EAST BAY EXPRESS endorses Buffy Wicks for Assembly!

“Of all the candidates in the race, Wicks may be the most pro-housing. And that’s one of the reasons she made our top two. In our interviews, she expressed the strongest support for Senate Bill 827, authored by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, and co-authored by state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley. (Skinner held the 15th Assembly district seat before Thurmond.) SB 827 would require cities like Oakland and Berkeley to finally allow small- and medium-size apartment buildings and condos in transit-rich neighborhoods like Rockridge and North Berkeley. Wicks understands that California’s extreme housing shortage and out-of-control prices are due in large part to cities blocking multifamily housing near transit for decades. “Building around the BART stops is really critical,” she told us.

We were also impressed by Wicks personally. She’s a formidable and engaging person, and we think she’ll quickly become a leader in Sacramento. A community organizer, Wicks worked on President Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns and then joined him in the White House in a leadership role in the Office of Public Engagement.”