Rebecca Kaplan represents the entire City of Oakland as its
Councilmember At-Large. She has served Oakland as a citywide elected
official for ten years, working to improve quality of life by enhancing
economic opportunity, public safety and vibrancy in Oakland.
Councilmember
Kaplan was elected to the Oakland City Council in November 2008, when
she became the youngest – and first openly-lesbian – Oakland City
Councilmember. Rebecca has provided energetic and effective leadership
towards establishing coherent and holistic approaches to economic
development, land-use policy, public safety and other issues to
create a vibrant city.
On the Council, Rebecca has fixed
long-standing legislative log-jams to launch new blight-fighting tools,
has cut red tape and fees for small businesses, and has generated new
revenue without raising taxes on residents. Rebecca is strongly
committed to creating new economic opportunity for Oakland – from job
creation to retail attraction to homebuyer assistance. She is also
committed to improving public safety, strengthening transportation and
reforming government.
Prior to her service on the Oakland City
Council, Rebecca served as At-Large Director on the AC Transit Board of
Directors from 2002 to 2008. During this time, she helped bring AC
Transit its first hydrogen fuel cell buses and continued her commitment
to improving active transportation for Oaklanders by working to improve
biking, walking and public transit opportunities. As Director, Rebecca
led the creation of the new all-night transit service, new service to
San Francisco and to BART stations, and pushed for technological
upgrades to make bus service faster and more reliable.
Councilmember
Kaplan has made Oakland her home for more than the past two decades. Kaplan’s
work experience includes serving as an aide for the California State
Legislature in the 16th Assembly District and as an attorney.
Councilmember
Kaplan earned a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, where she was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa academic honor.
She also holds a Master of Arts in Urban & Environmental Policy from
Tufts University and a Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School.
