How Politics Are Shaping the Bay Area

On this episode of North Gate Radio, five reporters explore how local residents across the Bay Area are navigating current political realities and systemic challenges.

You’ll hear from a Latino organizer in South San Francisco who is using air quality monitors and community empowerment to combat climate change and sex worker advocates in the Mission district fighting new legislation that threatens to roll back decades of progress. We also visit Berkeley to speak with an unhoused advocate about the city’s push to tow inhabited vehicles, and learn how a new California law is making university admission automatic for eligible high school students. We close with a trip to Oakland to see how a nonprofit arts organization is empowering the next generation of queer and trans nightlife performers.

 

This is a recording of North Gate Radio that was broadcast live on KALX radio station, 90.7FM.

 

Full transcript

 

Joni Binder: Good morning, and welcome to North Gate Radio. I’m Joni Binder.

 

Lenéa Sims: And I’m Lenéa Sims. Today is Thursday, May 7th, and we’re bringing you a show that touches on current political realities. All of today’s stories were produced this semester by students in the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

 

Joni Binder: Today we’re taking a trip around the Bay. We start in South San Francisco, where we’ll hear from a Latino community organizer confronting climate change.

 

Julio García: We need to organize because this is not stopping.

 

Lenéa Sims: We move north up into the Mission district of San Francisco, where sex workers are in an uproar over a new California law.

 

Maxine Holloway: ​​ No one wants the sex trade to be safer than those of us who are in it.

 

Joni Binder: Next, we cross the Bay and come to Berkeley where an unhoused advocate has a lot to say as the city pushes to expand the definition of “abandoned vehicles”.

 

Amber Whitson: All they need is the support of the public and then they can do whatever they want to us.

 

Lenéa Sims: Then, we zoom out to see how a new law makes a university education in the California State system more accessible.

 

Jaliza Collins: It’s just getting them to understand that regardless if you’re at a community college or a four-year, there is some type of financial barrier.

 

Joni Binder: Our final story brings us back to the Bay where in Oakland a local organization uplifts and supports up-and-coming nightlife performers.

Charles Hawthorne: Learning how to work with other people is a process.

 

Lenéa Sims: But first, Lylah Schmedel-Permanna with the news.

 

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna: Live from North Gate Radio, good morning! I’m Lylah Schmedel-Permanna with the news. Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson is being accused of retaliating against a staffer who raised concerns about a conflict of interest. Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Grayner claims Dickson demoted her after saying that the DA’s office should have recused itself from a grand jury investigation. Dickson is running for re-election as Alameda County District Attorney. She’s running against two other candidates including her ousted predecessor Pamela Price and Milpitas attorney Gopal Krishan. Dickson has raised more money than the other candidates, and it’s unclear if these accusations will resonate with voters. San Francisco’s main immigration court officially stopped hearing cases on Friday. That’s where a majority of the Bay Area’s asylum cases are heard. There’s a huge backlog of cases, more than 117,000, and the court is preparing to transfer most of them to a smaller court in Concord. The Department of Justice originally planned to shutter the court in January 2027 but says it’s closing the court earlier to save money. 510 Day is back – for the 11th year at Lake Merritt in Oakland. The barbeque-style kick back draws thousands from around the Bay, with vendors, DJ’s, dancing, drumming, open mic’s and more. This event is an annual day of resistance for long-time residents who are combatting gentrification  and will be held from 12 to 8 p.m. This year’s theme is “Mother’s of Oakland” – to the Mother’s who hold it down.

 

For North Gate Radio, I’m Lylah Schmedel-Permanna.

 

Joni Binder: From KALX Berkeley, this is North Gate Radio. I’m Joni Binder.

 

Lenéa Sims: And I’m Lenéa Sims.

 

Joni Binder: In South San Francisco, neighborhoods that straddle the always-busy Highway 101 have been exposed to years of vehicle exhaust. Residents have exhibited high incidences of asthma and other health issues because of it. Many of the folks there are Latino, and some are taking action. Reporter Patricio Provencio went to a park just off the highway where a non-profit called Rise South City is installing air quality monitors. He caught up with the non-profit’s director, Julio García, to learn more.

