Rowena Brown

Councilmember, At-Large, Oakland City Council

Chairs the Community and Economic Development Committee; asked 78 questions at the 14 meetings where we identified them. Named East Oakland most often: nine times.

16 of 20transcribed meetings with their voice identified

5.2min a meeting at the City Council, at least

36questions at the City Council

20 of 22present at roll calls, from the clerk

Chairs the Community and Economic Development Committee; sits on 5 more committees

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Seven clips, newest first

Officials only. Public speakers are counted, never named.

Issues Brown raised, by number of meetings

City budget and Measure E9 meetings
ICE and immigration enforcement2 meetings

We count who raised an issue, not which side they took.

Every roll call, and Brown’s other bodies

Present at 20 of 22 roll calls at the City Council

From the clerk’s own record. We don’t compare members on it.

PresentExcusedAbsentOldest first, 1 square per roll call

Excused 2 · Absent 0. Nov 4, 2025 to Oct 20, 2026.

Official roll call, from the clerk →

Rules and Legislation Committee: 1.1 min of speech a meeting, range 0.7–1.8. In the same range as four other members.
Public Works and Transportation Committee: 1.0 min of speech a meeting, range 0.3–1.9. Ranks 4th of 4.
Community and Economic Development Committee: talk time not compared. Presides over its meetings, so isn’t compared with the members.
Finance and Management Committee: talk time not compared. Fewer than four members can be compared fairly.
Public Safety Committee: talk time not compared. Fewer than four members can be compared fairly.
Rules and Legislation Committee: present at 31 of 31 roll calls. Official roll call, from the clerk
Community and Economic Development Committee: present at 15 of 15 roll calls. Official roll call, from the clerk
Finance and Management Committee: present at 16 of 16 roll calls. Official roll call, from the clerk
Public Safety Committee: present at 16 of 16 roll calls. Official roll call, from the clerk
Education Partnership Committee: present at 2 of 2 roll calls. Official roll call, from the clerk

Questions

Brown asked 36 questions at the 16 City Council meetings where we identified them

At least this many: direct questions only.

…the— was the selection panel, um, committee made aware of those new applications for review?City Council · Jan 20, 2026 · Play at 1:09:28

Of Brown’s 57 questions to city departments at the Community and Economic Development Committee, 18 went to economic development, business and licensing.

Who they question: 154 questions to a department, 5 bodies · Oct 24, 2025 – Oct 8, 2026.

Community and Economic Development Committee57 questions to city departments

Community and Economic Development Committee: questions by department
Department	Share	Questions
Economic development, business and licensing		1832%
Planning and zoning		1526%
Housing		1119%
Administration, HR, contracts and facilities		712%
Public works, streets and sanitation		24%
4 other departments		47%

Finance and Management Committee56 questions to city departments

Finance and Management Committee: questions by department
Department	Share	Questions
Budget, finance and controller		2646%
Administration, HR, contracts and facilities		1629%
Auditors, inspectors general and ethics		59%
Police		47%
Technology		35%
Mayor's office		24%

City Council21 questions to city departments

City Council: questions by department
Department	Share	Questions
Administration, HR, contracts and facilities		524%
City attorney / law department		524%
Parks and recreation		524%
Budget, finance and controller		210%
Economic development, business and licensing		210%
Auditors, inspectors general and ethics		210%

Public Works and Transportation Committee14 questions to city departments

Public Works and Transportation Committee: questions by department
Department	Share	Questions
Budget, finance and controller		1179%
Public works, streets and sanitation		321%

Neighborhoods Brown named

3 places Brown named in meetings

Lines where Brown named the place, read by two AI readers that both agree it means that place. Each dot plays the newest one; brighter means named more often.

Oakland

East Oakland 9 times
West Oakland 2 times
Jack London 1 time

Places are drawn at the centre of their own boundary in the city’s neighborhoods (CEDA) file (City of Oakland Open Data Portal); a well-known area with no boundary of its own sits at its OpenStreetMap point. A dot says the place was named, not where Brown was or what was said about it.

Meetings

Every meeting where we identified Brown’s voice

84, newest first. The date opens the meeting; the time plays the video at Brown’s first remark.

Oct 8, 2026Rules and Legislation CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions3.4 min44:24
Oct 6, 2026City CouncilBudget and spending · Development and land use4.7 min1:14:07
Sep 28, 2026Education Partnership CommitteeSchools and youth14.9 min8:18
Sep 22, 2026Community and Economic Development CommitteeBusiness and economic development · Development and land use8.5 min16:54
Sep 22, 2026Finance and Management Committee8.3 min23:24
Sep 22, 2026Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety2.9 min52:44
Sep 15, 2026City Council2.0 min2:04:19
Jul 16, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee0.3 min21:50
Jul 14, 2026Community and Economic Development CommitteeBusiness and economic development11.7 min3:23
Jul 14, 2026Finance and Management CommitteeBudget and spending9.4 min8:24

