Alameda County registrar had an East Bay congressional candidate arrested while she was observing the vote count
A noted Oakland city rights attorney may be measuring the curtains at the city administrator's office
ELECTION 2022
14TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
—ONE VOTE, ONE PHONE CALL—Alison Hayden has voiced pointed criticisms of the Alameda County Registrar’s Office, repeatedly alleging wrongdoing at several Board of Supervisor’s hearings in recent months, including at a meeting just days before the Election Day.
—On Friday night, as the Registrar’s office was concluding the vote-counting process with the last large batch of ballots, Hayden, a Republican congressional candidate on the ballot this fall, was arrested by Alameda County sheriff’s deputies, according to insiders.
—Hayden was observing the counting of ballots at the county administration office in Oakland when she was arrested. The reason for the arrest is unknown. Hayden was released from Santa Rita Jail on Saturday.
—For several years, Hayden has questioned the integrity of the vote in Alameda County and has observed previous Election Night vote counts. This month, Rep. Eric Swalwell easily defeated Hayden in the November General Election. Hayden also lost to Swalwell in 2020.
—Hayden’s own Alameda County Republican Party had issues with her campaign during this election cycle. Hayden said she did not seek the party’s endorsement in the top two June primary. When she finished second and advanced to the November General Election, Hayden automatically received the party’s endorsement. However, Alameda County GOP leaders moved to rescind the endorsement because they believed she didn’t want it in the first place.
—This fall’s election has not been Alameda County Registrar Tim Dupuis’ finest hour. Two years ago, a lack of training for poll workers led to a few Oakland voters initially being disenfranchised. This fall, Dupuis’ office neglected to include an entire San Leandro school board race on the city’s ballot. The mistake forced the registrar to quickly send San Leandro voters a supplemental ballot.
—In recent days, the torpid pace of vote-counting in Alameda County has raised frustrations to new levels. It remains unknown why hundreds of thousands of ballots waited to be counted in just the past two business days. The number of uncounted ballots in Alameda County also greatly outpaced nearly every county in the state.
OAKLAND MAYOR
—DAN THE MAN—With Oakland’s mayoral race likely tilted toward victory for Sheng Thao, but still too-close-to-call by some estimates, there are rumors nonetheless, about who might help her led the next administration.
—One name that began popping up in recent days to be the next city administrator is well-known Oakland civil rights attorney Dan Siegel.
—It’s a name that labor would have no problems with and enthusiastically welcomed by Oakland progressives.
—Siegel ran a spirited campaign for Oakland mayor in 2014. Despite finishing third, Siegel’s campaign jumpstarted the push to increase the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour.
SAN LEANDRO MAYOR
—SAY IT ISN’T SO—It’s been a difficult few days for San Leandro mayoral candidate Bryan Azevedo. After leading the mayoral race everyday since Election Night, opponent Juan Gonzalez passed Azevedo after ranked-choice votes were tabulated on Friday Night.
—Earlier in the day came news that the owner of Joe’s Pho restaurant in San Leandro, one of Azevedo’s first supporters of his mayoral campaign, is alleged to have wrongfully evicted some of their workers and paid them less than the minimum wage.
—Full disclosure: I had dinner at Joe’s Pho on Thursday night and saw Azevedo’s campaign sign and literature still displayed at the cash register. Azevedo’s social media postings a year ago that boasting of Joe’s Pho’s endorsement is how I came to know about the popular Vietnamese restaurant.
COUNTY NEWS
CHABOT-LAS POSITAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD
—Chabot-Las Positas Community College Trustee Luis Reynoso could be headed toward a censure vote sometime in the near future. An investigation is set to begin into what followed after Reynoso posted an image on his LinkedIn page that members of the LGBT community consider offensive.
—Reynoso said he was unaware that the image of an apple has been used by some to denigrate the transgender community. He believed it denoted common sense. Two students later complained that Reynoso disregarded their opinions and that he refused to apologize.
—Reynoso said he has never received a written complaint of the specific charges from the community college district. “Freedom of speech is dead,” Reynoso told the East Bay Insider.
—Reynoso has faced strong criticism from teachers unions for years during his previous stint on the Hayward school board. Reynoso, however, has proven elusive.
—Two years ago, Reynoso ran for re-election to his school board seat while concurrently seeking an open seat at the Chabot-Las Positas Board of Trustees. He won both seats, but Hayward school boardmembers forced him to choose one seat or the other. They contended holding both presented a conflict of interest.
Here’s the schedule for this Thanksgiving week: I’ll publish a newsletter on Tuesday before the holiday. In addition, look for a new episode of the East Bay Insiders Podcast on Wednesday. Shawn Wilson; myself; and Dan Mendoza, the First Man of Dublin; will break down the November Election from an undisclosed hideout in Fremont.