Dan Kalb


Dan Kalb represents District 1 on the Oakland City Council, a position he has held since January, 2013.
In 2014, Kalb spearheaded a proposal to substantially strengthen the Oakland Public Ethics Commission. The Charter measure was voted on in the general election of November, 2014. It passed with over 72% of the vote. Due in part to Kalb's work on this and a separate government reform measure on local redistricting, he was recognized as the Best Good Government Politician of the Year in 2014 by the East Bay Express. Kalb was also awarded the Outstanding Elected Official of the Year in 2015 by California Public Library Advocates for his advocacy and funding efforts for public libraries in the City of Oakland.
In 2016, the Public Ethics Commission opened an investigation into use of game tickets provided to Council members of the City Council and others. They released a set of recommendations to improve the ticket procedures and Kalb has indicated support for implementing those recommendations.
Kalb and one of this colleagues on the Council, Noel Gallo, authored a ballot measure in 2016 to create a civilian Police Commission for Oakland. It passed with 83% of the vote. Kalb was re-elected to his seat on the City Council in 2016 with over 80% of the vote.
Previously Kalb was California Policy Director at the Union of Concerned Scientists. where he worked on clean energy and climate legislation. Before joining UCS in 2003, he worked as director of a Sierra Club chapter and for California Common Cause, Media Alliance and CalPIRG.
In 2001, he won a vote for a seat on a newly proposed Municipal Utility District board, which itself was narrowly defeated.
In 1982, Kalb received an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Conservation of Natural Resources. In 1988 he received a master's degree in Public and Nonprofit Administration from the University of San Francisco.
In 2018 he ran for California's 15th State Assembly district but lost to Jovanka Beckles by 0.6% for the second slot to run in the runoff against Buffy Wicks.