Fremont mayor wants to find and punish closed session leaker
MLB gives Oakland a deadline for Howard Terminal; Many new elected officials get sworn-in this week, who's coming and going?
CITY NEWS
FREMONT
—WHAT CAN BROWN ACT DO FOR YOU?—Fremont Mayor Lily Mei has been on a rampage behind-the-scenes following her decisive defeat last month in the 10th State Senate race.
—Mei, who lost in a drubbing to Aisha Wahab, has been railing against her campaign team of late—blaming them for her big loss—and harassing those who she suspects dropped the dime on her personal peccadillos when it comes to sending inappropriate photos of herself to public officials.
—Now Mei is set to mount a campaign to punish a suspected leaker of city council closed session information, and apparent political rival.
—Mei placed a referral on Tuesday night’s Fremont City Council agenda that asks to direct staff to begin a formal review of the alleged leak and possible actions for the violation.
—“Due to a recent Council Member’s deliberate actions and public violations including unauthorized disclosure of confidential information,” Mei wrote in the referral, “this action requests that the City Council direct staff to arrange for a formal review of closed session Brown Act confidentiality requirements and to identify potential actions to address violations/misconduct.
—It’s unclear which member of the Fremont City Council is alleged to have spoken publicly about closed session information. We’ll probably hear more on Tuesday night.
—However, during the fall Election season, Councilmembers Teresa Cox and Jenny Kassan alleged, although vaguely during a city council meeting, that Mei was improperly bestowing city proclamations while campaigning as a state senate candidate.
—Images of Mei wearing a cap with her campaign logo could be seen while she handed out proclamations at events, including some in Santa Clara County, which is part of the district she was hoping to represent.
—In response to the comments made two months ago by Cox and Kassan, Fremont Councilmember Yang Shao, a long-time supporter of Mei, made a veiled threat to both.
—The warning suggested the dissemination of closed session information by one or both of his colleagues if they did not relent on the accusations against Mei.
—As for potential punishments, Mei’s referral hints that she has censure in mind. In the referral, Mei references “previously approved and future censures.”
OAKLAND
—GRUDGE MATCH—Renia Webb, the incoming chief of staff for Oakland mayor-elect Sheng Thao, appeared at an event in East Oakland on Saturday morning along with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. The subject of the event was climate change, but Webb apparently took it to be about regime change.
—She passive-aggressively took shots at the outgoing mayor, who glared from behind. Webb told those in attendance and watching on an online feed that with the election of Thao Oakland now has someone who loves them in the mayor’s office.
—Webb’s discombobulated remarks felt like a recycled stump speech from the fall campaign in which she noted her own plight growing up and that of Thao.
—She went as far as to note that while Thao was not born in Oakland, she understood its resident’s problems. That’s a clear acknowledgement of Schaaf, who has made it clear for the past eight years that she is born and raised in Oakland.
—For Schaaf’s part, the termed out mayor appeared to take the slights in stride. Others standing near Schaaf and behind Webb, however, looked equal parts stunned and quizzical.
—The performance is another sign that despite winning the Oakland mayoral race, Thao and her team continue hold grudges against her campaign’s detractors.
—A’S DEADLINE SET—Jan. 15, 2024. That’s the end date set last week by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred for Oakland to put up or shut up when it comes to Howard Terminal.
—The timeframe seems very doable. Such an assessment, however, is based on the current administration in Oakland, which has moved the ballpark project to the point where the big wait is whether the city receives anticipated large federal grants for infrastructure around the proposed ballpark.
—The November Election, meanwhile, has not substantially changed the positive likelihood of the project being approved sometime in 2023, but it has created some uncertainty in terms of leadership in Oakland. Start with the changes in command. Here’s what’s new:
Mayor (Sheng Thao)
City Administrator (Ed Reiskin resigned last week)
Two City Councilmembers (Janani Ramachandran, Kevin Jenkins)
—The good news for A’s fans and supporters of the project is that none of four have or will voice much disapproval for the current make-up of the ballpark proposal.
—The bad news is this group of new leaders is the top-end of the city’s leadership team and that represents some potential discomfort in terms of continuity as the ballpark saga heads into the New Year.
ELECTION 2022
—COMINGS & GOINGS—The thread that will run through almost every city and level of government this week is a post-election changing of the guard. City and districts will administer the oath of office to nearly three dozen winners from the November Election (excluding school board).
—At the other end of the stick, these same councils and boards will say goodbye to nearly two dozen elected officials who will return to private life either through retirement or greener pastures elsewhere, including six Alameda County mayors.