Emeryville Incumbents and Measure BB Win as Oakland Preps Book Fair

Emeryville voters delivered decisive victories to City Council incumbents and a major municipal tax overhaul in the November 2026 election, as Mayor David Mourra and Councilmember Kalimah Priforce secured reelection alongside the 90.35% passage of Measure BB. In updated Alameda County returns, Mourra led the field with 1,903 votes (38.5%), while Priforce captured the second council seat with 1,424 votes (28.87%) despite reporting $0 in campaign spending and declining to participate in public candidate forums.

Challengers Corry Frydlewicz and Brandon Soublet—both residents of 53rd Street who campaigned on automated Flock license-plate reader cameras and the future of the Sutter Health campus—trailed the 2 incumbents. Voters simultaneously approved Measure BB by 2,864 Yes votes (90.35%) to 306 No votes (9.65%), replacing Emeryville's flat 0.10% business license tax with a tiered progressive gross-receipts structure projected to generate $5.9 million annually toward closing a forecast $14.6 million structural budget deficit by fiscal year 2029-2030. In the Emery Unified School District race for 3 governing board seats with 4-year terms, voters reelected incumbent board president Regina Chagolla, returned former trustee Kimberly Solis, and elected newcomer Christopher Keith Allen following an October 18 League of Women Voters forum that also featured candidates Brian Donahue and David Ridlehuber.

Just across the Oakland border, East Bay educators and families are preparing for the return of a beloved literacy gathering as author, illustrator, and muralist Robert Trujillo previewed the 2026 Social Justice Children's Book Fair, scheduled for Saturday, December 5, 2026 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Emerson Elementary in Oakland. Trujillo, who became a father at age 24 and wrote the children's picture books Furqan's First Flat Top and 2023's Fresh Juice, co-founded the fair in 2017 alongside children's book creators Laura Atkins, Maya Gonzalez, Janine Macbeth, Innosanto Nagara, and Matthew Smith.

Co-hosted with the Emerson Elementary PTA, the December 5 showcase will feature nearly 20 Black children's book authors and illustrators, live readings by the Storyland Collective, art workshops, and book giveaways for Oakland students. Trujillo emphasized that hands-on community book fairs counter national declines in daily reading—noting research showing the share of Americans reading for pleasure dropped from 28% in 2004 to 16% while regular newspaper readership fell from 50% in 1975 to under 10%—by putting culturally affirming stories directly into young readers' hands.