Nate Miley is fed up with tenants AND landlords
Madame DA Price labels nascent recall effort a coup attempt; Liz Ortega apologizes for SB14 non-support; San Leandro mayor is getting heat from former officials; Miley supports CV incorporation
COUNTY NEWS
RENTERS’ PROTECTIONS
—BEST AND FINAL OFFER—We’ve heard for some time that tenant and landlords groups have found very little common ground when it comes to negotiations for rental housing ordinances in unincorporated Alameda County.
—The current process began sometime in early 2022 with a trio of ordinances put forth by the Alameda County Housing Department that prohibited evictions without cause, eliminated an applicant’s criminal history from consideration for tenancy, and the creation of a rent registry.
—Nearly nine months of vetting by the public and Board of Supervisors ultimately led to each of the proposed ordinances failing to gain passage last January. Almost six months later, the county’s Just Cause ordinance is back on the Board’s plate.
—But during an Unincorporated Services meeting two weeks ago, both of its members—Supervisors Nate Miley and Lena Tam—again mothballed the Just Cause ordinance.
—Tam voiced regret that county staff returned the Just Cause ordinance to the Board without making any changes to the proposed ordinance that had been rejected by a majority of the county supervisors last January.
—Later, Tam questioned why no new rental housing data was offered by county staff following the end of the county’s eviction moratorium three months ago.
—It is Tam’s belief that renters in unincorporated Alameda County are not receiving sufficient information from the county about their current rights as a tenant under the state’s AB 1482, which among other protections limits annual rent increases to no more than five percent. Tam reiterated this opinion at last Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
—Miley, on the other hand, appeared on his last nerve when it came to the entire issue of rental protections and the repeated inability to get landlords and tenants to submit to any compromises.
—Miley said he believes the positions of tenants and landlords both have merit and he will soon attempt to broker an agreement. “I hate polarization,” Miley said. “I hate when people get locked into their camp. It’s either this way or the highway. These issues are not black and white. They are grey.”
—If Miley can’t reach a compromise between tenants and landlords soon, he will unilaterally bring his own solution to the Board of Supervisors, although he did not specify what his plan might be.
—“I am prepared to advance a brokered compromise that I think serves the public good, I think serves the public interest and doesn’t go so far in one direction that it causes more harm to tenants or goes so far in the other direction that it doesn’t recognize the concerns of tenants or cause more harm to housing providers and doesn’t do enough to protect housing providers, particularly the small property owners who are minorities and seniors,” Miley said.
ALAMEDA COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
—PRICE POINTS—The nascent recall of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price is only two days old.
—Price’s initial salvo to rebut the recall led by Oakland Chinatown Chamber President Carl Chan, was to equate it, without proof, to some type of mishmash of Jan. 6 insurrectionists and Republican operatives.
—For good measure, Price labeled the recall bid as a “coup to undo the will of Alameda County voters.”
LEGISLATURE NEWS
CHILD TRAFFICKING BILL
—FEELING THE HEAT—The self-inflicted wound created by Assembly Democrats, including East Bay Assemblymembers Mia Bonta and Liz Ortega, was bandaged on Thursday .
—Senate Bill 14, which would make child sex trafficking a serious felony, quickly returned to the Assembly Public Safety Committee for a re-vote on Thursday.
—Although it was apparent on Tuesday that voting against a bill that punishes child sex traffickers was a bad idea, the Democrats on the committee voted yes on Thursday after roundly declining to register a vote on SB 14 on Tuesday.
—Bonta, who stayed away from Tuesday’s committee meeting, again did not vote on Thursday. With her husband seriously contemplating a run for governor in 2026, the Bontas want to stay far from this issue.
—Ortega, the first-term Hayward assemblymember, however, registered remorse in a tweet yesterday for not supporting SB 14 when it first came before the committee earlier this week.
CITY NEWS
SAN LEANDRO
—THE THIRD LAYS A TURD—San Leandro Mayor Juan Gonzalez III is beginning to rub city and East Bay officials the wrong way. It only took about six months.
—Gonzalez’s tendency to condescendingly talk down colleagues like they are young schoolchildren and wordy professorial soliloquys may have worked on the executive floor at KPMG, which preceded his election last year as mayor. But this behavior is never going to fly in East Bay politics.
—Gonzalez has earn scorn for lecturing other Alameda County mayors a few months ago about unfunded liabilities in their own cities. But that’s one thing. It’s another to belittle the service of former and current officials in your own city.
—That’s what Gonzalez did last Monday when he suggested San Leandro’s financial future had been hindered by those who served before him on the City Council.
