Adena Ishii has never held public office—but had some key endorsements, good luck, and perfect timing.
By ZELDA BRONSTEIN
DECEMBER 19, 2024
https://48hills.org/2024/12/how-a-yimby-candidate-with-little-experience-became-berkeleys-next-mayor/
Berkeley’s new mayor, education consultant Adena Ishii, is a Yimby with scant experience in the town’s governance and politics.
To be sure, Berkeley has had a Yimby mayor for most of the past eight years. But Jesse Arreguín’s Yimbyism was an acquired taste. He was first elected mayor in 2016 on an anti-Yimby platform. Shortly after taking office, he jumped onto the antidemocratic, “pro-housing” bandwagon. And before becoming mayor, Arreguín served four years on the city’s elected Rent Board and then eight years on the Berkeley council.
