood, Willard, Bateman, Halcyon and Panoramic Hill neighborhood associations. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All candidates will be attending.
Thursday, Sept. 15, 6-7:30 p.m. A Zoom forum for candidates running for District 1 and District 4, co-hosted by Berkeley Neighbors for Housing & Climate Action, CalDems, Telegraph for People and Walk Bike Berkeley. Submit questions to be asked during the forum.
Saturday, Sept. 24, 9:30 a.m. Hosted by the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council. The forum includes D1 candidates Tamar Michai Freeman, incumbent Rashi Kesarwani, and Elisa Mikiten; incumbent Kate Harrison, who’s running unopposed in District 4; District 8 candidates Mark Humbert, Mari Mendonca, Jay Wu and Peter Bruce Dumont; and city auditor Jenny Wong, who’s running unopposed. Watch a recording of the forum.
Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board
Saturday, Sept. 17, 9:30 a.m. Hosted by the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council. Watch a recording.
Thursday, Sept. 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m. A Zoom forum for rent board candidates hosted by The League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville.
BUSD school board
Tuesday, Aug. 30 The Berkeley Parents Union posted individual interviews with school board candidates. Mike Chang and Jennifer Shanoski declined to be interviewed.
Wednesday, Aug. 31, 7-9:30 p.m. An in-person forum at the Willard Middle School auditorium, 2425 Stuart St., hosted by the Claremont Elmwood, Willard, Bateman, Halcyon and Panoramic Hill neighborhood associations. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. All candidates will be attending.
Saturday, Sept. 10, 10 a.m. Hosted by the Berkeley Neighborhoods Council. The forum includes Tatiana Guerreiro Ramos, Norma J F Harrison, Reichi Lee, Jennifer Shanoski and possibly other candidates. Residents can send questions in advance to bnc50@berkeleyneighborhoodscouncil.com.
Sunday, Sept. 18, 2-4 p.m. All candidates will be attending this forum in Strawberry Creek Park hosted by the Berkeley PTA Council. Email president@berkeleypta.org with questions. This event has been canceled due to expected inclement weather. It will be rescheduled for a later date.
Strawberry Creek Park, 1260 Allston Way
Monday, Sept. 19, 6:30-8 p.m. A Zoom forum for school board candidates co-hosted by the Berkeley PTA Council and the League of Women Voters of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville. All six candidates were in attendance.
Tuesday, Oct. 18, 7:30-8:45 p.m. Hosted by the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association, all of the candidates running for school board have committed to attending this Zoom forum. It’s expected to run 60 to 90 minutes. Email questions to tona.board@gmail.com.
Watch on Zoom. Meeting ID: 874 8698 0208. Passcode: 469000.
AC Transit (at-large race)
Past: Hosted by the East Bay Transit Riders Union, Seamless Bay Area and Bike East Bay, this Aug. 22 forum was attended only by Alfred Twu, the challenger in the race.
Saturday, Oct. 1 A Zoom forum for the two AC Transit candidates — Twu and incumbent Joel Young — hosted by four League of Women Voters chapters.
Monday, Oct. 3 Both Twu and Young attended this forum co-hosted by Senior and Disability Action, Center for Independent Living, Community Resources for Independent Living, East Bay Gray Panthers, Center for Elders’ Independence, Senior Services Coalition of Alameda County, Causa Justa :: Just Cause, Seamless Bay Area and TransForm CA.
Alameda County District Attorney
Monday, Sept. 19, 6 p.m. A Zoom forum for the two Alameda County DA candidates, Pamela Price and Terry Wiley, hosted by the six League of Women Voters chapters representing Alameda County.
Thursday, Sept. 29, 6:30-8 p.m. A Zoom forum co-hosted by ACLU of Northern California’s Alameda County Chapter, East Bay Community Law Center, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Faith in Action East Bay, Livermore Indivisible and Urban Peace Movement.
Oct. 11, 4:30 p.m. A Zoom forum co-hosted by the Oakland BID Alliance, Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Berkeley Association, Berkeley Business Development Network, Berkeley Merchants United, Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, Visit Berkeley, Oakland Latino Chamber of Commerce, Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, and Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce. Register on Eventbrite.
You can also check out some of the candidate forums put on for this race before the primary election by community groups like Black Women Organized for Political Action, Livermore Indivisible and Oakland Rising.
Measure L
Oct. 14, noon. Mayor Jesse Arreguín will speak in favor of the measure and Jim McGrath in opposition in this Zoom forum hosted by the Berkeley Chamber. Register on Zoom.
The deadline to register to vote online or by mail in Alameda County is Oct. 24, and the election is Tuesday, Nov. 8. We put together a guide to the essentials of how to register and vote, what’s on the ballot, voters’ rights and more.
Here are some other helpful election resources:
- The city of Berkeley’s election portal and candidate statements
- Don’t know your Berkeley City Council district? The city website has a handy tool for that.
- Voter’s Edge: View a personalized ballot by entering your address.
- Voter guides from the Daily Cal, CalMatters, KQED, the Bay Area News Group and The League of Women Voters Berkeley Albany and Emeryville
- Check your voter registration status (and sign up to get election materials online).
- Find your voter profile (Alameda County registrar of voters).
See complete 2022 election coverage on Berkeleyside.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the date of the Alameda County District Attorney forum hosted by the League of Women Voters.