AD20 race picks up where it left off in the spring with a nasty hit on Liz Ortega-Toro
Union City employees junked yard signs belonging to city council candidates not on the mayor's slate. Plus, daily campaign finance data reports.
ELECTION 2022
Days until Election Day: 39. Days until ballot are mailed: 10.
20TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
—GUT PUNCH—The November election in the East Bay’s 20th Assembly District is picking up where the June primary campaign ended—with a nasty mailer produced by a real estate-funded Independent Expenditure Committee.
—The mailer arrived in mailboxes on Thursday and highlights 20th Assembly District candidate Liz Ortega-Toro and her personal financial history. “Liz Ortega is bankrupt!” the mailer blares, while detailing that she filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Ortega-Toro, the mailer continues, “failed to pay her taxes…but loves to raise taxes on us.”
—The IE behind the mailer is Keep California Golden, which is funded primarily by the California Association of Realtors, California Apartment Association, California Building Industry, and Uber, among others. During the primary, the IE spent nearly $175,000 in support of Ortega-Toro’s opponent, Shawn Kumagai, but posted no expenditures last spring in opposition to Ortega-Toro’s candidacy.
—While the current mailer opposing Ortega-Toro is particularly harsh, it mirrors another sent by a different IE just days before last June’s Primary Election Day. However, the June mailer, funded by Future PAC is also backed by the California Apartment Association. Future PAC spent $92,000 in support of Kumagai in the primary.
UNION CITY
—HERE’S YOUR SIGN—Two Union City Council candidates said the city employees took down their campaign yard signs. Jeff Wang, who is seeking the open District 3 seat this November, said up to 70 of his yard signs were junked. A doorbell video shows at least one Union City public works employee removing one of Wang’s signs from a front yard. Vipan Bajwa, a candidate in the District 4 race, also said some of his yard signs were removed by city employees.
—Placing campaign signs in public right-of-ways is prohibited. It’s unclear whether all of the removed yard signs were placed in illegal areas, such as road medians and public spaces, or legally placed on private property and with the consent of the owner.
—Union City Councilmember Jaime Patino, who is seeking re-election in District 2, said a few of his yard signs went missing, but far fewer than Wang and Bajwa.
—There is a notable connection between Wang, Bajwa, and Patino. They are all facing opponents this fall on the slate of candidates preferred by Union City Mayor Carol Dutra-Vernacci. In an email to her supporters last week, Dutra-Vernacci announced her preferences for the Union City Council elections, along with vague criticism directed toward Wang, Bajwa, and Patino.
—CURIOUS CONTRIBUTIONS—City managers typically go to great lengths to remain neutral on all city matters. That’s why it was curious that Union City Manager Joan Malloy contributed $1,000 this week to the effort for Measure Z, the city’s ballot initiative to reinstate its current half-cent sales tax for another nine years. On the flip side, it does not appear that Measure Z is attracting much dissent in Union City.
COUNTY NEWS
—BOARD AG GAG—Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley represents a unique district that runs from East Oakland to the county’s agriculture areas. Over the years, Miley has remained very tight with the local Ag community.
—So, it was no surprised last week when Miley felt undermined, perhaps disrespected, by a board item offered by Supervisor Richard Valle and Dave Brown to prohibit wild cow milking in unincorporated Alameda County, particularly Castro Valley’s venerable Rowell Ranch Rodeo, but also a number of other rodeo-related restrictions.
—The wild cow milking ban in unincorporated Alameda County was approved, but before the vote, Miley attempted to force any further restrictions on the rodeo to run the gauntlet of a number of board committees and advisory boards. Two of them are totally controlled by Miley—the Castro Valley and Fairview Municipal Advisory Councils. The board’s Agriculture Committee is also favorable to Miley.
—Hamstringing the current and future boards on a specific subject like the rodeo was opposed by Valle and Brown, who both rejected Miley’s assertion that the wild cow milking ban was not vetted by its committees. Valle said the county’s discussion on mutton busting at the rodeo in 2019 included a fulsome vetting of wild cow milking.
—Still upset, Miley proceeded to unleash a glorious rant deriding the wild cow milking discussion as a waste of the board’s time when more important issues are at hand. Miley went on to apologize to just about every possible group of people in Alameda County. See below:
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
—CUSTODIANS CLEANING UP IN SD10—The AFSCME Local 3299 IE that ran television ads during the primary in support of 10th State Senate candidate Aisha Wahab, has pumped $875,000 into the effort through Sept. 24, according to a campaign finance report filed on Thursday. The union added another $18,000 to the pot on Thursday, and the IE has $304,000 in reserves for the stretch run.
—KUMAGAI THE IE GUY—Shawn Kumagai sure gets a lot of love from IEs. Keep Californians Working, which spent $86,000 in support of his June primary campaign, doled out $18,426 for a mailer, consulting, and polling on Thursday, according to a finance report.