Show all 84Show fewer

Jul 14, 2026Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety · Fire and emergency services7.5 min22:47
Jul 13, 2026City CouncilDevelopment and land use2.6 min29:31
Jul 9, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee0.1 min1:04:21
Jul 7, 2026City CouncilHomelessness3.7 min1:24:58
Jun 25, 2026Rules and Legislation CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions3.6 min8:39
Jun 23, 2026Community and Economic Development CommitteeHousing and tenants · Business and economic development9.6 min6:54
Jun 23, 2026Finance and Management CommitteeCity workforce and labor2.2 min45:42
Jun 23, 2026Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety8.0 min24:43
Jun 18, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee0.5 min36:51
Jun 16, 2026City CouncilPolicing and public safety11.3 min1:34:16
Jun 9, 2026Community and Economic Development CommitteeDevelopment and land use · Housing and tenants7.2 min9:20
Jun 9, 2026Finance and Management Committee6.9 min18:24
Jun 9, 2026Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety10.2 min33:24
Jun 2, 2026City CouncilPolicing and public safety9.3 min1:18:56
Jun 1, 2026City CouncilBudget and spending2.3 min59:55
May 28, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee2.6 min58:56
May 26, 2026Community and Economic Development CommitteeHousing and tenants · Business and economic development9.5 min2:05
May 26, 2026Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety4.0 min38:40
May 19, 2026City Council6.7 min5:36
May 12, 2026Community and Economic Development CommitteeBusiness and economic development · Development and land use12.8 min3:27
May 12, 2026Finance and Management Committee7.1 min1:02:05
May 12, 2026Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety2.9 min20:22
May 12, 2026Public Works and Transportation Committee2.3 min17:46
May 5, 2026City Council5.5 min1:06:33
Apr 30, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee0.1 min15:26
Apr 23, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee1.6 min33:26
Apr 21, 2026Community and Economic Development CommitteeArts, culture and libraries · Housing and tenants4.8 min9:38
Apr 21, 2026Finance and Management CommitteeCity workforce and labor7.9 min12:32
Apr 21, 2026Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety4.0 min17:15
Apr 16, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee0.8 min33:54
Apr 14, 2026City CouncilCity workforce and labor · Homelessness21.4 min2:36:38
Mar 26, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee5.7 min51:15
Mar 24, 2026Community and Economic Development CommitteeParks and recreation · Housing and tenants4.9 min19:42
Mar 24, 2026Finance and Management CommitteeCity workforce and labor · Budget and spending5.7 min27:26
Mar 24, 2026Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety3.6 min16:37
Mar 24, 2026Public Works and Transportation Committee2.0 min43:48
Mar 16, 2026City Council4.4 min59:59
Mar 12, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee0.4 min18:12
Mar 10, 2026Community and Economic Development CommitteeHousing and tenants12.1 min6:10
Mar 10, 2026Finance and Management CommitteePolicing and public safety · Budget and spending4.3 min27:21
Mar 10, 2026Public Works and Transportation Committee2.8 min1:05:42
Mar 5, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee0.8 min31:15
Feb 26, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee1.7 min11:52
Feb 24, 2026Community and Economic Development CommitteeDevelopment and land use8.8 min5:24
Feb 24, 2026Finance and Management Committee4.5 min2:02
Feb 24, 2026Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety9.3 min24:54
Feb 12, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee0.7 min11:25
Feb 10, 2026Community and Economic Development CommitteeDevelopment and land use · Business and economic development7.1 min2:32
Feb 10, 2026Finance and Management CommitteeBudget and spending · City workforce and labor4.2 min40:30
Feb 10, 2026Public Safety Committee2.4 min13:34
Feb 10, 2026Public Works and Transportation Committee3.3 min39:58
Feb 3, 2026City CouncilPolicing and public safety6.5 min24:14
Jan 29, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee1.5 min28:36
Jan 27, 2026Finance and Management CommitteeBudget and spending6.9 min43:13
Jan 27, 2026Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety2.1 min1:27:53
Jan 20, 2026City CouncilAppointments to boards and commissions8.3 min23:35
Jan 15, 2026Rules and Legislation Committee0.5 min32:43
Jan 13, 2026Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety · Fire and emergency services5.0 min34:04
Jan 8, 2026Rules and Legislation CommitteeAppointments to boards and commissions3.5 min18:36
Dec 16, 2025City Council10.5 min4:53:12
Dec 9, 2025Community and Economic Development CommitteeAlcohol, cannabis and business permits · Development and land use12.9 min3:33
Dec 9, 2025Finance and Management CommitteeCity workforce and labor · Schools and youth4.3 min23:06
Dec 9, 2025Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety3.8 min7:21
Dec 4, 2025Rules and Legislation Committee0.8 min1:08:55
Dec 2, 2025City Council0.9 min1:21:39
Nov 20, 2025Rules and Legislation Committee0.7 min1:10:00
Nov 18, 2025Community and Economic Development CommitteeBusiness and economic development · Development and land use40.6 min31:25
Nov 18, 2025Finance and Management Committee2.0 min18:28
Nov 18, 2025Public Safety CommitteePolicing and public safety0.8 min49:19
Nov 13, 2025Rules and Legislation Committee0.4 min1:27
Nov 6, 2025Rules and Legislation Committee2.1 min5:40
Nov 4, 2025City Council4.7 min39:50
Oct 28, 2025Community and Economic Development CommitteeDevelopment and land use · Business and economic development8.9 min2:43
Oct 28, 2025Finance and Management Committee1.6 min22:10

How we identify who is speaking · blind check, pooled across five cities: of 410 council lines drawn, 352 right, 0 wrong, 1 unclear, 57 couldn’t be judged

We identified Brown’s voice at 84 meetings across seven bodies. A meeting missing here means we couldn’t attribute the voice, not that Brown was absent. Claude and Gemini each read every transcript with that day’s roster. A voice gets Rowena Brown’s name only when both agree and a code check finds the name said on, or just before, their turn. Voices our transcripts merge with someone else’s are never attributed, so every count here undercounts what Brown said. For councils and their committees, of 410 lines drawn, 352 were right, 0 wrong and 1 unclear, and the checkers couldn’t judge 57. We have since removed the voices behind 110 of those lines (0 wrong, 1 unclear, the rest we had already held for other reasons). Of the 300 lines we still publish, the checkers could judge 268: all 268 right (90% lower bound 0.99). They couldn’t judge the other 32. The check is one sample pooled across the five cities, not of Brown or of Oakland alone.