Call in the punt team

County supervisors kicked just cause, rent mediation, and Gaza resolution down the road; Union City eyes campaign finance reform in time for the fall; Pleasanton is thinking about sales tax measure

COUNTY NEWS

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

—NO SURRENDER—Just cause tenant protections has again eluded renters in unincorporated Alameda County.

—The Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday punted just cause protections and a proposed tenant/landlord mediation process after both items failed to gain a majority of support.

—Instead, noting the board’s inability to marshal consensus between local landlords and tenants groups, Supervisor Nate Miley moved to create an ad hoc meeting comprised of Supervisors Elisa Marquez and David Haubert, in hopes of bringing a fresh perspective to the chronically stalled negotiations.

—“If I can get consensus from the two of you, then we’re good to go,” Miley said of his colleagues.

—The ad hoc committee, which is tasked with bringing back a new proposal within 75 days, essentially reconvenes stakeholder meetings held last year that included a mediator, local landlords groups, and My Eden Voice, a tenant advocacy group for the unincorporated Alameda County.

—Alameda County Supervisors Keith Carson and Marquez supported the long discussed legislation to give additional protections to renters.

—Supervisors Lena Tam and Haubert questioned whether the ordinances were fully baked, and voted no. Miley was the deciding vote. He abstained, which sealed each ordinance’s fate.

—The inability for the county to create any movement on renters protections for the unincorporated areas goes back to before the onset of the pandemic.

—Carson said the board’s inaction on just cause is akin to a filibuster in congress.

—In 2022, the county’s Housing and Community Development Department held up to 25 public meetings on what was then a suite of three proposed ordinances, including just cause.

—Just cause was approved by the board on first reading in December 2022, but a new board failed to approve a second and final reading a month later. The just cause ordinance discussed on Tuesday was continued from a meeting last month.

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Program note: The East Bay Insiders newsletter is taking a break this Friday, and will return on Monday, April 1.