 

Patricio Provencio: Julio,  you’ve brought me to the site of one of Rise South City’s projects. Can you tell us where we are and what the project is about? 

 

Julio García:  We have several air quality monitors through the city. This one in particular is a small box around 12 inches long in a park in the middle of a neighborhood that doesn’t have trees. And it’s really, really close to the Freeway 101 and probably like about two miles from the airport. As you can hear it is a plane going on out there.So, what we’re trying to do is measure the quality of air in South San Francisco and the effects that respiratory issues cause to our communities right here.

 

Patricio Provencio: How does that contribute to environmental justice organizing for Latino families in this community?

 

Julio García:  You don’t smell bad air quality. You don’t see bad quality, but you have kids who are sick. Everybody that we talk to in this neighborhood has a kid or knows a kid who suffered from asthma. A lot of times, doctors give you a diagnosis that say, “Oh, you have asthma”, but they don’t explain the causes of asthma. So what we’re trying to do right here is correlate the poor air quality with asthma or other respiratory issues. We’re trying to inform the community and for the community to advocate for themselves about these issues and talk to health professionals to learn how to manage asthma with the kids. 

 

Patricio Provencio: You’ve previously talked about how hard it is for people in working class communities like yours to educate themselves about air pollution and do advocacy work, especially when they’re spending most of their time just trying to make ends meet. And also, right now it’s a difficult moment for the Latino community due to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. How do you do environmental justice organizing under these conditions these days?

 

Julio García: The community who lives here trusts us. They know that we’re safe. They know that we protect them from the federal government. We don’t collect names, we don’t collect phone numbers, we don’t collect information. And, I think education is really important in this issue. You know, if I go tomorrow to a community where we haven’t talked about air quality, they’re not going to understand what it is. It’s our job to have a conversation with the community and educate ourselves too in what they think about their quality and say, “Okay, this is how it affects us.”

 

Patricio Provencio: What message do you have for people at this moment to engage in environmental justice organizing? 

 

Julio García: Climate change is going on. I think we need to organize because this is not stopping. Climate change is going to be harder. So, the only way to get out is to work together and engage other people.

 

Patricio Provencio: How do you stay hopeful, particularly considering the Trump administration’s actions against everything that you work for?  And, what do you tell those people who feel hopeless?

 

Julio García:  I tell them that, you know, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And, they won’t take our knowledge or they won’t take our voices. We still have knowledge. We still have a voice that we can advocate for. We will find solutions or kids will bring solutions. I tell my staff that at the end of this year I’m going to buy a little Christmas light for every tree that we have and all those trees that we plant, which means to me hope that we are gonna have better air, hope that we’re gonna have a better climate right here in South San Francisco. And this is what the community does, working with community, being in community, and staying with our community. 

 

Patricio Provencio: That was Julio Garcia. He’s the director of Rise South City … and I’m Patricio Provencio for North Gate Radio.

 

Joni Binder: I can’t wait to see South City lit up with all those little lights!

 

Lenéa Sims: Me either, Joni! 

 

Lenéa Sims: Our next story moves us up the 101 where advocates for sex workers say California is now taking steps backwards after years of progress decriminalizing certain aspects of sex work. Our colleague Lylah Schmedel-Permanna reports on San Francisco’s ongoing attempts to grapple with prostitution and human trafficking, and tells us why sex workers are raising alarms over new legislation.

 

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna: A law that went into effect this year, AB 379, is increasing penalties against human traffickers, but it also targets buyers of prostitution. Sex worker advocates are calling for its repeal. In February, about 20 or so advocates and sex workers stood outside the California Democratic Convention in San Francisco, alongside a 12-piece orchestra who supported their chants. 

 

[Music] 

 

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna: Those going to the convention were drawn by the music, some even dancing, but the moment they saw the protestors’ signs, confusion struck their faces and others walked away. One protester had a booth with informational flyers about sex worker support groups, including a pamphlet for the Bay Area Workers Support, known as BAWS. Maxine Holloway, an active sex worker of 17 years, is the co-founder and co-director of BAWS. She says that, while the efforts to curb human trafficking are well-intended, this law rolls back decades of activism to decriminalize sex work and puts the workers in harm’s way.