—In the clip below Gonzalez expressed ambivalence toward potentially placing a tax-generating ballot measure on the 2024 ballot before acknowledging large-scale investment is needed to bring San Leandro back to fiscal footing. In reality, nobody in Alameda County would identify San Leandro as rolling down the road to financial oblivion.
—A number of former San Leandro elected officials have not taken kindly to Gonzalez’s comments last Monday. Gonzalez said, “In many ways we’ve made false promises, or a lack of commitment over a number of years,” a clear slight against his predecessors.
OAKLAND
—MAYOR’S PAY RAISE—The proposed $75,000 pay increase for Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was moved to the non-consent section of the July 18 council meeting. Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas made the change at Thursday’s Rules Committee meeting. When the item came before the Finance Committee this week, Bas initally placed it on consent, which is generally used for non-controversial agenda items. The July 18 council meeting was also moved by Bas to 2 p.m., making it a special meeting.
—HEALTH CHECK—The mayor’s proposed large salary increase is upsetting some in Oakland, but it’s affecting the health of one of the City Council’s most well-known public speakers.
—At Thursday’s Rules Committee meeting, Oakland resident Assata Olugbala told councilmembers that she briefly left the room to answer a wellness check from her doctor.
—“It’s a health issue for me to be at your meetings,” Olugbala told the councilmembers. When she arrived at criticism of the mayor’s proposed pay increase, Olugbala paused, before adding, “I’m trying to keep my pressure down.”
FREMONT
—DRIVING OUTSIDE THE LINES—Opposition to cities making changes to local streetscapes with dedicated bike lanes and long carpets of green paint, among other changes, can get heated.
—But rarely does it go way over the top in the manner one Fremont resident took it by mocking so-called “new urbanists” and equating bike and pedestrian safety measures as akin to the Cambodian genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge.
—“Where did the KR go wrong?” the resident said during a Fremont City Council meeting on Tuesday, referring to the Khmer Rouge. “The core error was their conviction that their vision of progress was so correct and so important that it should be imposed on everyone else whether they want it or not.”
—Minutes later Fremont Councilmember Jenny Kassan addressed the resident’s comments. “To compare efforts to make our streets safer for pedestrians to a genocide is really offensive,” Kassan said, “and could cause a lot of trauma for those who have actually come from places where genocide has happened.” She urged the public to be sensitive of others backgrounds before making such comments.
—PENALTY FLAG—Fremont’s flag-raising controversy started innocently enough with a councilmember last December asking to raise a banner in recognition of Black History Month. Later, Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, in a fit of pique, countered by advocating for a slew of other flag-raising observances, including a celebration of Confucius.
—Just when it seemed the whole ordeal was about to sort itself out with the creation of flag-raising policy, Fremont city staff dropped the ball by neglecting to offer two beloved holiday observances that nearly two-thirds of the city’s population enjoy—Diwali and the Lunar New Year.
—Fremont’s has a minority-majority of Asian and South Asian American residents. So it seemed odd that both celebrations were omitted from a city staff report presented on Tuesday.
—Both were ultimately added to the list of observances celebrated with a flag-raising. Fremont city staff said the list of observances was created using state and federally recognized holidays and was only a “starting point” for the council’s discussion. City staff said they did not intend to offend the community, many of whom came out to speak out at last Tuesday’s meeting
—The number of observances, however, is now 12, which presents logistical problems that could result in some holidays being featured biennially. Councilmember Teresa Cox offered a straightforward solution: “We should just go buy another flag pole.”
MORE COUNTY NEWS
ALAMEDA COUNTY LAFCO
—INCORPORATION’S FIRST BACKER—Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley, who represents Castro Valley, said he supports incorporation for its residents.
—Miley made the comments during a meeting of the the Alameda County Local Formation Commission, which he is a member. The commission heard a presentation on Thursday about the financial feasibility of bringing cityhood to some areas of unincorporated Alameda County.
—“I think it would be in best interests of Castro Valley to incorporate,” Miley said, who has made similar comments in the past.
—The feasibility analysis gave a standalone Castro Valley city the best chance of survival, but barely, although the consultant acknowledged his estimates were conservative.
—Among the start-up costs for incorporation is making Alameda County whole for lost revenues. Miley said any financial considerations could be lowered through negotiations.
—In 2002, Miley helped encourage an ultimately unsuccessful ballot measure for incorporation, but he stayed neutral in the campaign. He said that if Castro Valley had become a city two decades ago, its city officials would have needed to raise taxes.
—“I think Castro Valley deserves to incorporate as a city and the electorate will need to decide to make up shortfall with taxes,” Miley said, referring to the estimated early deficit that may await incorporation.