—LIVIN’ DAVITA LOCA—Davita, the kidney dialysis provider, is back with an $82,000 expenditure for a mailer in support of 10th State Senate candidate Lily Mei, according to a finance reports filed on Thursday.
—During the primary, Davita spent $267,000 in support of Mei, and was the largest amount spent on her campaign by any IE. Davita has also spent recently in support of 20th Assembly District candidate Shawn Kumagai. In addition, if you watch TV, you’ve seen Davita’s ads opposing Proposition 29.
—KAP GOES DIGITAL—Alameda County Tenants Families and Workers supporting Rebecca Kaplan for Supervisor 2022 sponsored by SEIU Local 1021 is following up a notable mailer this week with a $25,000 digital ad campaign, according to a finance report filed on Friday. At this point, the IE has already spent $92,000 for the fall campaign.
—MONEYBALL—Below is Form 497 contributions ($1,000 or more) filed Friday through Monday afternoon. *-local city campaign contribution limit.
COUNTY
ALAMEDA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
—Pamela Price (Alameda County District Attorney), Ellen Coffey of Berkeley, $1,000; Mihir Meghani of Fremont, $1,000.
ALAMEDA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—Rebecca Kaplan (Alameda County Board of Supervisors-Dist. 3), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers - Local 21 TJ Anthony PAC Fund, $2,500.
EAST BAY MUD BOARD OF DIRECTORS
—Marguerite Young (East Bay MUD Board of Directors-Dist. 3), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers - Local 21 TJ Anthony PAC Fund, $1,200; AFSCME Local 2019 PAC Account, $1,200.
—Corina Lopez (East Bay MUD Board of Directors-Dist. 7), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers - Local 21 TJ Anthony PAC Fund, $1,200.
EDEN HEALTH DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS
—Ed Hernandez (Eden Health District Board of Directors-Dist. 5), Edward Miller of Brentwood, $1,000.
CITY
OAKLAND
—Janani Ramachandran (Oakland City Council-Dist. 4), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers - Local 21 TJ Anthony PAC Fund, $1,900*.
—Kevin Jenkins (Oakland City Council-Dist. 6), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers - Local 21 TJ Anthony PAC Fund, $1,900*.
—Friends of Oakland Public Schools (Supporting Oakland USD Measure H parcel tax renewal), East Bay Asian Youth Center, $20,000; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 595 Issues PAC, $5,000.
—Oakland Neighbors for Affordable Housing and Safe Streets (Supporting Oakland Measure U infrastructure bond), Resources for Community Development, $5,000.
—Yes on V and Q - East Bay Tenants Union PAC (Supporting Oakland Measure V just cause ordinance, and Measure Q low-income housing authorization), Yerba Buena Consortium LLC(John Elberling), $8,000.
—Californians for Safer Streets Supporting Ignacio De La Fuente for Mayor of Oakland 2022 (Supporting De La Fuente), Normand Groleau of Mill Valley, $25,000.
—Citizens for Impactful Voting in Oakland (Supporting Loren Taylor, Ignacio De La Fuente, Treva Reid for Mayor 2022), Charles Freiberg of Oakland, $2,300.
LIVERMORE
—Yes on G (Livermore Joint USD facilities bond), Man Wah Cheng dba MWC & Associates of Castro Valley, $1,000.
SAN LEANDRO
—Bryan Azevedo (San Leandro Mayor), International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers - Local 21 TJ Anthony PAC Fund, $4,900; Bernard Ashcraft of San Leandro, $1,000.
HAYWARD
—Daniel Goldstein (Hayward City Council), California Real Estate PAC, $1,620*; Sprinkler Fitters and Apprentices Local 483 PAC, $1,620*.
—Julie Roche (Hayward City Council), California Real Estate PAC, $1,620*; Akatete Inc. DBA Bronco Billy's Pizza Palace, $1,500.
STATE LEGISLATURE
10TH STATE SENATE DISTRICT
—Aisha Wahab (10th State Senate District), Robert Wieckowski for Assembly 2024, $4,900.
—UC Berkeley Custodians, Cooks, Groundskeepers and Nurse Assistants Supporting Aisha Wahab for Senate 2022 sponsored by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, (Supporting Wahab), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, $18,050.
20TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
—Shawn Kumagai (20th Assembly District), GFC Courage Committee-Golden Gate Chapter, $4,900; Anheuser-Busch Companies, $4,900; California Apartment Association PAC, $4,900; Iman Novin of Walnut Creek, $2,400; Charter Communications Operating LLC, $1,500.
18TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
—Mia Bonta (18th Assembly District), Steamfitters Local 342 PAC, $4,900.
14TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
—Buffy Wicks (14th Assembly District), David Rusenko of San Francisco, $4,900; Misha Chellam of Alameda, $1,000; Michael Levinson of Menlo Park, $1,000.
