Alameda County Supes race is coming into focus
Agenda notes: Oakland fire stations need a costly makeover; Police drones in Hayward
—ELECTION 2022 UPDATE—Following Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas’ interest in the open Alameda County Board of Supervisors seat in District 3 is kind of like tracking Covid-19 hospitalization data. There’s also a lag in reporting time. Bas has appeared torn between running for re-election to her Oakland City Council seat in District 2 and running to replace Wilma Chan on the Board of Supervisors. She’s gone back and forth, according insiders. But, Bas has made it official: She’s running for her Oakland City Council seat. She made the announcement to the Asian Pacific Islander Democratic Caucus last week and asked for their support. What does this mean for the supervisorial race? The consensus is an Asian American woman gets the seat. Bas, who is Filipino, leaves a vacuum for a candidate like Alameda Councilmember Malia Vella, who is also Filipino. Former Alameda Councilmember Lena Tam (Chinese) has already pulled papers, as has Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan (Canadian), who hopes the Asian American requirement is not a prerequisite and merely aspirational. District 3 represents areas around Oakland Chinatown, and the cities of Alameda and San Leandro.
—ALAMEDA ALUMNI—Like Lena Tam, another former Alameda City Council blast from the past is showing interest in a high-profile county seat. Former Alameda Councilmember Stewart Chen is putting out feelers to challenge the infamous AC Transit At-Large Boardmember Joel Young. Chen was first elected to the Alameda City Council in 2012 only because then-Councilemember Rob Bonta won a seat in the Assembly that year. Chen finished third for two seats but was elevated to councilmember under a unique provision in the Alameda City Charter aimed to avoid appointments and special elections when a councilmember wins higher office. But because the AC Transit at-large seat is countywide, the financial costs are high. But the holder of this seat holds a major trump card if they ever want to run for higher office. It’s where Rebecca Kaplan came from relative obscurity to the Oakland City Council and a quick and formidable run for mayor in 2010. Young hasn’t been able to utilize the at-large seat’s full potential due to a series of transgressions, including allegations by an ex-girlfriend that he punched her in the face, in addition, to being formally censured by the AC Transit board over allegations that during a labor dispute he provided the board’s closed session strategy to one of the unions.
—NO CORPORATE $$—A strangely uninformed article in the San Francisco Chronicle last weekend about the 20th Assembly District race, nonetheless, broke news. Alameda Labor Council leader Liz Ortega-Toro, one of the early frontrunners for the Hayward and Dublin areas seat, has pledged not to take corporate campaign contributions. She joins Jennifer Esteen, who is making the prohibition a cornerstone of her campaign. What made the article strange is its framing of Ortega and Esteen possibly being the first time in the nation that top candidates have taken the Berniecrat-fueled pledge. As of late January, few would put Esteen in such company. Instead, the race is shaping up as Ortega-Toro versus Dublin Councilmember Shawn Kumagai, who has not taken the corporate-free pledge. Kumagai’s decision is a viewed as a reason why he may be able to keep up financially with Ortega-Toro, who is likely to greatly benefit from labor support, both directly and indirectly through Independent Expenditure Committees.
CITY & COUNTY NEWS
EDEN HEALTH DISTRICT
—ONE AND DONE—It took Eden Health District Boardmember Varsha Chauhan one year to diagnose the woebegone local board was for the birds. Chauhan resigned last December after just being elected in November 2020. The reason for her departure is simply that Chauhan felt she wasn’t contributing much to the board. She emailed the board a letter of resignation and then ditched its December meeting. Chauhan used the same excuse for resigning from the Hayward Community Services Commission on Jan. 3.
—The Eden Health District has spent much of the past decade struggling to figure out its role in the community after saving and then losing control of San Leandro Hospital. The late Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan made several attempts to dissolve the district. The Eden Health District does not tax residents in Central Alameda County, but relies on its investment portfolio to fund health-related endeavors. As the Eden board seeks to make an appointment to replace Chauhan, one name that keeps coming up is former San Leandro Mayor Stephen Cassidy. He once applied to be the district’s CEO and later served them in a public relations capacity.
ON THE AGENDA
OAKLAND
—FIRE STATION MAKEOVER—Oakland’s fire stations need $11 million in repairs and upgrades, the city’s Public Works Department reported. Oakland Fire estimates the costs over 10-years is $108 million. The current city budget allocates only $3.6 million. Oakland City Council Public Works Committee members will discuss the funding shortage on Tuesday. Remember this is a big election year in Oakland and OFD is a major player. Feels like Oakland should expect a OFD tax measure in the fall. Note a similar proposal by the Alameda County Fire Department in the unincorporated areas failed once, before being approved by voters in 2020.
—CITY/SCHOOL PARTNERSHIP—A Venn diagram showing public concern in Oakland for its schools and its city government would greatly overlap. How about solving, at least, the education part, by putting the entities involved together as formal standing committee? Oakland Councilmember Treva Reid will renew her effort to pass a resolution making the body an ongoing council standing committee. The “Education Partnership Committee” was first introduced last September to foster greater collaboration between the city and school district. A report on the proposal will be heard tonight at a special meeting of the city council and school board.
—COMMERCE GRANT—Oakland City Council’s Community and Economic Development Committee will begin figuring out on Tuesday morning how to divvy up $1 million in funding from the U.S. Department Of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. The terms of grant require $500,000 be set aside for minority-owned contractors. The remainder for technical support for small businesses.
HAYWARD
—HPD DRONE POLICY—Hayward Police Chief Toney Chaplin tried last year to push through legislation allowing the department to purchase drones. The Hayward City Council eventually acquiesced to his wishes last July, but again asked for a specific policy on data retention, storage, and who gets access to the footage. That policy comes before the council on Tuesday night. Hayward Police say the drones will not be used for protests. Individuals not involved in the drones’ use will be redacted from the video, and footage will not be shared with other law enforcement agencies without a court order, according to a staff report.
—WATER WARS—The Marin Municipal Water District wants some of Hayward’s water. Facing a drought emergency, Marin water district officials are asking Hayward to be the middle man in rerouting water from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission through the East Bay Municipal Utilities District and on to Marin. It’s worth noting a quirk in the source of Hayward’s water supply. It comes from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, not the Mokelumne River watershed, the source of tap water for most of Alameda County. Among Hayward city staff concerns is whether the quality and delivery of water will be adversely affected. Richmond officials have also registered concerns about the plan. However, recent heavy rains may be alleviating some concerns about the proposed transfer.
BERKELEY
The condition of Berkeley’s 214 miles of roadways are rated “at-risk,” according to one metric. For comparison, Berkeley’s road conditions are rated slightly better than Oakland’s. Replacing the roads or at least maintaining them so they don’t get any worse will be costly. As part of the council’s discussion on the matter Tuesday night is the possibility that Berkeley voters could be offered a bond measure on the June or November 2022 ballot… Things that only happen in Berkeley #432: A consent item includes a resolution for the 2022 council’s seating arrangement. Berkeley Councilmembers Kate Harrison and Susan Wengraf get the pleasure of seating next to the youthful Mayor Jesse Arreguin.
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