Court filing: City of Alameda argues county's eviction moratorium is unconstitutional
Alameda attempted to evict two tenants on city-owned properties. Alameda County Superior Court judge denied unlawful detainer filing, leading to State Court of Appeals filing last week
CITY NEWS
ALAMEDA
—NO MORE-ATORIUM—The City of Alameda attempted to evict two tenants last April at a pair of city-owned buildings located at the former Naval Air Station. However, citing Alameda County’s eviction moratorium, a Superior Court judge denied the city’s ability to file an unlawful detainer complaint that would have kickstarted the process of evicting the two tenants.
—In response, the City of Alameda petitioned the California Court of Appeals on July 14, arguing Alameda County Superior Court Judge Vicky Kolakowski failed to allow the city “adequate means of redress” to handle the matter. In addition, Alameda City Attorney Yibin Shen asserted in the filing last week that the county’s eviction moratorium is unconstitutional.
—This week, Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley offered the same sentiment, adding the county’s eviction moratorium is unconstitutional and amounts to the taking of property by the government.
—In the City of Alameda’s filing with the State Court of Appeals, they argue the county’s eviction moratorium should not extend to individual cities.
—“The county ordinance, as applied by the Superior Court, is unconstitutional, both because counties have no legislative authority within cities and because it denies the city its constitutional and statutory rights of access to the courts for recovery of its property.
“The city seeks writ relief directing that its complaints be filed and a declaration that the county ordinance cannot apply or extend within incorporated cities without express invitation from the city,” according to the appeals court filing by the City of Alameda.
—News of the City of Alameda’s attempt to evict two tenants and the appellate court filing is surprising. For nearly a decade, a fervent rental housing movement has brightly colored the city’s politics, leading to a number of victories at both the ballot box and the city council dais.
—In addition, Shen, Alameda’s city attorney since 2019, comes from a decidedly pro-tenants background. He previously served in pro-tenant haven Santa Monica. Once in Alameda, Shen moved quickly to create a city prosecutors office, which has been used frequently to keep tabs on unscrupulous landlords in Alameda, and other low-level offenses.
—The basic facts of the two eviction cases appear quite mundane, hinting the city’s legal efforts may be more about making a point, rather than removing nuisance tenants. Both tenants in question have not paid rent for the past 19 months, according to the appellate case. In addition, both did not seek Covid-19 renters relief available to them.
—The City of Alameda’s filing comes at a time when county supervisors are facing enormous pressure from landlords to rescind the pandemic-era countywide eviction moratorium in effect since spring 2020.
—Some local landlords have gone more than two years without rental payments. And, although, millions in federal Covid-19 relief money is available to renters and landlords, the county has been slow in processing the payments.
—In addition, a trio of proposed county ordinance for unincorporated Alameda County have received lengthy discussions at several Board of Supervisors committee meetings since early this year. Among the proposed ordinances is an expansion of just cause renters protections that would include single-family rental units.
ELECTION 2022
SAN LEANDRO MAYOR
—DIRTY WORK—San Leandro mayoral candidate Bryan Azevedo met Andy Duong, an owner of California Waste Solutions, a group that has been previously accused of improper campaign finance activity in Oakland. We know the meeting occurred because Azevedo posted a photo of it on Facebook this week. Former Alameda Councilmember Stewart Chen also attended the meeting (foreground, to the right).
—The Oakland recycling company and San Leandro have history. In 2014, former San Leandro Councilmember Benny Lee (today an Azevedo supporter) made a potentially costly gaffe when he urged the Oakland City Council to approve the Duong’s upstart company, which had never before held a city contract.
—Lee was unaware the deal with Oakland could have cost San Leandro more than $500,000 annually in lost transfer fees from Waste Management’s Davis Street Transfer station in San Leandro. Close to half of Davis Street Transfer Station’s refuse, at the time, came from Oakland. A solution was later worked out to maintain San Leandro’s fees flow to city coffers. But the return of the Duongs to San Leandro politics is ominous.
—The Oakland Public Ethics Commission is currently investigating the Duongs alleged use of “straw donors” over several election cycles to curry favor with some Oakland councilmembers. A straw donor typically donates money to a political campaign, but is secretly reimbursed by another individual or entity. Presumably, the straw donor is used to enhance the power of a larger donor who has already maxed out their contributions to an individual campaign.
—Furthermore, it’s an open secret among San Leandro and East Bay politicos that Azevedo is susceptible to manipulation from all types of special interests. Keep in mind, if Azevedo is elected mayor in November, the city’s recycling contract is up in 2025.
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
—GOOD VIBRATIONS—In March 2020, presidential candidate Joe Biden visited the Buttercup Diner near Jack London Square. There he was greeted by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, his supporters and local businesspeople. A little later Schaaf presented Oakland business owner Neena Joiner to Biden as one of the city’s up-and-coming entrepreneurs.
“What do you do? Biden asked Joiner.
“A sex shop,” Joiner replied
“I gotta come by,” Biden added.
—Joiner is the owner of Feelmore Adult Gallery, a sex toy shop on Telegraph Avenue, and this week she became the latest candidate for the open Oakland City Council seat in District 4.
—This will not be Joiner’s first brush with politics. Joiner ran against Rep. Barbara Lee as a write-in candidate in the 2018 General Election. The District 4 council seat is left open this fall after incumbent Councilmember Sheng Thao decided against re-election, and, instead is running for Oakland mayor.
—If anything, Joiner knows how to get attention as the brief interaction with Biden two years ago showed. Last May, Joiner took the streets of downtown Oakland pushing an ice cream cart. But instead of ice cream bars, the cart of was filled with vibrators.
—PULLING PAPERS—Below is the list of prospective candidates who pulled papers on Wednesday and Thursday. Note: Alameda County’s filing deadline is Friday, Aug. 12.
LIVERMORE VALLEY JOINT SCHOOL BOARD—Hayden Sidun
SAN LEANDRO SCHOOL BOARD—Leo Sheridan (Area 4)
