New Richmond City Council member who ousted RPA incumbent wants ‘a fair shot’

Newly seated Richmond City Council District 1 representative Jamelia Brown knows her win took many by surprise.

The political newcomer had her campaign work cut out for her as she challenged two-time incumbent Melvin Willis, whose political organizing career with Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) had many local political observers believing he was a shoo-in for re-election in a district with a historically low voter turnout.

Yet by educating voters in the district, Brown overcame Willis’ advantageous political connections, eventually narrowly winning the seat with a little more than 350 votes.

“The response has been on different ends of the spectrum,” Brown told Richmondside recently. “You have some folks who are trying to make every excuse in the world like this was some sort of happenstance situation that occurred with me taking the win.”

Brown attributes her success to her approach of listening to District 1 residents — both registered and unregistered voters — and campaigning with a focus on youths, who she shouted out specifically during last Tuesday’s swearing in ceremony at Richmond’s city hall.

“To the youth of Richmond, ya’ll don’t play about me, and I don’t play about ya’ll,” she said, as supporters cheered.

Now, as Brown preps for her first meeting on the dais today, she wants her constituents to know she doesn’t plan on holding back. She said she is committed to bridging the gap between elected officials and residents who feel disenfranchised.

“I think one of the most important pieces to what I was doing was letting them know that this (campaign) is a job interview,” she said. “I’m trying to work for you.”

‘Every vote counts’

Reflecting on her campaign journey, Brown said she took note of the 2022 race in neighboring District 2, which was a tiebreaker between Cesar Zepeda and Andrew Butt. She let voters know how important each of their votes are in every Richmond city election.

“When we say ‘Every vote counts’ — which sounds so cliché to some people — we let them (residents) know that ‘Hey this was a race that just occurred, and literally it was a tie,’ ” Brown said. “We told them that ‘You involving yourself in this process could really make or break this election.’ ”

District 1 has historically had a low voter turnout since the city moved to district elections for council members in 2020. In that election, 4,745 voters cast ballots out of 7,136 registered voters in the district — a 66% turnout. In the most recent election, 4,022 voters cast ballots out of 7,600 registered district voters — a 52% turnout.

In the 2020 District 1 race, Willis beat Eleanor Thompson by 717 votes, according to the Contra Costa County election records.

Those statistics, Brown said, motivated her team to focus her campaign on educating District 1 residents about the political process and registering more than 500 voters while she campaigned.

“That was going into the (high) schools doing voter pre-registration. Some students are 18 already,” she said.

It was a broadly concerted effort, she added, to get anyone she could to register, whether in her district or not, saying they approached people at the Richmond BART station.

“We had people from District 5, District 2 and some folks that weren’t even from Richmond — they were from Berkeley,” Brown said. “We wanted to take out time even knowing that the person wouldn’t be voting in my district to explain it (the voter registration process).”

Anecdotally, there’s evidence those newly registered voters chose Brown.

“It was really so cool to see folks who we had registered at Richmond High send us a picture with their voting sticker with that type of civic pride,” she said. “I had folks pulling up from everywhere, just wanting to be a part of it (my campaign), wanting to have their voices heard for the first time. It was ‘I don’t want to vote for anything else, I’m just here to vote for Jamelia.’ ”

Mariah Vaughn was one of those first-time District 1 voters drawn to Brown’s campaign.

“November 5, 2024 was my first time voting,” she said during Brown’s swearing-in ceremony. “With her (Brown’s) vision and dedication I know she will address the most challenging issues that matter most, whether it’s ensuring economic opportunities or advocating for safer, more inclusive neighborhoods.”

Brown said her campaign messaging was simple, and she reminded herself not to overly commit to campaign promises but to let constituents know that she wanted to work collaboratively on issues that they presented.

“I’m not trying to tell you what you need in your community. I wanted to emphasize that they are the experts of their communities, their blocks and of their complexes because they see what others don’t see,” she said. “I listened to them and let them know that, if elected, I’m not going to be a magician. I don’t have a wand where I can just go in there and make everything happen, but I will be a collaborative leader.”

Brown and the RPA: ‘I just want a fair shot…’

Brown said she realizes what her predecessor, Willis, brought to the council and what his seat meant to his allies with the RPA. The other newly elected council member, Sue Wilson, has long been active with RPA campaigns and was endorsed by the group so will likely not face the same types of challenges as Brown.

“I just want a fair shot, and when I say fair shot, I understand what Melvin brought to the council — he was not only a colleague (to his fellow councilors), but he was a friend,” she said. “I understand that part so I’m not coming in to replace or one up him or anything like that. I just want to come in to say ‘Hey, these are the concerns in District 1 in Richmond, how can we best support them?’ ”

Willis was also part of a council majority, with RPA ties, as Wilson now is. This means Brown becomes one of three council members not endorsed by the RPA. The three, including Soheila Bana and Cesar Zepeda, may find themselves outnumbered if RPA members Mayor Eduardo Martinez, Wilson and Vice Mayor Claudia Jimenez vote as a block alongside District 3 council member Doria Robinson who, although not an RPA member, was endorsed by the organization in her 2022 campaign. In the council’s recent history, unanimous votes have been commonplace.

So Brown knows it’s important for her to transition from candidate to policymaker.

“I just, at first, want to build rapport with my colleagues,” she said. “When we talk about campaigning there’s a lot of disinformation going on so whatever impression or however they feel about me I want them to get the opportunity to actually be introduced.”

In the election’s aftermath, Brown said fellow newly elected District 5 council member Wilson came up and formally introduced herself.

“I saw her (Wilson) at (former council member James) Mr. McMillan’s homegoing,” she said. “What I took from that is, you know, she was telling me some of the same things. ‘Yes, you’ve seen my face and my name but I want to introduce myself to you,’ and that’s the same type of approach I want to have.”

She also knows that getting to know and understanding how city staff operates will be half of the battle when addressing District 1 issues, whether that be working with the Richmond Police Department to address public safety or the Department of Public Works on traffic signage and blight.

“I really want my experience to be improving the lives of the constituents with something that they can see, something that is tangible and they can see actually changed while I’m in office,” she said. “There are so many nuances when it comes to getting things done or getting items on the agenda. I want to come in to learn how I can address things that we want to see in District 1, things I ran my campaign on.”

Since her election was certified, she’s also had district residents bring to her issues to address.

“They’re calling me about everything, telling me about the lack of parking or services for the elderly at the Hacienda (Heights senior apartments),” she said. “I’m taking it all and taking it as something so positive because what that tells me is that they trust me. They also trust that if I don’t know (the answer), I’m going to say I don’t know but that I’ll reach out to the right individuals and figure it out.”