Rebecca Kaplan is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and a member of the Democratic Party

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

. She currently serves as City Councilmember At-Large

At-Large

At-large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership...

 for Oakland, California

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

.
She ran for Oakland mayor in 2010 and placed third. She is openly lesbian.

Oakland City Councilmember At-Large

Kaplan's contributions to Oakland policy making have included a focus on budget balancing measures, legislation which eased the permit process for new restaurants, creating a new public transit line downtown, and re-working and passing a law which mandates registration of abandoned and vacant buildings.

Budget-balancing measures

In 2009, Oakland's budget shortfall ran into the tens of millions, and as a solution, Kaplan proposed Measure F, which raised taxes on medical cannabis

Medical cannabis

Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine...

 businesses. The measure, which dramatically increased taxes on these businesses, was strongly supported by the businesses themselves. Kaplan received national media attention from this initiative, appearing on PBS's NewsHour and Fox Business News to discuss it. The measure passed overwhelmingly in a special election. Three other ballot measures, also campaigned for by Kaplan, were passed in a successful effort to balance the year's budget.

Vacant building registration

Also in 2009, Kaplan re-designed a failed City Council measure which would require owners of certain vacant properties to register their buildings with the city. Oakland's vacancy problem had led to rampant use of empty buildings for illegal activities, and earlier in the year, Councilmember Desley Brooks had attempted to pass similar legislation, which had been voted down due to unclear language and an overly aggressive fine regime. Kaplan re-wrote the measure with a simpler scope, and was able to pass it by a wide margin of support.

Election history

In November 2008, Kaplan won her current post in a run-off election against BART executive Kerry Hamill
by a margin of 62% to 37%, with Kaplan receiving a total of 82,531 votes to Hamill's 50,387. She succeeded Henry Chang, Jr., against whom Kaplan had campaigned unsuccessfully in 2000.

Kaplan previously served as the Member At-Large on the Alameda - Contra Costa Transit

AC Transit

AC Transit is an Oakland-based regional public transit agency serving the western half of Alameda County and parts of western Contra Costa County in the western, Bay-side area of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area...

 Board of Directors, elected unopposed in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. In this post, she represented 1.5 million residents of western Alameda

Alameda County, California

Alameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state...

 and Contra Costa

Contra Costa County, California

Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...

 counties.

In April 2010 Kaplan formed a campaign committee to explore running for Oakland mayor. In the November election Kaplan placed third in ranked choice balloting

Instant-runoff voting

Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

 after winner Jean Quan

Jean Quan

Jean Quan is the Democratic mayor of Oakland, California. She previously served as City Council member for Oakland's 4th District...

 and runner-up Don Perata

Don Perata

Don Richard Perata is a California Democratic politician, who was President pro tempore of the California State Senate from 2004 to 2008. He came in second place in the November 2010 ballot for Mayor of Oakland...

.