 

Maxine Holloway: I see the future need for like even more outreach, even more crisis support, more legal navigation, more fighting for our community, and we just want a seat at the table that makes decisions about our lives.

 

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna: Since 2020, California passed a series of bills to eliminate prostitution loitering laws. Advocates supported those new policies as a way to stop disproportionately funnelling Black, brown, and trans people into jails. With the passage of AB 379 last year, Holloway and other advocates are worried their progress is being eroded. And it’s not just new laws from Sacramento. San Francisco is escalating its efforts against human trafficking and sex work. The San Francisco DA’s office announced in January that it’s started a new Human Trafficking Task Force in an effort to, quote, “hold traffickers accountable, reduce sex-buying markets, and strengthen prevention efforts through community partnerships”.

 

Maxine Holloway: AB 379 and the task force share this really similar flaw where they treat criminalization as a harm reduction tool when it isn’t. They’re really into, what they’re calling it now is like reducing sex buyer markets, and that sounds protective. But it’s just a new name for a really old framework, which is the end-demand model.

 

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna: Holloway says that when clients are criminalized, transactions get rushed, screening goes out the window, and workers are pushed to darker corners of the city.

 

Maxine Holloway: People have been trying this for a long time and it has yet to reduce sex trafficking or let alone end it. It’s putting people in riskier, less safe situations. So it’s really infuriating that this continually is the route that task force and law enforcement take.

 

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna: I went down Shotwell street in the Mission to better understand how certain neighborhoods were already experiencing efforts to deter sex work and how the community feels about further enforcement. During the day, Shotwell is a fairly quiet street. It’s lined by tall trees and classic Victorian homes – with a few salons and cafes scattered throughout. I spoke with Art Radeke, a Shotwell resident for the past 40 years, about his feelings on the changes in his neighborhood. To the right of his front stoop is a barricade placed by the city in 2024 to curb prostitution on the street, making it impossible for him to drive straight down Shotwell in either direction.

 

Art Radeke:  Since they put the barricades up it’s obviously been a lot less traffic, but a lot more inconvenience for residents. We always thought it was sort of a kick the can down the road, because all it probably did was move from one place to the other. Maybe it could be regulated more effectively like Amsterdam, the Red Light District or something. A safe zone for both the sex workers and their clients.

 

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna: Many residents I spoke with wanted to see San Francisco adopt a strategy that doesn’t involve criminalization and wanted to see more resources go to the workers instead. Like Shawn Demmons, he’s lived down the Mission since 2006. He isn’t a fan of the barricades, or the city’s response to prostitution in the area.

 

Shawn Demmons:  It’s the oldest profession, right? It’s been here, it’s been criminalized here. Still happens. I just think you would do better to offer resources and support than to criminalize people that are already marginalized.

 

Lylah Schmedel-Permanna: Reporting from the Mission, I’m Lylah Schmedel-Permanna for North Gate Radio.

 

Joni Binder: Now we’re headed across the Bay Bridge where, in February, a Berkeley City Council committee met to talk about how the city treats people living in RVs and other large vehicles. They discussed a plan that would make it easier to label these vehicles as “abandoned” and tow them … even if someone is living inside. Amber Whitson is an advocate for unhoused people, and has lived without stable housing in Berkeley and Albany for nearly thirty years. Now a self-taught mechanic, Whitson helps other vehicle dwellers keep their cars running. Reporter Zoe Meyer spoke with Whitson outside her RV as she described where she lives.

