Business Economics/ Minor in dance/ Academic Award, Omicron Delta Epsilon-Bachelor's, Mills College, Oakland 2013 
African American Studies, Dean’s List, Associates Degree, Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY 1976

My career in accounting, both for profit corporations and nonprofit organizations, has helped me to formulate a career based in integrity, honesty, truthfulness, authenticity and ethical characteristics. I use this background to influence my decisions and perspectives when leading on the Berkeley City Council.

Prior to being on council, I worked hard in all phases and positions of accounting, from learning on the job and utilizing temporary employment to advance my knowledge and career to furthering my education at Mills College in Oakland to get better opportunities. 

The analytical skills I’ve learned through these years of work and training help me to raise important, unique, unasked questions on the Council which often lead to new discussions and outcomes than if I were not present.

Councilwoman Cheryl Davila is passionate about improving the lives of our residents. She listened to the voices of community members and went to work making positive changes to our neighborhoods and our city.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created new challenges — and worsened existing ones.

Even before this crisis, our communities of color suffered under systemic and historic racism that led to worse outcomes across nearly every metric. Our recovery efforts must acknowledge this reality and address the inequalities that already existed.

Councilwoman Davila will push for a just and equitable recovery: 

• Protect affordable housing, strengthen tenant protections and stand up to corporate developers that seek to capitalize on this crisis. 

• Advocate for stronger public health care systems that serve all communities equally.

• Direct economic relief to those hurt by the pandemic

• Prioritize workers and communities - not Big Corporations

• Invest in the clean energy and regenerative economy to create jobs, reduce pollution and the risk of future crisis

Priorities:

Beautification without Displacement and Gentrification: Affordable housing and beautiful neighborhoods shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. Councilwoman Davila has worked to make sure tenants’ rights are protected while supporting our many diverse cultural and arts organizations.

Housing: Councilwoman Davila understands housing is a human right and poverty is not a crime. She’s pushed for solutions to create more affordable housing and holistically help homeless residents.

Transparent and Efficient City Budget: Councilwoman Davila knows our budget must reflect our Berkeley values. She has pushed for increased efficiency and transparency in the budget process to ensure that the city is responsible in allocating its resources, and can better leverage state and federal resources.  

A Resilient City: Wildfires, pandemics and other disasters have made clear we need to be more prepared. Councilwoman Davila has proposed increasing the number of resilience hubs where residents can gather, find information and emergency equipment so that no matter what happens, Berkeley residents and people passing through know exactly where to go in a time of need.

Parks and Pools: Councilwoman Davila has spearheaded key projects to improve our neighborhood parks and recreational opportunities.

Climate Change: Councilwoman Davila authored the third Climate Emergency Declaration in the world and founded the Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force to help us and the region to prepare for climate change, deal with its impact and promote environmental justice policies to assist communities most at risk.

I am a solar energy scientist, a community volunteer, a city commissioner, and a West Berkeley neighbor. Professionally I have spent my life as a scientist developing new solar energy and energy efficiency technologies to combat climate change and help build a truly environmentally sustainable society, including right here in Berkeley as a researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National lab, where I also had the opportunity to become a founding union member. I have volunteered at the Berkeley Youth Alternatives in Poet’s Corner as a mentor and tutor to Berkeley's underserved youth and I served on the city’s Zero Waste Commission where I helped pass legislation reducing plastic waste. I currently serve on both Berkeley’s Housing Commission, where I have co-authored legislation to start the process of building housing for Berkeley's teachers, and the Labor Commission, where I have crafted legislation to reduce the racial wage gap and ensure fair scheduling practices in the food service industry. My partner and I recently had the privilege to become first time homeowners in West Berkeley where we live near family that has been in Berkeley for 30+ years. We are deeply committed to Berkeley as we build our family in this amazing community filled with diverse, passionate, inspiring friends and neighbors.

As a City Commissioner and volunteer I have had the opportunity to champion social, environmental and racial justice while working to serve our community. And through these experiences it has become clear to me that not enough is being done to solve some of our most urgent problems. Homelessness has increased year after year with West Berkeley bearing a disproportionate burden of this moral failure. Many of our District’s roads and parks suffer from neglect without an advocate on Council to demand our fair share of investment. And our public safety institutions lead to racial inequities and fail to address the crime in our District. We need new leadership that can effectively translate our values to policy and solve these problems.

Which is why I am running to represent District 2 on Berkeley City Council. As your Councilmember I will promote regional, compassionate solutions to our housing and homelessness crisis. I’ll work so that everyone has access to safe, clean parks. I’ll fight to build public safety institutions that keep everyone safe, reflect our values and affirm that Black Lives Matter. I’ll continue to champion social, environmental and racial justice as I have as a City Commissioner and volunteer. And I’ll advocate for and serve the people of District 2 as we collectively recover from the economic and health effects of COVID-19. I will lead with curiosity, empathy, respect and the desire to bring people together to solve problems, reaching out and listening to people with different personal stories and life experiences so that everyone in our diverse district is heard. As your Councilperson I will strive to govern with both head and heart, seeking the wisdom of experts and using evidence-based policies in order to champion the values that I think make Berkeley great: diversity, equity and love, while pragmatically working to solve our problems. The people of District 2 deserve no less.