Hard-hitting public safety-themed mailers are pounding away at opponents
Why is Pamela Price focusing on her base in Oakland?; Thao skips newspaper endorsement; Lily Mei wrote a $50,000 check to her campaign; Who might get the Hayward council appointment?
ELECTION 2022
Days until Election Day: 11.
PUBLIC SAFETY
—Public safety has been far and away the biggest issue in this year’s election. Across the county from Oakland to the Tri-Valley to the Tri-Cities, candidates have gone to lengths to flex their public safety muscle, while others have been forced to minimize their support two years ago for “defunding” or “reimagining” public safety.
—While many candidates in Alameda County have used strong rhetoric against violent crime, over the past week, there’s been an inflection point where the sharp words are now also showing up in your mailbox.
—In a mailer sent this week by the National Association of Realtors in support of Oakland mayoral candidate Ignacio De La Fuente (see above), fear is the central theme. “When families are afraid to leave their cars or homes unattended, you know it’s time for change,” the mailer ominously reads.
—The sentiment matches the De La Fuente campaign’s strong rhetoric against rising crime in Oakland. Also this week, De La Fuente sent out the mailer below that includes what has become the campaign’s motto, “Enough is Enough!” along with scenes of law enforcement officers and an Oakland homeless encampment.
—Alameda County Supervisorial candidate Rebecca Kaplan is on the receiving end of another mailer that attempts to place her leadership as an Oakland councilmember as the reason for the city’s public safety woes. The ad below was paid for by the California Apartment Association.
—There’s some irony about portraying Kaplan as someone who stoked increased crime by attempting to cut the police budget. In 2012, Kaplan fended off a challenge to her council seat by De La Fuente by highlighting his decision as a former councilmember to reduce the number of police officers in Oakland.
—In yet another public safety-themed attack ad, Harold Lowe, who is challenging Oakland Councilmember Nikki Forutnato Bas in District, brought receipts with him in a mailer that uses a city council memo, penned by Bas, that shows she advocated for a dramatic 50 percent cut in the Oakland Police Department’s budget over a two-year period. Bas is viewed as favorite to win re-election next month, but Lowe’s rhetoric appears to have triggered a sudden and large spending spree by Bas’s campaign of late.
ALAMEDA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
—TURNING TO THE TOWN—Pamela Price and some Black leaders in Oakland spoke out against Terry Wiley’s rhetoric about violent crime in Oakland. Wiley’s words are part of his stock stump speech used at public events and candidate forum throughout the campaign, including a vow to take down a number of Oakland gangs that he believes is driving crime in Alameda County.
—In a letter, signed by Oakland civil right attorney Walter Riley; Tonya Love, Oakland Councilmember Carroll Fife’s chief of staff; and Clarence Thomas, former ILWU union president, among others, they contend Wiley’s statements is “coded rhetoric” that signals to county voters that violent crime in Alameda County is Oakland’s fault.
—“He is not ready to lead,” Price tweeted on Wednesday. “He has been constantly fear-mongering and not telling the truth through his whole campaign. It is clear that his talking points are driven by consultants who think that voters are going to vote out of fear over facts.”
—Aside from political rhetoric on both sides, the move by Price’s campaign to highlight and vie for Oakland, a city that she easily won in the June primary, could be a signal she’s attempting to tap into more support from Oakland voters to cancel out eroding support across the county, or Wiley’s strong statements on public safety is making inroads into Price’s lead in Oakland. In a four-person primary, Price topped Wiley by a sizable 16 points, but she’s fell short of 50 percent, leading to next month’s runoff.
OAKLAND MAYOR
—It remains to be seen whether Sheng Thao’s recent missteps and allegations made against her by a former council aide will end up thwarting her bid for Oakland mayor. But Thao’s campaign may have made another unforced error that certainly does not help her chances.
—Thao skipped the San Francisco Chronicle’s endorsement interviews, the paper reported today in an editorial endorsing Loren Taylor for Oakland mayor. The editorial offered no hint of animosity toward Thao for not meeting with them over a two-week period. This suggests they were at least intrigued by her candidacy.
—It’s a missed opportunity for Thao’s campaign, which could have trumpeted the possible endorsement or gained a split endorsement, along with the additional attention it would have given her at a time when most voters are finally paying attention.
—Clearly her poor performance with the East Bay Times, weighed heavily in her decision. As a progressive, she should have known the East Bay Times is unfriendly territory. That was the endorsement interview to skip, not the more open-minded Chronicle editorial board.
—NO ON COAL—Opponents of the heavily-litigated proposal to allow coal shipments through Oakland were roped into Oakland’s mayoral race after Jonathan Brooks, a SoCal hedge fund manager with financial interests in Oakland coal, poured $550,000 into an IE supporting Ignacio De La Fuente. Anti-coal activists held a rally on Thursday afternoon to highlight the infusion of cash and influence from coal interests. Not good optics for De La Fuente’s campaign in a city strongly against coal trains running through their city as a launching pad to polluting Asia.
HAYWARD CITY COUNCIL
—FLOATING NAMES—Hayward voters will elect two new members to the City Council next month. But a third seat is guaranteed to be chosen by the next council. That’s because Hayward Councilmember Mark Salinas, who is running unopposed for the open mayor’s seat next month, has two years remaining on his council term.
—Conventional wisdom in Hayward is Julie Roche and Dan Goldstein, both planning commissioners, are front runners for the two open at-large seats. Furthermore, if one of them fails to finish in the top two, the most likely beneficiary is council candidate George Syrop. In this scenario, the decision will be easy. The establishment candidate that loses—Roche or Goldstein—will receive the appointment, insiders believe.
—But if the chalk wins, here are some of the names being mentioned for the appointment: Hayward Planning Commissioners Zachariah Oquenda and Aidan Ali-Sullivan, political consultant Crystal Araujo, and any of the losing candidates on the November ballot.
—If current Hayward Councilmember Aisha Wahab, who would have been up for re-election this fall, is unsuccessful in her bid the state Senate, she could be a remote, but unlikely, applicant. Al Mendall, who abruptly quit the city council a few years back is another possibility, but he has told some that he’s happy being off the council.
—Also keep in mind that Hayward police and fire unions will likely offer significant input to the city council about the upcoming appointment since their contracts are up within the next two years.
MORE INSIDE:
Daily campaign finance data — SD10: Lily Mei gives her campaign $50,000
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