 

Amber Whitson: We are on Dwight Way in Berkeley between Fifth Street and Sixth Street. Uh–Ooh… Here comes another truck. Oh yeah. Gotta love the industrial area. Um, I live here on Dwight Way in my RVs. Um, we’re standing next to my, uh, water truck that I was given by a friend. Uh, and uh, yeah, that’s my setup, is my two RVs. I got a smaller RV that’s like a – if there’s gonna be any group hanging out, of the small group that I consider my group, uh, it’s done in the small RV. That’s where the burner is for me to cook my food on. And that’s where all my sorted labeled containers of hardware are. And uh, all of that stuff that you don’t want to have around dogs. And then in my bigger RV is my fridge and freezer and my clothes, and most importantly, all five of my small little ankle biters. It’s dogtopia. That’s where their water fountains are. Cause you know, dogs gotta have water fountains ’cause they’re spoiled. Right? Yeah. And my big, big awesome, Brooklyn Bedding bed, which is like a queen size memory foam mattress. Heavier than death, but God it’s so comfortable. It’s like sleeping on a cloud. 

 

Zoe Meyer: Some implications I can think of of this law are, you know, less legal parking, more crowding elsewhere. More displacement, not fewer RVs. People can be towed more easily with less warning and without shelter alternatives. And, I see the city often using health and safety reasons to justify removals. Is there anything that I said that’s off base? 

 

Amber Whitson: You know, it, it comes down to public safety is what they’re basing this on, but whether those public safety hazards are actually present or not, it doesn’t matter. What matters is whether they can convince the public and the public will hook, line, and sinker go along with the narrative of, “Oh, they’re bad for the environment.” And all they need is the support of the public and then they can do whatever they want to us pretty much. And, um, they’re supposed to track metrics–I get heated every time I think about it. The ones that stick in my craw are, they’re supposed to track how many vehicles they tow. Not that bad. Right? Makes sense. And how many occupants they remove from the vehicles before they–the abandoned vehicles, before they impound them. It doesn’t even sound legal that you can say a vehicle’s abandoned and you have to take people out of it in order to impound it. That’s–to anybody with common sense that makes it not abandoned.  

 

Zoe Meyer: What would–what would you do, where would you go if your home got towed? 

 

Amber Whitson: Honestly, I can’t even imagine. I can’t even imagine. I, I really can’t even imagine. I mean, I have five small dogs that are a terror out in public when they’re all together and then we’d be stuck out in public all the time all together. It would just be–it would be a nightmare. It would be a logistical and factual nightmare. It would, uh, I really don’t even know where I would go. You know, it’s, it’s, it’s–literally I can’t even imagine what I would do. It’s–it doesn’t bear thinking.  

 

Zoe Meyer: What do you think each of us can do to counteract or stop perpetuating false narratives within the unhoused community, specifically people living in vehicles?  

 

Amber Whitson: It can’t hurt to go and talk to whatever representatives you have, local, you know, county, city, state, federal, whatever, representatives, and encourage the fair treatment and humane treatment of people that are unhoused because that is something that is not spoken up for enough and not, obviously not prioritized enough by anybody, you know. Uh, it–that would–that would cover the people who maybe you don’t wanna meet in a dark alley and the people who, you know, you could trust with your life, your money, whatever, you know, uh, ’cause everybody should be treated like humans, within reason. Uh, everybody should be treated like humans because we are all human, you know? So advocating for the humane treatment of people that are unhoused, including people in vehicles, is something that everybody should do.

 

Joni Binder: That was Amber Whitson, an advocate for the unhoused, speaking with our colleague Zoe Meyer.

 

Lenéa Sims: Did you know that next year, high school students across California will be automatically admitted to the California State University system?

 

Joni Binder: I did not know that. What do you mean automatically?

 

Lenéa Sims: Listen to this …

 

Jaliza Collins: Any California student who meets the requirement for the A-G eligibility for the CSUs, Cal State Universities, they will automatically be admitted to the schools, rather than applying and wait to hear back from those schools to say yes.

 

Lenéa Sims: That’s Jaliza Collins. She’s a college-and career-readiness specialist at Fremont High School. And she sat down with our reporter Steffi Puerto to talk about a new California law which is aiming to make college more accessible. 

 

Steffi Puerto: You’re a college counselor to about 200 students. What is the percentage of students who end up going to college?

 

Jaliza Collins: When we clump our four-year and our community college together, we hit about maybe 80 to 85%.

