District 7 Platform
Why I Am Prepared to Do This Work
I have lived in Southside since 2016 and organized here since 2017. I previously served as Vice Chair of Berkeley's Homeless Commission and authored the People's First Sanctuary Encampment proposal. I am also a UC Berkeley Political Science graduate, former transfer student, medical case manager, and SEIU-UHW member.
Case management taught me that a referral is not a result. Someone must identify the problem, determine who is responsible, follow up across different systems, and stay involved until the person reaches a stable outcome.
That is the discipline I would bring to City Council. My platform does not stop at identifying what Berkeley should value. It explains when government should act, how the work moves, and what residents should be able to verify.
Residents should not have to wait until the next election to learn whether a promise was implemented.
What I Will Change and How I Will Do It
Voters deserve more than a list of things a candidate supports. A platform should explain what is failing, what policy would change it, how a councilmember would move that policy through City government, and what residents could measure afterward.
Southside is adding housing while many renters remain unable to afford a new apartment in the neighborhood. Public space has not grown with density. Residents can report broken sidewalks, streetlights, trash, and other problems, but it is difficult to see whether recurring problems are being resolved or simply closed in the reporting system.
My platform is built around specific points where City government can act: when a tenant receives an eviction notice, when an occupied building is offered for sale, when public money repairs rental housing, when development increases demand on neighborhood systems, and when a City department misses its published service standard.
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Berkeley has useful housing, tenant-protection, public-works, and planning programs. Housing production is largely tracked by units, while tenant-stability programs operate through separate channels. Open space is usually evaluated within individual development proposals. Maintenance reporting emphasizes individual service requests.
Those systems record important work, but residents also need to know what happened afterward. City reporting should show whether residents stayed housed, affordable buildings were preserved, public-space commitments were met, and recurring street problems were permanently fixed.
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I have lived in Southside since 2016 and organized here since 2017, from People's Park and food distribution to housing and basic neighborhood maintenance. I am a UC Berkeley Political Science graduate, a former transfer student, and a former Vice Chair of Berkeley's Homeless Commission.
As a medical case manager, I work with people navigating systems that are fragmented, under-resourced, and difficult to access. That work requires more than giving someone a phone number. It requires identifying the actual problem, connecting the right services, following up, and staying involved until there is a stable outcome.
Housing policy needs the same discipline. When a resident is at risk of losing their home, responsibility should not disappear between the Rent Board, Housing Department, property owner, legal-services provider, and nonprofit housing system. City government should have a clear process, a responsible department, and a measurable outcome.
My experience on the Homeless Commission also taught me how to move policy through City government while staying grounded in the people most affected. I authored and advanced the People's First Sanctuary Encampment proposal, which paired immediate protections with sanitation, health services, and a defined City response. I understand the difference between announcing a value and building a process capable of carrying it out.
Other candidates propose more studies, task forces, dashboards, a student-homeowner barter arrangement, a UC dining scholarship, and education or trade-school programs that depend on institutions outside City Hall. These proposals do not establish when City government must act, which department is responsible, how the work would be funded, or what residents could measure afterward.
I agree with some of those goals. My platform places particular emphasis on defined intervention points and what City government should do next.
An eviction notice should trigger an offer of housing-retention assistance
A vulnerable occupied building offered for sale should trigger preservation outreach and acquisition review.
Publicly funded rehabilitation should carry protections for existing tenants.
Major public investment should trigger an anti-displacement assessment.
A missed service deadline should trigger public notice and departmental follow-up.
A dashboard is useful after government has decided what it is responsible for doing. My recommendations begin by defining that responsibility.
Three Responsibilities for a Stable Southside
Southside is changing quickly. Housing, public space, and city services have to be planned together.
The detailed platform is organized into three pages. Each page explains the problem, the proposed work, the City pathway, and the measures residents should be able to follow.
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More Housing, Less Displacement
Support and approve more housing while intervening earlier when an eviction notice, building sale, publicly funded rehabilitation project, or UC decision places existing residents at risk of displacement.
Protect Public Land and Expand Usable Open Space
Measure whether public space is keeping pace with density, seek enforceable access and maintenance commitments where the City has authority, and publicly track every commitment connected to People's Park and other public land.
Make City Services Work Consistently
Track whether sidewalks, lighting, sanitation, accessibility, public restrooms, and other basic services are resolved durably and kept in working condition, not only whether a service request received an initial response.
Why the Existing Policy Direction Falls Short
Berkeley has useful housing, tenant-protection, public-works, and planning programs. Housing production is largely tracked by units, while tenant-stability programs operate through separate channels. Open space is usually evaluated within individual development proposals. Maintenance reporting emphasizes individual service requests.
Those systems record important work, but residents also need to know what happened afterward. City reporting should show whether residents stayed housed, affordable buildings were preserved, public-space commitments were met, and recurring street problems were permanently fixed.
In Contrast
Other candidates propose more studies, task forces, dashboards, a student-homeowner barter arrangement, a UC dining scholarship, and education or trade-school programs that depend on institutions outside City Hall. These proposals do not establish when City government must act, which department is responsible, how the work would be funded, or what residents could measure afterward.
My platform begins with what City government can actually do and the point at which it should act.
An eviction notice should trigger an offer of housing-retention assistance.
A vulnerable occupied building offered for sale should trigger preservation outreach and acquisition review.
Publicly funded rehabilitation should carry protections for existing tenants.
Major public investment should trigger an anti-displacement assessment.
A missed service deadline should trigger public notice and departmental follow-up.
A dashboard is useful after government has decided what it is responsible for doing. My recommendations begin by defining that responsibility.
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Every commitment on this page will appear in a public promise tracker. Before Election Day, the tracker will identify the existing condition, the action available to a councilmember, and the result I am promising to pursue. If elected, my office will update the tracker at least quarterly.
For every major platform commitment, my office will publish:
the promise and the date it was made
the existing condition or baseline
the action within my office's authority
the responsible City department or outside institution
the Council action or budget decision required
the implementation status
the next public deadline
the measurable result
the Council action, agreement, or budget decision required
the action taken and supporting public record
the next deadline
the current status
the measurable indicator, target, or observable condition used to judge the result
any legal, fiscal, or administrative barrier delaying the work
Residents should not have to wait until the next election to learn whether a promise was implemented.
Tracker statuses will be: Proposed, Introduced, Adopted, Funded, In Progress, Completed, or Blocked. Completed will mean the stated material outcome was delivered. A referral, meeting, report, vote, or funding allocation will not by itself count as completion when the promise requires a further result.
Residents should not have to wait until the next election to learn whether a promise was attempted, funded, delayed, or completed.
Together, these priorities reflect a simple standard: growth should improve daily life for the people who already live, work, study, and build community in Southside. That means pairing new development with housing stability, public investment, accountable institutions, and neighborhood services residents can actually see and use.
Help Make These Commitments Real
This is the starting point for Aidan Hill’s District 7 platform: a commitment to housing stability, public space, basic services, and accountable growth in Southside.
As the campaign unfolds, Aidan will release more detailed plans on housing, public land, neighborhood services, infrastructure, safety, and government accountability. The goal is simple: turn growth into real benefits for the people who live, work, study, and build community here.
Aidan Hill
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