Voters in Berkeley's District 8, the southeast corner of the city that takes in the Claremont, Halcyon and Elmwood neighborhoods, are choosing a City Council member on the Nov. 3 ballot. Incumbent Mark Humbert, first elected in 2022, is running for another four-year term against two active challengers, and a third challenger's name will appear on the ballot even though he has quit the race.
Who is on the ballot
The city clerk's official notice of nominees lists four District 8 candidates in this ballot order:
- Mark Humbert, City Councilmember
- Michael Wallman, systems engineer
- Fred M. Feller, attorney
- Mari Mendonca
Feller told Berkeleyside in August that he had dropped out of the race and did not say why. His name still appears on the ballot, The Berkeley Scanner noted. That leaves a three-way contest in practice.
Mark Humbert
Humbert is a career federal litigator and mediator who served on Berkeley's transportation, public works and parks and waterfront commissions before joining the council, according to a Bay City News profile of the race. In his candidate statement he points to park projects such as the Willard Park Clubhouse and to zoning changes that allow duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes in residential neighborhoods as highlights of his first term. He says he wants to keep working on public safety, small businesses, street and sidewalk repair, and making the city more affordable. His endorsers include state Sen. Jesse Arreguin, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, Mayor Adena Ishii and council members Rashi Kesarwani, Terry Taplin, Ben Bartlett, Igor Tregub and Brent Blackaby.
Michael Wallman
Wallman was born in Oakland and has lived in Berkeley most of his life. Berkeleyside reported that his LinkedIn page lists him as a technical lead at Google. His campaign focuses on affordable, family-size homes, help for small businesses and wildfire preparedness plans for the district, which reaches into the Claremont hills. In his statement he says he would use data to make policy decisions "rather than serving special interests." Bay City News found no endorsements listed in his statement or on his website.
Mari Mendonca
Mendonca is a former Rent Stabilization Board member and an organizer with the neighborhood group Friends of Adeline. She has also served on the city's Community Advisory Group for BART development. This is a rematch: Humbert beat her for the seat in 2022, Berkeleyside noted. She wants to regulate market-rate housing and end incentives like state density bonuses, which let developers build bigger projects when they include affordable units. In her statement she argues that upzoning and infill are being pushed "under the pretense" of a housing crisis and threaten small businesses and neighborhood infrastructure. Rent Board commissioner Xavier Johnson is among her endorsers.
What about Feller?
Before he withdrew, Feller ran on affordable housing in high-resource neighborhoods, street repair, mental health reform and wildfire readiness. Bay City News reported that his endorsers had included presidents of several District 8 neighborhood associations and former council members Susan Wengraf, Kate Harrison and Carla Woodworth.
The main divide
Housing is the clearest split. Humbert backs the middle-density zoning the council has already passed, Mendonca opposes that kind of upzoning, and Wallman stresses family-size affordable homes. All of the candidates mention wildfire preparedness and street repair.
How to vote
Vote-by-mail ballots went out the week of Oct. 5. Berkeley has eight vote centers: two open Oct. 24 and the rest open Oct. 31, according to The Berkeley Scanner. The deadline to preregister in Alameda County is Oct. 19, but you can still register on the day you vote. District 8 is also one of four council seats on Berkeley's ballot this year, along with Districts 1, 4 and 7.