 

Steffi Puerto: And then how much do you think this law will benefit students from first-generation backgrounds?

 

Jaliza Collins: I think it will be a morale boost, especially schools who have mostly first-generation, low-income students of color, because when students are admitted into the schools that’s a boost, right? And so I think the pride of, “Wow, I did this”, right? I do wanna mention that there’s something called summer melt. So students can get into a school, pay the deposit to enroll, pay housing deposit, and all of these are nonrefundable. And then the last six weeks of school, “senioritis” just takes over them. And they don’t fulfill the contract of, I put these grades in to be able to get me into the school. I’m supposed to finish with the same type of grades. Right? And so some of ’em go below what it is and they don’t do summer school and then they’ll get a letter that says, your admissions have been rescinded. I’ve seen that multiple times. So we still have to have the same level of care and communication with students opposed to, okay, cool, you got in, you’re on your own. 

 

Steffi Puerto: What other methods do you think that the CSU could take, that can impact accessibility for education for all?

 

Jaliza Collins: Money. Money is unfortunately the answer. Right now we’re pushing our lovely seniors to apply for scholarships. And so, it’s been like pulling teeth for some of them, right? Because the, I don’t wanna write this essay anymore. Oh my gosh. This is too much. I don’t wanna do a four-year anymore. I wanna go to a community college instead because I don’t have to write.

It’s just getting them to understand that regardless if you’re at a community college or a four-year, there is some type of financial barrier. Whether it’s $100 to $150 or $4,000.

 

Steffi Puerto: Some critics would argue that guaranteed college access to everyone will push students who might not be ready or don’t necessarily know what they’re getting themselves into. Do you think that would have any potential to create financial hardship for the student or the family?

 

Jaliza Collins: No, because the conversation should still be the same if you’re not ready for a four-year university, then the conversation of a community college to be able to take your GEs, figure out what you really wanna do and transfer is the conversation that folks should still be having with students. So you can get into something, but if you’re not ready to go, no one should force you to do it, right?

 

Steffi Puerto: So, the CSU dismissal rate for first-year freshmen is roughly around 20% due to things like academic probation. What methods do you think CSUs can take to ensure that this new graduating class and future classes can succeed?

 

Jaliza Collins: A sense of belonging. Some students, because they are first-gen, need to feel connected to the places that they are. And if they don’t have, whether it’s a student group or an adult on the campus that they can feel comfortable enough to go to, they’re gonna fall through the cracks. And it is a heavy lift and it is putting more on the university, but figuring out ways to just having different things on campus that will allow for student voices to really feel like they’re being heard.

 

Steffi Puerto: For students in Oakland and all across the state of California, the CSU Direct Admissions program is an opportunity to give them the power of choice. If they choose to go to college or not, they have the pathway set out for them. For North Gate Radio, in Oakland, I’m Steffi Puerto. 

 

Joni Binder: Colleges aren’t the only places thinking about how to be safer and more accessible to marginalized communities. In Oakland, a nonprofit arts organization called Oaklash runs a few programs focused on empowering queer and trans artists. 

 

Charles Hawthorne: Not the arts – the artists. 

 

Joni Binder: That’s Charles Hawthorne … the board president of Oaklash, whose annual drag and queer performance festival celebrates nine years this May. The performances are often joyful, but they are also politically engaged and confrontational. 

 

Charles Hawthorne: We’re not scared to talk about the real stuff. You can’t have genuine joy, you can’t have genuine connection, if you’re not being real about the context that you’re gathering under. 

 

Joni Binder: North Gate Radio’s Chelsea Kurnick talks with Hawthorne about an Oaklash initiative called O-SNAP, Oaklash Skills for Nightlife Accelerator Program. It’s a training and grant program for up-and-coming nightlife producers.

 

Chelsea Kurnick: Getting out of the bedroom and into the club is intimidating for a lot of DJs and aspiring event producers – knowing how to set up your sound system in public is scary, not to mention … 

 

Charles Hawthorne: What’s the theme? What’s the lineup? How are we getting a flyer? 

