Loren Taylor
{{Short description|American politician (born 1977)}}
{{Autobiography|date=September 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{for|the New Zealand actress|Loren Taylor (actress)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Loren Taylor
| image = Loren Taylor Oakland City Council.jpg
| caption = Taylor in 2019
| office1 = Member of the Oakland City Council
from the 6th district
| term_start1 = January 7, 2019
| term_end1 = January 2, 2023
| predecessor1 = Desley Brooks
| successor1 = Kevin Jenkins
| birth_name = Loren Manuel Taylor
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1977|7|26}}
| birth_place = Oakland, California, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Democratic
| education = Case Western Reserve University (BA)
University of Connecticut (MS)
University of California, Berkeley (MBA)
| website = {{url|https://lorenforoakland.com/ |Campaign website}}
}}
Loren Manuel Taylor (born July 26, 1977) is an American politician who served a member of the Oakland City Council from the 6th district from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he ran for mayor of Oakland in 2022, narrowly losing by 0.6% to fellow city councilmember Sheng Thao. Following Thao's recall and subsequent indictment, he ran again for mayor of Oakland in the 2025 special election to replace her. He lost by a margin of 5.4% to former congresswoman Barbara Lee.{{Cite web |last=Producer |first=Jose Fabian Web |last2=crime |first2=CBS Bay Area Jose Fabian is a web producer for CBS Bay Area where he reports on local |last3=politics |last4=science |first4=breaking news He studied political |last5=State |first5=journalism at Sacramento |last6=Born |first6=Was |last7=Fabian |first7=raised in Northern California Read Full Bio Jose |date=2025-04-19 |title=Barbara Lee claims victory in Oakland mayor's race after Loren Taylor concedes - CBS San Francisco |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/oakland-mayoral-candidate-loren-taylor-congratulates-barbara-lee-after-election-update/ |access-date=2025-04-20 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}
Early life, education, and career
Taylor was born and raised in Oakland, California. A third-generation resident of Oakland, he attended Oakland public schools and graduated from The College Preparatory School in 1995.{{cite news |last1=Tan |first1=Sarah |date=October 11, 2017 |title=Joaquin Miller Elementary celebrates world culture, food, language with festival |url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/10/11/joaquin-miller-elementary-celebrates-world-culture-food-language-with-festival/ |accessdate=March 13, 2025 |publisher=East Bay Times}}{{Cite web |title=Loren Taylor {{!}} College Prep |url=https://www.college-prep.org/alumni/alumns/loren-taylor |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=www.college-prep.org}} He earned a bachelor of arts from Case Western Reserve University, a master of science in biomedical engineering from the University of Connecticut, and a master of business administration from the University of California, Berkeley.{{Cite web |title=District 6 Councilmember Loren Taylor |url=https://www.oaklandca.gov/officials/loren-taylor |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421031417/https://www.oaklandca.gov/officials/loren-taylor |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 21, 2019 |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=City of Oakland |language=en}}
Prior to his political involvement, Taylor was a biomedical engineer and management consultant for businesses and nonprofit organizations.{{cite news |last1=Debolt |first1=David |title=Longtime Oakland Councilwoman Desley Brooks loses in upset |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/11/07/sjm-l-oake/ |accessdate=July 24, 2020 |publisher=The Mercury News |date=November 7, 2020}} His community involvement included serving as a board member of the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area and the West Oakland Health Center.{{cite news |title=Loren Taylor Wants More Support for East Oakland Black Business |url=https://www.postnewsgroup.com/loren-taylor-wants-more-support-for-east-oakland-black-businesses/ |accessdate=July 24, 2020 |publisher=Post News Group |date=April 16, 2020}}
Political career
= Oakland City Council =
