Board of Supervisors District 5 Preview: A 'holistic,' 'robust' approach to governance

As one recall effort wraps up, another is set to begin in Oakland; Hayward school boardmember is censured, but not before blasting his colleagues; Whither ranked choice voting?

Alameda County District 5 supervisorial candidates (L-R): Ken Berrick, John Bauters, Nikki Fortunato Bas, Chris Moore, Ben Bartlett, and Greg Hodge. Three other candidates are also in the March Primary.

ELECTION 2024

19 days to Primary Day

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - DISTRICT 5

—OVERVIEW—The Alameda County District 5 Board of Supervisors primary appeared destined to be yet another unopposed re-election campaign for Supervisor Keith Carson. But just hours before the Dec. 8 filing deadline, Carson announced his retirement after more than three decades representing the Berkeley, Oakland, Piedmont, Emeryville, and Albany seat.

The surprise announcement set potential candidates scrambling to quickly cobble together primary campaigns on short-notice. Nine candidates are competing in the March Primary, including four current elected officials.

Alameda County supervisorial elections use a runoff system if no candidates gains a simple majority of the primary vote. In this race, if all goes as predicted, the top two finishers will meet again the November General Election.

—THE CANDIDATES—

• Ben Bartlett, Berkeley councilmember

• Nikki Fortunato Bas, Oakland councilmember

• John Bauters, Emeryville councilmember

• Ken Berrick, Alameda County Board of Education trustee

• Omar Farmer, Alameda County Veterans Affair commissioner

• Greg Hodge, non-profit executive

• Chris Moore, community volunteer/accountant

• Gerald Pechenuk, Alameda County GOP Central Cmte member

• Lorrel Plimier, director, attorney/data scientist

—WHERE THEY STAND?—There’s few noticeable differences between the top candidates in this race, other than Moore. Words such as “holistic,” and “robust” have been repeated thrown around on the campaign trail.

BAUTERS

John Bauters is one of the county’s best-known transportation and mental health advocates. Anyone who follows East Bay politics on social media has seen videos of a shirtless Bauters peddling around Emeryville on his bike. Bauters has touted public safety as part of his platform, but that’s likely because the issue is one of his main rival’s biggest weaknesses. Bauters plans for public safety are focused on using technology to help out existing police forces.

BAS

Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas probably wishes the District 5 seat opened up any other time but now. That’s because with crime seemingly out of control in Oakland, Bas was the architect of the city’s plan in 2021 to defund the Oakland Police Department by 50 percent. During this campaign, Bas has rarely spoken directly about public safety. She does, though, plan to apply strict oversight of Santa Rita Jail. Instead, her focus has been on what she calls the Three H’s: housing, homelessness, and healthcare.

BERRICK

Ken Berrick has served on the Alameda County Board of Education since 2008. He founded the Seneca Family of Agencies, a non-profit that helps children and families in crisis. It’s a major item on his resume. The job of county supervisor is basically a social services job. Berrick believes the county can do a better job of maximizing federal dollars, and the county jail is plagued with underfunded or nonexistent programs for helping mental ill inmates.

MOORE

This is clearly protest candidate. His motto is “Moore safety,” and a number of high-profile examples of crime in Oakland have provided fodder for his campaign. Moore was an early leader of the DA Pamela Price recall effort and advocate for small landlords during the various rent moratoriums in the county. Moore would help cities struggling with rising crime by sending increased county funding.

BARTLETT

Bartlett has chatted up building new affordable housing in the county and by using some pages out of Berkeley’s playbook, like increased funding for wrap-around services to help get the homeless back on their feet, and purchasing hotels for temporarily housing. On the campaign trail, Bartlett has often portrayed himself as the heir to Carson. Yet, the endorsement has not yet been bestowed on Bartlett.

HODGE

The county should employ a regional approach to fighting crime, and improve access to affordable housing and homeless shelters, Hodge says. Like others in the race, Hodge would place greater oversight on Santa Rita Jail and hold the sheriff’s office accountable.

PLIMIER

Plimier wants the county to help facilitate walkable communities, improve transit and the safety net. The issues facing the county are often due to poor policy, she says.

PECHENUK

If you’ve seen a few candidate forums, Pechenuk is big on declaring war on fentanyl in Alameda County, and holding drug cartels accountable.

—CAMPAIGN FINANCE—If the latest large contributions are added to the post-Jan. 20 totals, the numbers show a different story. Moore, for example, loaned his campaign $50,000 after the most recent filing deadline, and Bas has kicked up her fundraising over the past two weeks. Basically, the top-tier’s fundraising numbers are all about the same. This primary will be about who allocates their resources the most efficiently.

TOTAL 2023-24 FUNDRAISING, THRU JAN. 20

• BAUTERS $134,717

• BERRICK $98,179

• BARTLETT $93,367

• MOORE $91,434

• BAS $53,909

• HODGE $16,660

• PLIMIER $5,685

CASH RESERVES, THRU JAN. 20

• BAUTERS $108,234

• BERRICK $84,051

• MOORE $83,195

• BARTLETT $58,515

• BAS $35,608

• HODGE $16,143

• PLIMIER $1,601

—OUTLOOK—Is it a cop out to say the top two in this race will have surnames that start with the letter “B”? The consensus among insiders is Bauters snags a spot in November.

Bas would be a formidable opponent at any other time but now. It’s unknown how voters in this district truly feel about the perceived rise in crime. There’s an assumption this Berkeley-centered district may be less inclined to punish Bas for being a defunder. But who knows?

—Berrick is the dark horse candidate. His resume appears perfectly suited for the job, but does he have the name-recognition and the money to get into the top two? Bartlett has run for higher office before and it didn’t work out so well. He’s shined at several forums at the same time failing to show much energy.

Moore is another potential dark horse. He has money and many of his biggest supporters are already out campaigning to recall DA Price. Sometimes the difference in a tight race is who has the most passionate voters. Moore has them, but are there enough?

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