 

Chelsea Kurnick: And who’s going to design that flyer? And how much do you pay to rent a space? And all the millions of things that go into producing a club night … These are the subjects Hawthorne and their co-facilitator Mahawam – that’s their stage name – set out to mentor people about when they first created O-SNAP’s four-week curriculum.

 

Charles Hawthorne: So, our first cohort was five queer and trans intermediate DJs, so we weren’t teaching people from, like, the very beginning. 

 

Chelsea Kurnick: Initially, the cohorts worked together to produce a party for the Oaklash drag and performance festival. Mahawam, a musician and DJ, took on the technical side while Hawthorne … who’s a leadership coach by day … was excited to teach people how to navigate interpersonal challenges. Basically, Mahawam taught them how to mix tracks while Hawthorne taught them how to mix personalities. 

 

Charles Hawthorne: Learning how to work with other people is a process. And so often as like queer and trans people, we don’t get the opportunities to learn in, like, a safe, supportive environment. 

 

Chelsea Kurnick: Stress about money and discomfort with conflict often leads to harmful communication patterns. And Hawthorne points out that the stakes can be high because often people in nightlife are collaborating with their friends.

 

Charles Hawthorne:  I do feel like a lot the work that we’re doing in that space is like helping people heal a lot of their residual group project trauma from middle school and high school. 

 

Chelsea Kurnick: Hawthorne says the work of O-SNAP goes beyond the party, fostering individual healing and community growth. 

 

Charles Hawthorne: At the end of the day, we are learning how to be in community with each other. That’s, like, bigger than just the … getting the event done.

 

Chelsea Kurnick: Nine years ago, Oaklash started with a $1,000 grant from the Calamus Foundation. And this year, Hawthorne says Oaklash decided to pay it forward and give each O-SNAP recipient $1,000 dollars to put on a show. 

 

[Music]

 

They’re giving two nights of their annual fest over to the O-SNAP cohort. Their Friday night event will be produced by DJ Euphemia.

 

[Music]

 

Her event is called Do not BLEACH! because it celebrates Black underground club music and it’s happening … 

 

[Record scratch sound] 

 

…at a Laundromat in Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood. 

 

Charles Hawthorne: And then, for the Sunday event, our grantee’s name is Naomi, and she’s working with a partner of hers named Nneka. And they’re putting together this really interesting, Afrodiasporic day party vibe. 

 

[Music]

 

Chelsea Kurnick: The Sunday afternoon event is called Pili Pili and will feature sounds from across the Black diaspora, from reggae to old school afrobeats.

 

[Music]

 

Charles Hawthorne:  There’s tons of events that are around drag stuff and this is ours.

 

Chelsea Kurnick: Another important aspect of O-SNAP’s work is Oaklash’s Better Events Checklist, which Hawthorne calls a “living community document”. The checklist is available online for anyone to use. It guides event producers in all sorts of considerations to make their events safer, more accessible, and more equitable. It covers everything from wheelchair accessibility to hiring diverse cast and crew to having teams trained in harm reduction and first aid.

[Music]

 

Charles Hawthorne:  What we really feel like we want to uplift are the people who are doing really interesting, different, fascinating stuff. And a lot of times those are the people who are the most marginalized.

 

Chelsea Kurnick: The Oaklash Festival including Do not BLEACH! and Pili Pili happen next weekend, May 15-17.

 

For North Gate Radio, I’m Chelsea Kurnick.

 

Lenéa Sims: That’s it for North Gate Radio. Thanks so much for tuning in. Today’s show was produced by Grace McCarty and Chelsea Kurnick. Our Director was Zoe Meyer and our Executive Producer was Steffi Puerto.

 

Joni Binder: Thank you to Rick Johnson, who was our engineer, and to Queena Sook Kim and Ethan Toven-Lindsey, who were our faculty advisors.

 

Joni Binder: North Gate Radio is a production of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. I’m Joni Binder. 

Lenéa Sims: And I’m Lénea Sims. Tune in next Thursday at 9 a.m. for the last North Gate Radio show of the semester.