About Pat Kernighan

Patricia Kernighan was elected to represent District 2 on the Oakland City Council in May 2005.  During her first year in office, she is providing real solutions, outstanding constituent service and promoting neighborhood empowerment. Alongside the community, she is fighting to achieve safer and cleaner neighborhoods, more jobs, affordable housing, and after school programs for youth.

She previously served for four years as chief of staff to District 2 Councilmember Danny Wan and two years as Legislative Aide to former City Councilmember John Russo.  During that time she earned the respect of residents of District 2 for being a strong community advocate and legislative expert.  As council staff, she worked with neighborhood organizations to fight blight and nuisance, increase communication with the police, and improve neighborhood parks.  The neighborhoods of District 2 include Bella Vista, Chinatown, Crocker Highlands, Eastlake, Grandlake, Haddon Hill, Rose Garden, and the San Antonio).

Pat played a leadership role in the creation of Splashpad Park, Bella Vista Park, and the renovation of San Antonio Park.  She is currently working with the community on master plans for renovating Clinton Park  in the Eastlake and Lincoln Square Recreation area in Chinatown.  She brought back City recreation programming to San Antonio Park this year after many years of no programs.

In 2001 Pat co-authored Measure DD to renovate parks at Lake Merritt and create trails and parks along Oakland's waterfront. Pat is currently working closely with Assemblywoman Wilma Chan, who is endorsing her re-election, to identify state matching funds to further implement the community’s vision for a cleaner and more usable Lake Merritt.  And she has taken the lead on promoting a strong vision for bringing major retail to Oakland, a key issue of economic revitalization for our city as a whole.  She also champions the need to support our local merchants and neighborhood commercial areas

Among the key priorities for her first full-term are to expand after-school and children’s recreation programs, to continue to improve neighborhood parks and playgrounds, and to fully implement community policing.  And, like many elected officials, she will be spending long hours working with other Councilmembers on the tough fiscal and budget issues our City faces, and evaluating how best to address these challenges. 

Since taking office, Kernighan has attended and hosted community meetings in every neighborhood in the District and made it a point to host office hours in the community to be readily available to her constituents.  Her community email list is more than 2,000 strong, and is a strong organizing and communications vehicle.

Pat is originally from eastern Washington State, graduating from the University of Washington.  She has a J.D. degree from Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco and is a member of the California State Bar.  Her work as an attorney has included practicing poverty law for the Legal Aid of San Mateo County and litigation for several private firms.

Pat and her husband, Paul Gordon, live in the Grandlake district of Oakland, where they raised their two daughters, Hannah and Ariel.  Pat was a longtime volunteer and advocate in the Oakland public schools and served on the Oakland Library Commission prior to joining the staff of the City Council.