A statement from Pengweather about running for mayor of Oakland

Hi all,

I want to warn you all that this may be one of my most controversial Reddit posts. Any comments, positive or negative, are welcomed by me.

Lately, there has been a significant uptick in comments suggesting that I run for mayor. In fact, I have made a spoof campaign poster entertaining that idea. But I want to be transparent with you all about this matter directly from me. I decided to type this post to prevent rumors from getting out of hand.

I will not be running for mayor or other positions in Oakland at this time. The main reason is that I am currently a member of the City of Livermore Beautification Committee. I joined in March of this year and my tenure won't end until around 2027. It would be a shame to suddenly resign before I have gotten to propose ideas on mitigating illegal dumping in Livermore and work on executing them. The optics would be very bad, and I simply cannot do that in good conscience to my fellow Livermorons. Furthermore, I want to achieve some tangible results in Oakland as well. Even though I have achieved a 50% success rate in keeping places I've cleaned up in good shape, I want to go further than that. I want to work with Oakland City Council and Oakland Public Works on devising strategies to reduce illegal dumping, spreading awareness of this issue, and creating more parks and green spaces. I believe that successes and results from that can only help buttress my profile and convincingly persuade voters to take me seriously.

I also want to develop more relationships with Oakland residents and understand Oakland's vibrant history and the reasons for why Oakland faces the challenges it does. As an engineer, I believe in following a methodology that can give me some background information on these issues. I see the issues firsthand during my cleanups but I want to drill deeper into it.

This post is not meant to say I won't run in the future. I just don't think I am ready yet.

Thank you,

Peng