Letter of Appointment
December3,2024
DearPresidentBasandmembersoftheCityCouncil:
PursuanttoCityCharterSection601,theMayorhasappointedthefollowingpersonsasmembersofthefollowingboardorcommission,subjecttoCityCouncilconfirmation:
CommissiononPersonswithDisabilities
JamesCarter, toserveathree-yeartermbeginningonSeptember3,2024andendingSeptember2,2027,fillingavacantseatpreviouslyheldbyNoahSmith.
BenjaminBartu,toserveathree-yeartermbeginningonSeptember3,2024andendingSeptember2,2027,fillingavacantseatpreviouslyheldbyhimself.
Thankyouforyourassistanceinthismatter.
Sincerely,
MayorShengThao
Submit Date: Aug 31, 2023
First Name
Last Name
Email Address
Street Address
Suite or Apt
City
State
Postal Code
Primary Phone
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Employer
Job Title
City of Oakland Boards & Commissions
Profile
Pronouns
What City Council district do you live in?
District 3
Which Boards would you like to apply for?
Commission on Persons with Disabilities: Appointed
Affordable Housing & Infrastructure Bond Public Oversight Committee : Submitted Interests & Experiences
Please tell us how your qualifications and participation will relate to the requested board and/or commission's mission.
My current position at UC Berkeley, and my graduate studies, focus(ed) in particular on the Environmental Justice and its relationship to human rights. This is imbricated with housing, which has become a top concern in Oakland. I feel I have experience in this arena, as well; I have been housing insecure as a child and as an adult, and through the national fair housing fundraiser I have run for the past three years through Palette Poetry, I have had the chance to familiarize myself with state and national fair housing policies, and believe I could bring this knowledge to bear on the Affordable Housing & Infrastructure Oversight Committee, especially if more Environmental Justice experience or Fair Housing policy experience is needed in the room.
Regarding the commission on persons with disabilities, my current work is heavily tied to disability, from an academic perspective, but also one of praxis. How do we make more space for disabled people in the world? How do we create welcoming environments for us, as well as encourage the creation of policies that do the same? And how to hold ourselves accountable? Though my research is quantitative and qualitative, and requires a certain remove from my own lived condition at times, my own experience is bound up with disability also -- I am myself a disabled person, having been diagnosed with Epilepsy as a child. The mission of the commission on Persons with Disabilities is to increase the integration of disabled persons into the community; I feel poised, through studies and experience, to contribute to doing this as well.
Thank you for your consideration, B
Benjamin
Bartu
University of California,
Berkeley
Disabled Ecologies Lab
Manager
Benjamin Bartu
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Service on City of Oakland boards, commissions, and committees may require filings of the FPPC's Statements of Economic Interest (Form 700). Upon appointment and determination of filing status, I will comply with all filing obligations.
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Bartu_Resume.docx
Benjamin Bartu
Benjamin Bartu, Disability Studies Researcher & Poetry Editor References available upon request.
EDUCATION
Columbia
University —
M.A in Human
Rights & Public
Policy
Linfield
University —
Bachelor’s in
Political
Science &
Writing
WORK
EXPERIENCE
Disabled
Ecologies Lab
Manager, UC
Berkeley —
11/22 - Present
*Design
Graduate
Courses on
Disability
studies.
*Lead in-depth
quantitative
and qualitative
research on the
impacts of
pollution upon
disabled
communities
and tenants.
*Edited and
performed
research for the
Othering and
Belonging
Institute’s
fellow Associate
Professor Dr.
Sunaura Taylor’s forthcoming Disabled Ecologies.
Interim Editor-in-Chief, Palette Poetry — 03/19-
Present
*Read over 2,000 submissions of poetry every year in a
fast-paced digital office and answer email inquiries.
*Coordinate digital events with attendances of up to 100 people.
*Spearhead Palette’s Annual National Fair Housing Month Fundraiser, which I created three years ago. Oversaw
project growth of over 200% in our 3rd year. The fundraiser is dedicated to generating donations for housing-insecure people and unsheltered persons. I run it via our social media channels and website.
Teacher & Administrator, Mentoring Academy,
Berkeley — 08/20-07/22
* Driven to action by Covid-19’s negative impacts on
our education system, I spent two years making a positive difference upon the lives of young people in my
community. I taught 4 diverse classes of 15 students for 2 years in Oakland, with subjects ranging from Methods of Critical Thinking in English to Political Theory.
* Researched the development of Covid-19 legislation
and policy at a state and federal level in collaboration with staff members to implement policies that kept our
community safe. We oversaw the implementation of 7
changes to school policy, and I personally saw to the
Covid testing of more than 110 students.
Research Assistant, Columbia University — 03/20-
07/21
* Performed intensive research into US political
history, legislation, and policy about land use and civil rights over the course of the last 200 years . During my tenure I drafted a dozen literature reviews, acquired rare international archival files, & wrote over 40 pages of analytical research contributions.
*Edited & copyedited Dr. Mamdani’s NYT bestseller
“Neither Settler Nor Native”.
* Drafted more than 30 weekly memos for Dr.
Mamdani, coordinated over 20 digital events, & tracked
& logged almost 100 invoices in sums of over $4,000.
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
________________________
CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. ______________ C.M.S.
INTRODUCED BY
MAYOR SHENG THAO
A RESOLUTION CONFIRMING THE MAYOR’S REAPPOINTMENT OF
BENJAMIN BARTU AND APPOINTMENT OF JAMES CARTER TO THE
COMMISSION ON PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
WHEREAS, Section 601 of the City Charter provides that members of City boards and commissions shall be appoi nted by the Mayor subject to confirmation by the affirmative vote of five members of the City Council; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 9968 C.M.S., adopted August 5, 1980, and amended by Ordinance No. 11864 C.M.S., adopted March 12, 1996 and then by Ordinance No. 13334 C.M.S., adopted October 20, 2015, created the Commission on Persons with Disabilities to address issues germane to accessibility, services and civil rights for persons with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, the Commission on Persons with Disabilities consists of eleven (11) members, serving three-year staggered terms with no more than two consecutive terms; and
WHEREAS, at least a majority of the Commission members appointed must be persons with disabilities; and
WHEREAS, the Honorable Mayor Sheng Thao has reappointed Benjamin Bartu and appointed James Carter to the Commission on Persons with Disabilities, subject to confirmation by the City Council; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED: That pursuant to City Charter Section 601, the City Council hereby confirms the Mayor’s appointments to the Commission on Persons with Disabilities:
James Carter, to serve a three -year term beginning on September 3, 2024 and ending September 2, 2027, filling a vacant seat previously held by Noah Smith.
Benjamin Bartu, to serve a three -year term beginning on September 3, 2024 and ending September 2, 2027, filling a vacant seat previously held by himself.
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES - FIFE, GALLO, JENKINS, KALB, KAPLAN, RAMACHANDRAN, REID AND
PRESIDENT FORTUNATO BAS
NOES –
ABSENT –
ABSTENTION –
3385730v1/MJM
ATTEST:
ASHA REED
City Clerk and Clerk of the Council of the
City of Oakland, California