By Deborah Shefler
Part of a series celebrating the LWVO's century of service to the Oakland community and some of the volunteers who made it happen:
Betty Ann Bruno, Wilhelmine Yoakum, Anna Mathai, Kathleen Cha, Ernestine Nettles, Bonnie Hamlin, Mary Bergan, Mary Strauss
Barbara Newcombe (1923-2022) was an influential champion of open government, a core League principle. Her passion led her to active membership in the LWVO. Working with the League, she provided guidance to the groups drafting Oakland’s current Sunshine Ordinance governing public meetings and records, which created a more open government. In 2010 the LWVO honored her with its "Making Democracy Work" award.
Her civic engagement didn’t start - or end - there, however.
She attended Pomona College and got a master’s degree from UC Berkeley in library science. She and her editor husband Jack raised four children. At 61, already a grandmother, she moved to Oakland and started volunteering at the Center for Investigative Reporting. It’s there she discovered there was no sufficient guide to public record-keeping in California. So in 1991 she wrote one, "Paper Trails: A Guide to Public Records in California," a valuable tool for those seeking to use public documents.
Her focus then moved to Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission, where she served for three years, 2000-2003, until her 80th birthday. She attended every Oakland City Council meeting, often with her granddaughter in tow.
In 2010, in addition to recognition from LWVO, Barbara received the Oakland Mother of the Year award from the city’s Parks & Recreation Department, presented in the beautiful Morcom Amphitheater of Roses. Since 1954, the annual award goes to the Oakland resident whose contributions to the community symbolize the finest traditions of motherhood.
At 90 she led the revival of the Cleveland Cascade above Lake Merritt, where today Oaklanders run, work out, and enjoy the views. This 1923 architect-designed staircase once had a circulating waterfall flowing through sconced bowls, flanked by stairs and illuminated at night. Sadly, it fell into unlit, dingy, crime ridden disrepair. Barbara and her team cleaned, planted and gradually transformed the stairs into a bright, beautiful gem, a testament to the difference one person can make.
"Barbara has shown incredible dedication as a park steward to the Cascades," says Brooke Levin of the city's Public Works Agency. "She is the driving force behind the legions of volunteers who turn out to take care of this once-forgotten city treasure."
She was also passionate about A’s games and participation in government. Her closing words at her 90th birthday celebration? “And remember to VOTE!”
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