Taylor first ran for Oakland City Council in 2018, defeating 4-term incumbent Desley Brooks with 64.3% of the vote after five rounds of ranked choice voting.{{cite web |title=Municipal elections in Oakland, California (2018) |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Municipal_elections_in_Oakland,_California_(2018) |website=Ballotpedia |accessdate=July 24, 2020}} He represented the 6th district, which included the East Oakland neighborhoods of Maxwell Park, Millsmont, Havenscourt, and Eastmont.{{cite web |title=District 6 Councilmember Loren Taylor |url=https://www.oaklandca.gov/officials/loren-taylor |accessdate=July 24, 2020 |publisher=City of Oakland}}
As a city councilmember, Taylor focused on homelessness and economic development. In response to the 68% increase in Oakland's unhoused population, and the explosion of encampments in the city, he partnered with other councilmembers to enact the Permanent Access to Housing (PATH) plan, which sought to close the racial disparities of homelessness.{{cite news |last1=Sekiranda |first1=David |date=October 25, 2019 |title=Oakland committee approves new plan to address homelessness |url=https://oaklandnorth.net/2019/10/25/oakland-committee-approves-new-plan-to-address-homelessness/ |accessdate=October 22, 2020 |publisher=Oakland North}} He voted for the creation of a new homeless encampment management policy that would designate high and low sensitivity areas and allow unhoused individuals to camp in low sensitivity areas.{{cite news |last1=Rendon |first1=Cristina |date=September 21, 2020 |title=Oakland City Council will consider where to allow homeless encampments |url=https://www.ktvu.com/news/oakland-city-council-will-consider-where-to-allow-homeless-encampments |accessdate=October 17, 2020 |agency=Fox KTVU 2}} He also worked with the Black Cultural Zone, a community development corporation consisting of 20 Oakland-based nonprofits, to establish the Akoma Outdoor Market, one of several programs it runs on a city-owned lot in East Oakland.{{cite news |last1=Tyska |first1=Jane |date=September 27, 2020 |title=New Black Cultural Zone helps East Oakland neighborhood thrive |url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2020/09/27/new-black-cultural-zone-helps-east-oakland-neighborhood-thrive/ |accessdate=October 22, 2020 |publisher=East Bay Times}}{{cite web |last1=Boerner |first1=Dean |date=October 13, 2020 |title=Is This Oakland Group CRE's Answer To Gentrification? |url=https://www.bisnow.com/oakland/news/commercial-real-estate/black-cultural-zone-106309 |accessdate=October 22, 2020 |website=BizNow}}
Taylor also helped secure funding from Google in a public-private partnership with the City of Oakland to build a new commercial kitchen for aspiring restauranteurs at the Arroyo Viejo Recreation Center in East Oakland and recruited students at the Haas School of Business to advise and partner with Oakland entrepreneurs and small business owners.{{cite news |last1=Rodas |first=Ricky |date=October 20, 2021 |title=A low-cost commercial kitchen is in the works for East Oakland |url=https://oaklandside.org/2021/10/20/a-low-cost-commercial-kitchen-is-in-the-works-for-east-oakland/ |accessdate=March 12, 2025 |publisher=The Oaklandside}}{{cite news |last1=Blonco |first=Lydia |date=April 18, 2020 |title=Loren Taylor wants more support for black businesses in East Oakland |url=https://www.blackenterprise.com/councilman-loren-taylor-wants-more-support-for-black-businesses-in-east-oakland/ |accessdate=March 12, 2025 |publisher=Black Enterprise}}
Taylor served on the City Council for one term, declining to run for re-election to run for mayor of Oakland in 2022, which he narrowly lost to Sheng Thao. He was replaced by Kevin Jenkins, who became interim mayor following Thao's recall in 2024. After leaving office, founded Empower Oakland, an advocacy organization focused on educating and engaging Oakland residents on local issues.{{cite news |last1=Yu |first=Betty |title=Group 'Empower Oakland' launches effort to educate voters ahead of Election Day |url=https://www.ktvu.com/video/1490737 |access-date=2025-03-12 |publisher=KTVU |date=July 24, 2024}}
= 2025 Oakland mayoral campaign =
{{main|2025 Oakland mayoral special election}}
