A chance to reframe the narrative in Oakland
San Leandro eyes membership changes to its new Community Police Review Board
CITY NEWS
OAKLAND
—STATE OF THE CITY—Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao will have an opportunity on Tuesday afternoon to reframe the narrative around the state of Oakland.
—Thao is scheduled to the deliver the State of the City to the Oakland City Council sometime after 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
—Since her swearing-in last January Thao has seemingly failed to get any breaks as crime stats match residents poor perceptions of public safety, the A’s likely bolting for Las Vegas, and the unceremonious dismissal of the city’s popular police chief, among other issues.
—One hallmark of Thao’s first-year performance is an inability to offer reassuring remarks that good times are just around the corner for Oakland. Thao’s off-the-cuff remarks in public settings and live television interviews are often described as “word salads.”
—But Thao has a new communications director, so Tuesday’s State of the City may provide hints about whether the mayor’s messaging is changing in a positive direction. However, a graphic posted by the city last week misspelled Oakland.
—TOWN LICENSE-PLATE READERS—For Oaklanders craving some semblance of law and order, the Oakland City Council will discuss accepting $1.2 million in state funding for Automated License-Plate Readers (ALPRs).
—Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao has previously stated a desire to install up to 300 ALPRs around the city.
—Car thefts are up 51 percent, and car break-ins are up 38 percent, according to a city staff report in support of the mounted surveillance cameras.
—A proposed three-year contract with Flock, the distributor of the surveillance cameras, comes with a $2.87 million price tag. The state grant covers the first year of the contract. Oakland’s Police Department budget would cover the next two years, according to the staff report.
—The city’s influential Privacy Advisory Commission approved a policy for the ALPRs use on Oct. 6.
SAN LEANDRO
—BOARD RESHUFFLING—Perhaps some adversity should have been expected for San Leandro’s first edition of a Community Police Review Board. The nine-member board has consistently been undermanned during its first year of existence.
—Its two dedicated students seats have seen departures (one is still vacant), and another boardmember resigned earlier this year and has been replaced.
—The rectify the instability, the city council will likely move to change the structure of the CPRB at tonight’s meeting.
—The recommended proposal is to remove the two student seats and replace them with two additional at-large members.
—The current board is made up of appointees from the six council districts, two student appointees, and an at-large selection by the mayor. The change would presumably give the mayor three at-large picks.
—’DRO LICENSE-PLATE READERS—San Leandro’s Community Police Review Board was created last year in the aftermath of the killing of Stephen Taylor by a San Leandro police officer in 2020.
—One of the board’s biggest tasks since its creation comes on Wednesday.
—The CPRB received a request by the city council last month to review proposed policies for the use of 41 Automated License-Plate Readers (ALPRs), surveillance cameras mounted at fixed locations around the city.
HAYWARD
—SIDEWALK VENDING—Last week, the Hayward City Council approved regulations allowing sidewalk vending on city streets. The city previously did not have an ordinance regulating the permitting of sidewalk commerce that includes pushcarts and other freestanding businesses.
—The ordinance comes back for a second and final reading on Tuesday night, along with amendments regulating the size of signage associated with the sidewalk vending businesses.
—Back in 2019, a state law decriminalized sidewalk vending in the state, but it has taken Hayward nearly four years to comply.
—HOMECOMING—State Sen. Aisha Wahab will return to her old haunts at Hayward City Hall on Tuesday night to present a legislative update for her first year in the State Senate. Wahab served one-term as a Hayward councilmember before moving up to the state Legislature this year.
ALAMEDA
—HELLO SUNSHINE—Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft and Councilmember Tracy Jensen want to shift power from the city’s Open Government Commission to hear and decide complaints and give it to an independent hearing officer.
—Ashcraft and Jensen made a referral request earlier this month in order to bring the issue to the full council, possibly on Tuesday night.
—No other Alameda board and commission is given powers typically afforded to a judge, the referral states. In addition, because Open Government commissioners are appointed by councilmembers, there is a risk of impartiality when deciding complaints.
—The Open Government Commission’s primarily role is to enforce Alameda’s rigorous Sunshine Ordinance that includes adherence to the Brown Act and timely requests for public information.
—PORT CHICAGO 50 RESO—The city will approve a resolution on Tuesday in support of various efforts to reestablish the honor of the Port Chicago 50, naval officers who protested at the Contra Costa County waterfront in 1944 following a deadly explosion related to the transport of munitions. Fifty individuals were later court-martialed for mutiny and jailed.
ELECTION 2024
—CAMPAIGN FINANCE DATA—Below is Form 497 campaign contributions ($5,000 or more) filed Sept. 29 through Oct. 15.
ALAMEDA COUNTY
PRICE RECALL
—Save Alameda For Everyone: Recall DA Price, Ted Peterson of Oakland, $10,000 (Aug. 29).
OAKLAND
—Sasha Ritzie-Hernandez (Oakland USD Dist. 5 Special Election), SEIU Local 1021 Candidate PAC, $1,200 (Oct. 11); Peralta Federation of Teachers Committee on Political Education, $1,200 (Mar. 10).
STATE LEGISLATURE
STATE ASSEMBLY
—Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (16th Assembly District), Joseph Spector of Orinda, $5,500 (Oct. 8).
—Liz Ortega (20th Assembly District), IBEW Local Union 1245 PAC Small Contributor Committee, $5,000 (Oct. 9); IBEW Local 595 PAC Small Contributor Committee, $5,500 (Oct. 9).
—Alex Lee (24th Assembly District), Douglas Chan of San Francisco, $5,500 (Oct. 2).
STATE SENATE
—Jesse Arreguin (7th Senate District), International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Local 549 PAC, $11,000 (Oct. 6); Operating Engineers Local No.3 Statewide PAC, $5,400 (Oct. 10).
—Kathryn Lybarger (7th Senate District), United Domestic Workers of America Action Fund, $6,100, $2,400 (Sept. 28); Women's Political Committee State, $5,000 (Sept. 28).
—Tim Grayson (9th Senate District), California Dental Association PAC, $5,000 (Oct. 2); Build Jobs PAC, $5,500 (Oct. 3); Valero Services, Inc.. $5,500 (Oct. 3); Check Into Cash of Dublin, OH, $5,000 (Oct. 6).
—Edith Villapudua (5th Senate District), Stephanie Nguyen for Assembly 2024, $5,500 (Sept. 29); California Correctional Peace Officers Association Local PAC, $10,900, $100 (Oct. 2)
—Committee to Support the Recall of Aisha Wahab, Asha Jadeja of Atherton, $5,000 (Oct. 4).
—Steve Glazer for Lt. Governor 2026, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, $5,500 (Sept. 27); Zuffa, LLC, $1,500 (Sept. 15).
—PROGRAM NOTE—I’m back from vacation and guess what? I missed you guys. Today’s newsletter is a little late. It turned out my plan to mix coverage previewing this week’s council meetings with compiling the highlights of the last two weeks was completely too ambitious.
All this week, I plan to insert updates from the last two weeks with the usual forward-looking coverage.
For subscribers, recall that I paused your subscription for 10 days while I was away. You will receive an extra two weeks tacked on to the end of your subscription.
I will add that my decompression in Lisbon and Porto has brought me some new ideas that I hope to share in recent weeks and months.
The business plan is much more than a daily newsletter, but creating the East Bay’s first government affairs organization. We’re a bit of a ways from that, but the vision and path has been identified.
We’ll talk again over coffee tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. See you then! —steve