Alameda County election commission is coming
Alameda County Democrats support election commission; New Alameda Labor Council leader wants members to help communities; Father of San Leandro's innovative downtown fiber-optics program dies
COUNTY NEWS
ALAMEDA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—OVERSIGHT COMMISSION—Oversight of Alameda County’s embattled registrar’s office is coming soon. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors is expected next week to create a 13-member Election Commission.
—The idea of an Election Commission was first proposed last January by Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson. His proposal will be discussed at Tuesday’s board meeting. If moved forward by the board, a first reading of a resolution to create the commission will follow on June 6.
—Carson’s proposal calls for a 13-member commission. In recent months, there had been talks offering some seats to registered political parties in the county, but the current iteration of the proposal goes another way.
—Below is the proposed composition of Alameda County’s Election Commission:
Appointee from each supervisor: 5
At-large members nominated by commission: 4
League of Women Voters: 1
ACLU of Northern California.: 1
Voters rights organization : 1
Disability rights organization: 1
—Also, whether the oversight body would be a commission, strongly favored by Supervisor Nate Miley, or a committee, strongly favored by Alameda County Registrar of Voters Tim Dupuis, had been up in the air.
—The proposed Election Commission would meet monthly, and up to 10 times a year. Notably, the commission would follow the transparency rules of the Brown Act.
—The impetus for an Election Commission was the disastrous ranked-choice voting race last November in Oakland’s District 4 school board race.
—The registrar’s office initially declared Nick Resnick the winner of the race. But after the election was certified, Dupuis was alerted that a “switch” in the Dominion Voting Systems software was incorrectly set.
—A re-do of the ranked-choice voting algorithm found Mike Hutchinson had actually won the race. The massive error sounded alarms in other very close ranked-choice voting races in the county, including mayoral campaigns in Oakland and San Leandro.
ALAMEDA COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY
—SUPPORT FOR COUNTY VOTER COMMISSION—Delivering accountability to the Alameda County Registrar’s Office has been a hot-button issue since the ranked-choice debacle that occurred in the Oakland school board race last November.
—A proposal by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to form an Election Commission received official support from the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee on Wednesday. The resolution cites “irregularities” in last November’s election.
—Some central committee members, however, raised questions about having the Board of Supervisors form the commission since errors that occurred at the registrar’s office came under their watch.
—It’s noteworthy that the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee also supports ranked-choice voting, the unique system that came under heavy fire from advocates for greater transparency in elections.
—ABSTENTIONS—The vote Wednesday night also raises tangential questions about whether some central committees who have gone on to greener pastures, such as Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and newly appointed Alameda County Supervisor Elisa Marquez, should pull back from their party duties.
—“I think I’m going to abstain,” Price said during the Election Commission resolution vote. Marquez was not required to vote on the item because there was no roll call, but she also announced she would abstain.
—PARTY CONVENTION PARTY—California Democrats will meet for the party’s convention on Memorial Day Weekend in Los Angeles, May 25-28. Alameda County Democrats plan to show their support at the convention for East Bay senate hopeful, Barbara Lee. The pre-endorsement for this big race isn’t until next October.
—Lee is scheduled to speak at the convention on Thursday, May 25. After the event, Tennessee state House Rep. Justin Jones, a former Lee staffer, and one of the Volunteer State officials expelled last month from the Tennessee Legislature for protesting gun violence, will honor Lee, along with Oakland singing star Goapele.
—NOTES—Alameda County Democrats passed an emergency resolution on Wednesday night to issue support for striking Oakland teachers... The local Democratic Central Committee is still in need of a treasurer after the retirement of longtime party apparatchik Royce Kelly. The committee thought they had a treasurer, but it didn’t work out, they said. However, they have two other prospective candidates in mind. In the meantime, Kelly is still cutting checks for the committee.
LABOR
—NEW LABOR LEADER—“I’m a firm believer that organizing works,” said Keith Brown, the Alameda Labor Council’s new executive secretary-treasurer. Brown, a former president of the Oakland Education Association, dropped by the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee’s monthly meeting on Wednesday night.
—The Alameda Labor Council is on the very short-list of most influential groups in East Bay electoral politics. Brown takes over for Liz Ortega who was elected to the 20th Assembly District last November.
—“Electing good candidates is important, but also as labor we need to make sure that we help our elected officials succeed and how we can change lives,” Brown said.
—In addition, building strong community coalitions and facilitating actions for union members such as volunteering in schools, food distribution, and blocking unfair evictions is also important, he said. “There’s just so many opportunities for union members in Alameda County to participate in the Alameda Labor Council.”
CITY NEWS
SAN LEANDRO
—‘DRO LEGEND DIES—Dr. J. Patrick Kennedy, who led the ambitious public-private effort to lure tech companies to Downtown San Leandro by introducing high-speed fiber-optics, died on April 9 following a long battle with lung disease. He was 79.
—In 2012, the project known as Lit San Leandro, was created by Kennedy in concert with the city. The project was an almost instant success, modernizing San Leandro’s infrastructure and serving as a beacon for attracting new tech companies to the city.
—Its success was the envy of several East Bay cities and a point of pride for San Leandro elected officials. Kennedy was the founder of OSIsoft, a data management company located in San Leandro.