Alameda City Council rejects mayor's Gaza letter
DA Price blocked from prosecuting former prosecutor; A's come before B's; Alameda County Dem Central Committee reaches next level bonkers; Supervisorial candidate invests $38k into his campaign
CITY NEWS
ALAMEDA
—RETURN TO SENDER—Alameda will not be joining the list of cities issuing support for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
—A letter penned by Alameda Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft hoped to register the city council’s support for an end to the conflict, but it was rejected by three councilmembers who worried the statement risked further dividing the community.
—“What I am trying to do is to use our voice, as we often do, to legislate,” Ashcraft said on Tuesday night. “We do this all the time and we would be joining our elected Congresswoman Barbara Lee.”
—Councilmember Tony Daysog, who is seeking to replace Lee in Congress this March, had qualms with a single sentence in Ashcraft’s letter that expressed support for “amplifying” certain voices.
—“It’s troubling on several accounts,” Daysog said. “I don’t agree with the characterization of Israel as an apartheid state, or I don’t agree with the characterization as a genocidal state.”
—“For that to be repeated often from Nov. 21 to today, that is not a voice that this city council should be amplifying,” Daysog added.
—Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer said the Gaza letter runs against the City Charter. “There’s no place within our City Charter that speaks to foreign policy, international matters,” she said. In addition, funding approval for foreign issues are under the purview of federal officials, not city officials, Spencer added.
—The motion to approve Ashcraft’s letter failed. A second motion, offered as an alternative, sought council support for a bill in Congress that calls for a ceasefire and providing humanitarian aid to Gazans.
—That motion failed, 2-2. Councilmember Malia Vella left the meeting prior to the vote to care for her child.
SAN LEANDRO
—GAZA IN THE ‘DRO—Also on Tuesday night, San Leandro councilmembers retreated to a conference room at City Hall after activists repeatedly interrupted the mayor and other councilmembers.
—Activists are likely not done with urging San Leandro officials to pass a resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and they will have some time to regroup.
—That’s because the city council appears to be relying on a local group named Unity in the Community to do the heavy lifting and hold community forums on the Gaza issue.
—The extra layer of bureaucracy will likely water down any future resolution the group offers the city council, and further upset activists that have jammed the council chambers for the past three meetings.
COUNTY NEWS
ALAMEDA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
—RECUSAL—Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s office will not be allowed to prosecute her critic and former employee Butch Ford, the Berkeley Scanner reports.
—An Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled Price’s conflicts were too great for her office to prosecute Ford, a former county prosecutor, for allegedly helping attorneys in the high-profile case involving a San Leandro police officer charged with involuntary manslaughter.
—The California Attorney General’s office will now handle the Ford case.
—There are two juicy intersections in this story. Not that it would have any bearing on the case, but state Attorney General Rob Bonta is not a big fan of DA Price.
—Furthermore, Ford could be a candidate for the district attorney appointment, if a recall comes to a special election ballot and is approved by voters.
—A’S COME BEFORE B’S—The Oakland Athletics blocked the up-and-coming Oakland Ballers from leasing the Coliseum for a game on June 29, the Associated Press reports.
—The new independent Pioneer League franchise, also calling itself the B’s, said they signed a lease and paid a deposit last month for a one-day use of the stadium.
—However, the A’s invoked their exclusive licensing agreement with the Coliseum Joint Powers Authority, and blocked the B’s from using the ballpark.
—This latest skirmish between A’s management and East Bay baseball fans comes as there are signs the team is facing difficulty in financing a new ballpark in Las Vegas.
ELECTION 2024
61 days to Primary Day
ALAMEDA COUNTY DEMOCRATS
—NOT ALL RECALLS ARE EQUAL—Last August, the central committee passed a resolution to oppose the recall against Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. Several members label the recall as “undemocratic.”
—A proposed resolution supporting the recall of Sunol Glen school boardmembers Ryan Jergensen and Linda Hurley, however, revealed a small schism between activists who charge the school boardmembers with making anti-LGBT decisions and those worried about perceptions the central committee is acting inconsistently when it comes to recalls.
—DROP IN THE BUCKET—The Alameda County Democratic Central Committee tried to approve an allocation of up to $10,000 on Wednesday night to Protect the Win, the independent expenditure committee opposing the recall of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.