Thao was recalled in 2024 amid a corruption scandal that led to her indictment on federal bribery charges in January 2025. Following this, Taylor announced his candidacy in the special election to replace her, joining a field of eight other candidates, including former Congresswoman Barbara Lee.https://www.ktvu.com/news/former-city-councilmember-loren-taylor-former-city-staffer-renia-webb-join-race-oakland-mayor {{Webarchive|url= http://web.archive.org/web/20250121103813/https://www.ktvu.com/news/former-city-councilmember-loren-taylor-former-city-staffer-renia-webb-join-race-oakland-mayor|date=January 21, 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://piedmontexedra.com/2025/04/special-election-preview-the-10-candidates-running-to-become-next-mayor-of-oakland|title=Special election preview: The 10 candidates running to become next mayor of Oakland|website=Piedmont Exedra|date=April 8, 2025|accessdate=April 15, 2025}} He is running on a platform focused on public safety, budget reform, and homelessness.{{Cite web |title=Policy Priorities • Loren Taylor |url=https://lorenforoakland.com/policy_priorities/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Loren Taylor |language=en-US}}
On the campaign trail, Taylor called for funding three academies a year to bring the police department up to 800 officers within three years and investing in more technology, including license plate readers, drones and voice recognition.{{cite news |last1=Ravani |first=Sarah |title=Oakland's top mayoral hopefuls differ on police, homelessness, city budget. Here's what they propose |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/oakland-mayoral-candidates-differ-proposals-20192308.php |accessdate=March 13, 2025 |publisher= |date=March 2, 2025}} With respect to the city budget, he has said the city must make “tough, hard, necessary choices” to balance revenue with expenses and believes the city needs to refinance its debt and reevaluate its pension liabilities.{{cite news |last1=Wolfe |first=Eli |title=Oakland mayor candidates: a close look |url=https://oaklandside.org/2025/03/07/oakland-mayor-candidates-a-close-look/#h-loren-taylor |accessdate=March 13, 2025 |publisher=The Oaklandside |date=March 7, 2025}} He also believes solving homelessness means getting people housed and that he will prioritize fully implementing Oakland's encampment management policy.
Initial results showed Taylor earning over 51% percent of the vote in the second ballot after the Oakland mayoral election was held on April 15, 2025.{{cite news|url=https://evrimagaci.org/tpg/loren-taylor-takes-slim-lead-over-barbara-lee-in-oakland-mayoral-race-325028?srsltid=AfmBOopoGzjaQfFrvfffv-ej3yHQ-oXonY-4QG5rV93IgPi8n2RaO6dF|title=Loren Taylor Takes Slim Lead Over Barbara Lee In Oakland Mayoral Race|publisher=The Pinnacle Gazette|date=April 16, 2025|accessdate=April 16, 2025}}{{cite news|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/loren-taylor-early-lead-oakland-mayor-election-20269827.php|title=Oakland mayor election: Loren Taylor takes narrow lead over Barbara Lee|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|date=April 15, 2025|accessdate=April 16, 2025}} However, the election would be called in Lee's favor after the results shifted on April 18.{{cite web |url=https://www.ebar.com/story/154206/News/Barbara%20Lee%20gains%20in%20Oakland%20mayoral%20race|title=Barbara Lee likely wins Oakland mayoral race|first=Matthew S.|last=Bajko|publisher=Bay Area Reporter|date=April 18, 2025|accessdate=April 18, 2025}}
Personal life
Taylor lives in East Oakland with his wife, Dr. Erica Taylor. They have two children together.{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Otis |title=The low-key East Oakland booster who unseated Desley Brooks |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/otisrtaylorjr/article/The-low-key-East-Oakland-booster-who-unseated-13372774.php |accessdate=July 25, 2020 |publisher=San Francisco Chronicle |date=November 8, 2020}}{{cite web |title=City of Oakland Candidate for City Council, District 6 |url=https://votersedge.org/en/ca/election/2018-11-06/alameda-county/city-council-city-of-oakland-district-6/loren-taylor |website=Voter's Edge California |accessdate=July 29, 2020}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.oaklandca.gov/officials/loren-taylor Loren Taylor's Official City Council Webpage]
- [https://www.mercurynews.com/?s=Loren+Taylor&orderby=date&order=desc News coverage of Loren Taylor in the Mercury News]
- [https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101880310/oakland-city-council-to-vote-on-homeless-encampment-restrictions Loren Taylor on NPR's Forum with Michael Krasny (talk show host) discussing Oakland's 2020 homeless encampment management policy]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Loren}}
Category:21st-century California politicians
Category:American biomedical engineers
Category:Case Western Reserve University alumni
Category:Haas School of Business alumni
Category:Oakland City Council members
Category:University of Connecticut alumni
Category:African-American city council members in California