An entire generation of Alameda County District 5 residents has had only one supervisor represent them: Keith Carson.
Wearing a tawny brown suit with a purple watercolor pocket square, Carson sat behind the Board of Supervisors dais for the last time on Dec. 17 after 32 years of service.
“First, I want to give a big thanks to the people of the fifth district who have entrusted not only me but our staff to represent them. I don’t take that lightly, given the fact that from a national and historical perspective, the fifth district is known around the world for its activism,” Carson said. “We’ve been fighting for those issues for over 30 years. And we’ll continue to fight.”
Carson’s final day will officially be Jan. 6, but he received a special tribute for his public service at the last Board of Supervisors meeting of the year, commemorating a political career that spanned 50 years around the East Bay.
Upon graduating from Berkeley High School, he interned with Berkeley’s first Black mayor, Warren Widener, while balancing college courses at Merritt College in Oakland and UC Berkeley.
Carson then worked as a staffer for Rep. Ron Dellums’ office for the next 15 years, taking note of the congressmember’s leadership founding the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971. There he staffed with future Congressmember Barbara Lee, who described the experience as formative to their later careers.
“Those early days of public service shaped the leaders that we became,” Lee said. “Whether it’s championing affordable housing, working to address racial justice, fighting for our minority and women-owned businesses, or fighting for better public health and education, Keith has always been a bold and visionary leader.”
In 1988, Carson was working for Alameda County’s first Black supervisor John George when he died of a heart attack. Carson ran to replace George in 1988 but lost to Widener by 27 votes. But Carson ran again in 1992 and upset his former boss.
Over the next three decades, Carson was as much of a sympathizer to the activists of District 5 as he was an administrator focused on the growth and development of the county. He addressed health care equity, affordable housing and criminal justice reform through outreach efforts to businesses and faith communities. And he received wide praise for his work supporting the county’s 10-year plans known as Vision 2016, Vision 2026 and Vision 2036.
Alameda County Board of Supervisors President Nate Miley said he valued the hours he spent working with Carson through some of the most challenging times in the county’s history, admiring Carson’s decisive thoughts about the direction of Alameda County.
“You’re the GOAT, the greatest of all time,” Miley told Carson. “I’ve really appreciated your longevity here on the board. You provided a lot of vision, a lot of knowledge, a lot of inspiration.”
Carson’s will retire as the longest-serving supervisor in the county’s history dating back to when the first supervisors were seated in 1855. Although he could have run opposed in 2024, he chose instead to step down in an announcement on Dec. 8, 2023, seeking to welcome a new generation to the Board of Supervisors.
In a final address at the Board of Supervisors, Carson recalled how far the county has come since he was a child during segregation. He said he “stands on the shoulders” of John George, Ron Dellums, and his own Texas-born parents who sought a better life out west.
“They instilled in me the fact that we had to struggle, not just for ourselves, but for everybody else,” Carson said. “The ecosystem that evolved outside of that has been a part of what has been driving me to this day.”