Candidate for
Council Member At Large; City of Oakland

Education & Youth Issues:

City Councilmember Henry Chang has worked hard to make youth one of the city's highest priorities. As the former chair of Safe Passages (the Oakland Child Safety & Health Initiative) he worked to bring together the county, city and Oakland Unified School District to create a plan addressing the needs of the most at-risk youth in the city.

As chair of the City Council's Life Enrichment Committee, and as co-chair of the Education Partnership Committee, he has consistently championed the establishment of more after school programs for our youth. In that regard, the At-Large Council Office helped to fund the Skyline Teen Center.

Through his efforts, and the efforts of the Oakland Community Organization, Oakland created 15 after school homework centers. Since their creation in 1997, that number has grown to more than 60 homework centers sponsored by the city, the faith community and various non-profit organizations.

He also assisted Teens on Target with their efforts to change the gun advertising policy of The Oakland Tribune.

Councilmember Chang strongly supports improving pedestrian safety near schools. He participates annually in the city's Walk to School event. The At-Large Council Office has contributed funds to install traffic signals near schools where pedestrian safety is a problem.

Henry often urges his fellow Councilmembers to ask themselves a question before they vote on key legislation: "Is this good for our children ??"

Support for Seniors:

Just as children are our future, seniors represent Oakland's rich history. Unfortunately, seniors are sometimes the forgotten segment of our population. As a member of the Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority, Henry has insured that Oakland receives its fair share of Measure B monies to support paratransit services for seniors and the disabled. He supported the establishment of the West Oakland Senior Shuttle. The At-Large Office has paid for security improvements at the East Oakland Senior Center

Public Safety and Gun Control:

One of Henry's first acts on taking office in 1994 was to ask the City Council to revisit the then-current policies regarding community policing. At the time, the department was still organized along a patrol-based, 911 response model. At Henry's urging, and with the assistance of the other members of the Public Safety Committee, a task force was created to recommend changes to the departmental structure to move them away from the patrol-based response model to a more proactive model involving dedicated beat officers.

After 10 grueling months of meetings and discussions, a resolution was developed that defined and implemented Oakland's current community policing program. It was this resolution that created the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils, the Neighborhood Service Coordinators and 57 smaller police beats, each with a dedicated officer. Many of these Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils have evolved into inclusive and active organizations that represent merchants, tenants, homeowners and other residents dedicated to working on quality of life issues in their neighborhoods.

Henry wrote an ordinance prohibiting the sale of Saturday Night Specials in Oakland. These laws ban the sale of junk guns- poorly made, cheap guns that are easy to get. These types of guns are often used to commit crimes, causing heartache for victims and families caught up in violence. Through Henry's lobbying efforts the proposal initiated by Oakland was passed by some 16 contiguous cities in the East Bay in the same week. Shortly after his election as Governor, Gray Davis signed into law a measure that was based on the Oakland Junk Gun Ban for the entire state.

Henry also worked hard to pass a Gross Receipts Sales Tax that required all stores selling weapons or ammunition to charge an increased sales tax on every item sold in these stores. Due to Proposition 218, this proposal went to the voters for affirmation after passage by the Council. Oakland voters approved the measure by 75 percent. As a result of this measure, Oakland's Super K-Mart decided to stop selling all guns and ammunition. Soon after the only gun store in Oakland, Siegle, also closed their door.

In the same year, Henry worked to pass an ordinance requiring trigger locks for all firearms sold in Oakland. The measure was approved unanimously by the City Council. This measure was mirrored and passed by the state Legislature within a year.

Henry worked with San Francisco Supervisor Alicia Becerril to pass legislation that banned the sale of ultra compact handguns. These handguns have a barrel less than six inches long and are marketed as "easily concealable." With the support of police departments in both cities, as well as community-based organizations such as Youth Alive, Teens on Target, Handgun Control, Inc. and the Bell Campaign, both cities passed the legislation and are working with other communities throughout California to assist in passing similar legislation.

Most recently, Henry wrote and received Council approval for an ordinance requiring gun owners to report a lost or stolen gun to the police department within 48 hours. Other nearby communities are considering adopting an ordinance similar to Oakland's. This ordinance will help to stem the flow of guns into our neighborhoods through illegal "straw sales," in which adults sell or transfer guns to minors and ex-felons.

Henry worked tirelessly to create the police department's gun tracing program, based upon his belief that gun owners and manufacturers must be held accountable for violent crimes and senseless violence in our community due to the illegal use of firearms.

Henry's philosophy on gun control is: There is no difficulty getting the Oakland City Council to unanimously pass almost anything that serves to control the spread of weapons in our community. The trick is to develop legislation that can be adopted by other communities and passed at the statewide level. We have to provide models of effective gun control efforts.

International Trade:

Henry's own business experience in china awakened him to the fact that there are hundreds of Chinese firms that would like to enter U.S. markets. Yet most of them lack the resources necessary to set up individual offices here. Under his leadership, City of Oakland and Port of Oakland officials have worked to establish relationships with Chinese officials in Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangzhou (Canton), Quingdao (Tsing Tao), Maoming, Changsha and Weifang.

The Port of Oakland would reap greater traffic. (Presently, more than 72 percent of the cargo passing through the port originates in Asia.) This would establish the port as a major international trade center and the main entry point for goods traveling from the Pacific Rim.

Henry is working with the Port of Oakland to have China Southern Air, China's largest air freight operator, locate a facility at the Oakland Airport.

Regional Issues:

As the City's At-Large Councilmember, Henry recognizes the importance of Oakland working in a collaborative manner with our neighboring cities to deal with the regional problems facing our jurisdictions. Issues such as traffic congestion, shortage of housing, and air quality do not stop at city boundaries. Therefore, Henry is an active participant on the Alameda County Transportation Authority, Alameda County Transportation Improvement Authority, the AC Transit major investment steering committee, and as an alternate to the Association of Bay Area Governments.

Responsive Government:

Everyone who lives or works in Oakland should have access to city services in a prompt and courteous manner. Nothing is worse than feeling ignored or receiving poor service from the City's organization. Henry is a strong supporter of the City's Equal Access Ordinance, which requires the city services with frequent public contact be available with bilingual staff. Because of Henry's experiences as a private business person, he believes that city government can be run more efficiently and cheaper. Therefore, he looks for every opportunity to restructure government to cut waste. As an architect, Henry has stated that the city's regulatory process needs to be streamlined because it drives up the costs of housing and is a deterrent to people wanting to invest in Oakland.