Alameda County safety net provider is facing $100 million budget shortfall
DA Pamela Price charges three Alameda police officers in 2021 death of Mario Gonzalez; 'Dro city manager may be headed to Florida; Congressional candidate reports $769k in campaign debts
COUNTY NEWS
HEALTH CARE
—LABOR PAINS AHEAD?—Ahead of Alameda County releasing its fiscal year funding gap next week comes news that Alameda Health System, the county’s safety net health care provider, is projecting a $100 million budget shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year.
—James Jackson, Alameda Health System’s chief executive officer, downplayed the severity of the funding gap and cuts that may be needed to close the shortfall.
—“When we say $100 million, that sounds phenomenal and quite scary and it’s a big number, but I think it was probably $30-$40 million last year,” Jackson told the Alameda County Board of Supervisors Health Committee last week.
—“It’s double what it was, but it’s on a $1.4 billion organization, the percentage of what we’re dealing with is contextualized.”
—With consultants coming in to look at the health care providers’ financials, Jackson said he’s confident the funding gap will be fully addressed.
—Kim Miranda, Alameda Health System’s chief financial officer, was less hopeful.
—“We typically have a budget gap, but not to this degree,” she told the health committee.
—Nearly three-fourths of Alameda Health System’s budget is labor costs. Miranda added, “We know we have to look at everything.”
—Reasons for the nine-figure funding gap include: decreasing pandemic-related revenue, a wave of hiring to staff its records management system, and inflation, Miranda said.
—Alameda Health System is operated separately from the county, but the Board of Supervisors maintain oversight of the organization that includes Highland Hospital, San Leandro and Alameda Hospitals, among other medical facilities.
—But the county holds mounting debt from Alameda Health System and is its financial backstop in troubled economic times.
—Earlier this week, Supervisor Keith Carson referenced the county’s participation in real estate negotiations with the city of Oakland and Oakland Roots Soccer Club for a temporary pitch and training grounds.
—Carson mentioned Alameda Health System’s $100 million shortfall to underscore the county’s focus is on the safety net, not sports teams.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
—PRICE CHARGES OFFICERS—Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price filed criminal charges against the three Alameda police officers involved in the 2021 death of Mario Gonzalez.
—Former Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley cleared Alameda police officers Eric McKinley, James Fisher and Cameron Leahy of wrongdoing in 2022.
—But upon taking office last year, Price reopened the case that followed an incident in 2021 in which officers responded to reports of an inebriated man outside a home in Alameda.
—After the officers attempted to engage with Gonzalez they pinned him down on his stomach in a manner that evoked the methods used by Minneapolis police officers against George Floyd. Gonzalez then stopped breathing and died later at the hospital.
—McKinley and Leahy were placed on administrative leave by the Alameda Police Department, the city announced. Fisher is now a Contra Costa County deputy sheriff.
—PRICE CHECK—Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price appeared in public on Tuesday a day after news broke that the campaign to recall her from office qualified for a special election.
—Price received a proclamation in honor of “National Crime Victims’ Rights Week” at Tuesday night’s Hayward City Council meeting.
—Price did not mention the recall. In fact, there’s nary been a peep from Price’s camp following certification of more than 74,000 recall signatures on Monday.
—Price’s appearance in Hayward, however, strongly suggests she intends to work on improving her often atrocious messaging.
—With a cameraman in tow, Price touted her support for victims of crime and their families in Alameda County.
—The DA’s office has allocated $1 million in funds to victims, Price told the Hayward City Council.
—“Too often, I will tell you, those are burial claims, and it does break my heart every time I have to sign a check to help somebody bury their loved ones,” Price said. “We try to humanize it by sending a letter of our condolences, something I initiated last year.”
—Since Price took over the DA’s office in early 2023, victims’ families have strongly expressed a belief that Price ignores their suffering and seeks to avoid meeting with them altogether.
—These criticisms, along with several high-profile cases in which Price’s office chose to seek what families believe were lenient sentences for violent crimes, sowed the seeds for the recall she is facing sometime this year.
CITY NEWS
SAN LEANDRO
—FROM ‘DRO TO FLO-RIDA—San Leandro City Manager Fran Robustelli appears headed for a new job in Florida.
—The St. Pete Beach City Council narrowly directed its staff this week to begin contract negotiations for Robustelli’s services, the St. Pete Beach Beacon reports.
—But it’s not yet a sure thing that Robustelli will get the job. The St. Pete Beach council vote was 3-2 in her favor. A supermajority of four votes is needed to approve a city manager’s contract, the news site reports.
—Robustelli’s interest in employment elsewhere was expected by San Leandro politicos after the controversy involving the dismissal of popular police chief Abdul Pridgen.
—The prevailing view was that Robustelli had been placed in a no-win position between the San Leandro police union who wanted Pridgen ousted, and some councilmembers and the public who supported the reform-minded cop.
ELECTION 2024
14TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
—VINSANITY—East Bay Republican congressional candidate Vin Kruttiventi has campaign debts totaling $769,000, according to a finance report filed this week.
—Kruttiventi will face Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell in the November General Election.
—Personal loans to his campaign accounts for $500,000 of the debt, according to the filing, along with $269,000 in other expenditures.
—Among them was $83,000 for digital billboard ads that became ubiquitous during the primary to anyone traveling on freeways in the Tri-Valley and Hayward.
—Despite finishing second in the top two primary, Kruttiventi’s campaign, on the financial side, was an unmitigated disaster.
—With nearly 18 percent of the primary vote, Kruttiventi’s performance tracked with similar results by previous 14th District candidates who barely spent a dime on their campaigns.
—Swalwell won the primary with 66 percent to the vote is almost certain to win re-election in November.
BERKELEY SPECIAL ELECTION - DISTRICT 7
—RESULTS UPDATE—Cecilia Lunaparra is maintaining her lead in the Berkeley City Council special election in District 7.
—An update by the Alameda County Registrar’s Office on Thursday shows Lunaparra with a 93-vote lead over James Chang.
BERKELEY - DISTRICT 7
Cecilia Lunaparra 284 votes, 59.79%
James Chang 191 votes, 40.21%
—The update was the first since Election Night on Tuesday.
—Turnout out in the special election to replace Rigel Robinson, who resigned from office in January, is now 16.8 percent.
—A good sign for Lunaparra is that every update has consistently showed her leading by a 60-40 percentage of the vote.