—Some members, though, wanted the minimum contribution to be $10,000. Pointing to the sclerotic management of this current central committee the simple agenda item took 30 minutes to reach a vote. Plot twist: The central committee then realized they did not have quorum.
—What followed can only be described as bonkers. Several committee members screamed at each other. One member charged the central committee’s chair with having blood on his hands, while also questioning the loyalty of some towards Price. All of this occurred as the central committee use of the union hall in Oakland was nearing closing time.
—Therefore, no further vote was made on the Price allocation. In addition, the results of Wednesday’s night March Primary endorsements were not announced.
—GEEK SQUAD—The central committee implemented new precautions to its Zoom meetings on Wednesday after a non-member attempted to vote during a meeting in November, and another posted a swastika as background for their profile. A number of central committee members attending remotely, however, struggled to access some tools on Zoom.
—RICH & POOR—Alameda County Democratic Central Committee’s state account has $131,000 in the bank, the committee reported on Wednesday.
—By comparison, the Alameda County Republican Central Committee’s state account reported just $2,782 in cash on hand, according to finance report filed on Wednesday. The local GOP’s committee reported no contributions over the past six months.
—WAR COMES HOME—Alameda County Democratic Central Committee Chair Igor Tregub’s family apartment in Ukraine was bombed by Russian warplanes two days ago, Tregub said. His family is safe, he reported on Wednesday night.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - DISTRICT 5
—ENDORSEMENT—John Bauters’ bid for the District 5 seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors received the endorsement of Assemblymember Mia Bonta, the campaign announced on Wednesday.
—The endorsement, following Assemblymember Buffy Wicks’ support, locks up the district’s two members of the state assembly for Bauters.
—I’M JUST KEN—District 5 supervisorial candidate Ken Berrick appeared to be lagging in the money race. That is until yesterday, when Berrick reported a $38,000 investment into his own campaign.
—Berrick’s infusion of his own money, shoots his total of reported contributions to $55,000, as of Wednesday.
—TEACH ME HOW TO DOUGIE—Ben Bartlett’s supervisorial campaign raised $78,000 through the end of last year, his campaign announced on Wednesday. The amount puts Bartlett squarely in the mix of the expected four top fundraising candidates in the District 5 race.
—Perhaps, a more interesting morsel of news in Bartlett’s announcement is that he’s working with East Bay political consultant Doug Linney, widely recognized as one of the region’s best.
D5 PUBLICLY REPORTED CONTRIBUTIONS
John BAUTERS $73,500
Ken BERRICK $55,000
Ben BARTLETT $38,000
Nikki BAS $36,000
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
—MONEYBALL—Below is Form 497 campaign contributions filed on Jan. 3.
ALAMEDA COUNTY
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—Nate Miley (District 4), Teamsters #853 Political Activities Committee Fund, $1,000; Curtis Priem of Castro Valley, $1,000; Toni Alexander of Oakland, $1,000. TOTAL: $3,000.
—Jennifer Esteen (District 4), Bridget Galli of Castro Valley, $2,000; Michael Ubell of Oakland, $1,000. TOTAL: $3,000.
—Ken Berrick (District 5), Ken Berrick of Oakland, $38,000; Yali Lincroft of Seattle, $4,000; Janet Briggs of Long Beach, $1,000; Bob Houser Photography Studio, $1,000. TOTAL: $44,000.
BERKELEY
—Committee To Support Berkeley Public Schools Educational Excellence Act of 2024 (Measure H - Berkeley USD parcel tax), Gordon Commercial Real Estate Brokerage, $17,566 (Dec. 22); William Savidge of Berkeley, $1,000 (Dec. 27). TOTAL: $18,566.
STATE LEGISLATURE
STATE ASSEMBLY
—Buffy Wicks (14th Assembly District), Operating Engineers Local Union 3 Statewide PAC, $10,900. TOTAL: $10,900
—Alex Lee (24th Assembly District), IBEW Local 595 PAC, $5,400, $100. TOTAL: $5,500.
STATE SENATE
—Sandre Swanson (7th Senate District), Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce PAC, $4,000. TOTAL: $4,000
