RCPC board fires the editors of The Rockridge News

UBA's Steering Committee voices concern after the Rockridge Community Planning Council board dismissed the two longtime editors of The Rockridge News without public notice or explanation.

Dear Rockridge neighbors,

We were shocked to learn that on October 5th, 2025, the RCPC board ended the employment of both editors of The Rockridge News, Anna Marks and Jo Ellis, for unspecified reasons. The board has hired an interim editor, Liam Pierce, who — for the first time in the paper’s history — does not actually live in Rockridge.

The RCPC board provided no community-wide public notice of this decision. Casey Farmer, the current RCPC board chair, gave no explanation to Anna and Jo for why the long-time editors were dismissed, or what “new direction” the paper would be taking.

We greatly appreciate Anna and Jo’s hard work and dedication in publishing a wide range of opinions and news items that affect our neighborhood. We are increasingly concerned that RCPC and The Rockridge News are moving away from their original mission of representing the entire Rockridge community toward simply pushing the will of the board, without transparency or community input. It is important that The Rockridge News remains an independent news source, providing appropriate checks and balances.

We are also concerned that the board is restricting information about events affecting Rockridge and limiting community participation — for example, the RCPC committees for Land Use, Communications, and Transportation appear not to have met for more than half a year.

We want to know more about the board’s decision, and we encourage you to write letters, copying UBAoakland@gmail.com:

Letters to the Editor of The Rockridge News: editor@rockridge.org
The RCPC board: info@rockridge.org and chair@rockridge.org

For a vibrant community in Rockridge, please:

Be an active community member
Participate in community forums and events
Write letters to the RCPC board, The Rockridge News, and public officials
Run for RCPC board positions (the deadline to declare your candidacy is generally the end of February)
Vote in RCPC elections (generally in April)

Thank you for making your voice heard.

Yours in community, The UBA Steering Committee