Barbara Lee arrested; Khanna staffers want to join union; Oakland mayoral candidate isn't famous enough for Wikipedia
Alameda takes a step toward building a bike/pedestrian bridge that connects to Jack London Square; Former supe candidate is running for Oakland school board
D.C. DISH
12TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
—STREET HEAT—Rep. Barbara Lee often urges activists to bring the “street heat.” The Oakland congressmember followed her own advice this week at an abortion rights protest and it got her arrested by police in Washington, D.C.
—Lee was one of 17 members of Congress who were detained during a rally protesting the overturning of Roe v. Wade on Tuesday. South Bay Rep. Jackie Speier was also arrested, as was progressive officials, such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
—Perhaps Lee needed money to get bailed out? Yesterday, her re-election campaign for the new 12th Congressional District sent the magnificent photo (shown above) to her supporters in a fundraising email.
17TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
—YES WE CAN—Staffers in Rep. Ro Khanna’s congressional office want to join a union. Khanna’s staff is one of eight in Congress that petitioned recently for union representation. Rep. Ted Leiu is the only other office from California.
—Although labor unions are stalwart members of the Democratic Party, the absence of union representation for congressional staffers elicits, for some, cries of hypocrisy.
—Notably, the 2020 presidential campaign of fellow East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell sought union representation. Union or not, Swalwell’s presidential staffers were not overworked. His quixotic presidential campaign only lasted four months.
—LIVE TOWNHALLS—Rep. Ro Khanna will host his first in-person town hall since before the pandemic this Saturday. Khanna will take questions from constituents in Fremont, 4:30 p.m., Fremont Downtown Event Center at 3500 Capitol Avenue.
—Rep. Eric Swalwell is holding a town hall tonight in Livermore, starting at 6:30 p.m., at Livermore High School. Another town hall will be held on Aug. 16 in Union City at a location to be determined.
ELECTION 2022
—WIKISNUB—Oakland mayoral candidate Sheng Thao is ramping up her efforts for the big fall campaign. That includes making sure the campaign has a strong web presence. Publishing Thao’s biography on Wikipedia is good starting point. But, apparently, Wikipedia’s editors don’t think Thao is famous enough to warrant a dedicated page.
—Thao’s campaign attempted to publish a glowing biography of the candidate last month, but it was denied by Wikipedia. “This submission's references do not show that the subject qualifies for a Wikipedia article—that is, they do not show significant coverage (not just passing mentions) about the subject in published, reliable, secondary sources that are independent of the subject,” Wikipedia posted on Thao’s draft page.
—The draft submission is basically a boiled down version of Thao’s stump speech. “After moving out at age 17, Sheng was a victim of domestic violence, and like many other victims of abuse fell out of contact with family and friends. She eventually managed to escape this toxic relationship, six months pregnant with her son… Despite working and devoting time to raising her son as a single mother, Sheng excelled at Merritt College, and ended up graduating as Valedictorian.”
—BRINGING ME BACK IN—David Kakishiba had been out of local politics for nearly a decade before he made a run last spring for the open Alameda County Board of Supervisors seat in District 3. Kakishiba, who previously served on the Oakland school board, apparently enjoyed the recent, but brief taste of campaigning. Kakishiba filed on Wednesday to run for a seat on the Oakland school board in District 2.
—Kakishiba impressed insiders in Alameda and San Leandro during the June primary, but the praise did not translate to the ballot box. Kakishiba finished a distant third in the Board of Supervisors June election behind Rebecca Kaplan and Lena Tam. Kakishiba is also the longtime executive director of the East Bay Asian Youth Center in Oakland.
—PULLING PAPERS—The November candidate list continues to grow. Alameda County’s filing deadline is Friday, Aug. 12. Below is the list of prospective candidates who pulled papers on Wednesday:
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL—Neena Joiner (District 4)
OAKLAND SCHOOL BOARD—Valarie Bachelor (District 6), David Kakishiba (District 2)
—RETIRING—AC Transit Board President Elsa Ortiz is retiring from her predominantly Alameda District 3 seat. Ortiz has served on the AC Transit board since 2006.
ROOTED IN OAKLAND
—ALAMEDA IS PLAYING BALL—A proposed bike and pedestrian bridge linking Alameda to Jack London Square took a sizable step forward last week after the Alameda City Council approved a $1.3 million consulting contract for the project.
—Not only is the Alameda bullish about the proposed bike and pedestrian bridge, but the consulting firm also appears confident about a certain attraction coming soon to the Oakland-Alameda Estuary.
—Off to the left of the photo above is a waterfront ballpark at Howard Terminal. However, the placeholder ballpark appears to be San Francisco’s Oracle Park, but modified to include seating in right field.
—FOREVER OAKLAND—Oaklanders and many local officials are mourning the passing of Greg “Godfather Griz” Jones, a community leader who helped feed the less fortunate in East Oakland and painstakingly fought to keep the Raiders in Oakland. Jones succumbed to cancer this week. He was 52.
—Jones help found Forever Oakland and his 66th Avenue M.O.B. helped feed Oaklanders at a spot across the street from the Oakland Coliseum. M.O.B. stands for Make Oakland Better.
—Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf remembered Jones on Twitter. “Griz Jones was Oakland to the bone. More than just a die-hard sports fan, Griz built a community—and put that community to work in service of Oakland. Love, respect and gratitude to Griz and the 66th [Ave.] Mob.”
