Oakland, San Leandro: Two snapshots of how elected officials are facing the aftermath of the Defund the Police movement
ELECTION MODE: Follow the money; Kaplan mailer must think everyone in Alameda County loves Oakland. Alameda to finally name interim city manager
CITY NEWS
OAKLAND
—BAS-AKWARDS—A fourth homicide at a cul-de-sac at Lakeshore brought strong condemnation from Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas earlier this week. “These senseless acts will not be tolerated. We all deserve safe neighborhoods,” Bas said following the fatal stabbing. “I am calling for immediate action.” She also called for “greater investment into accountable, neighborhood-based policing.”
—As the perception persists that crime is rising in Oakland, Bas has attempted to make residents feel safe. But politically, there’s no hiding from the fact Bas was one of the main proponents in 2020 for defunding the Oakland Police Department. Bas’ budget plan called for a reallocation of $25 million from OPD’s budget in Fiscal Year 2020-21 and a commitment to reduce its budget by 50 percent for the next two-year budget cycle.
—Hindsight is 20/20, but the defund the police movement at many East Bay cities continues to reverberate in local politics. But whereas, other elected officials up for re-election this year, like Bas, are running away from their defund rhetoric of two years ago, Bas does not appear likely to face a credible opponent in November.
SAN LEANDRO
—PUSH BACK—Elements of the blowback to Defunding the Police also emerged in San Leandro this week after a vocal minority of public speakers called for greater accountability of its police department’s use of military equipment. Other city councils in Alameda County are in the middle of formulating policies for oversight of military equipment, as prescribed by a new state law.
—San Leandro Councilmember Fred Simon moved to postpone the discussion, a move that city officials feared puts it at risk of not complying with the law and thereby losing the use of its equipment. Simon later urged for the military-use policy to be first vetted by its Citizens Police Review Board, which the council later agreed, but there’s one big problem.
—The board, which was recently created by the city council, does yet not have any members, and once selected, they are required to undergo 32-hours of training before being up and running. Waiting for the review board also risks running out the clock.
—Simon is part of a block of San Leandro councilmembers, including Victor Aguilar, Jr. and Bryan Azevedo, that have upended business on the council over the past year with an agenda focused on social issues and a tinge of populism. The conflict was seen on Monday night when San Leandro Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter told Simon that resolution of the military equipment policy rests with the council and not a review board.
—Cutter said San Leandrans do not feel safe, and suggested negative rhetoric from some councilmembers about San Leandro police is adding to the unease. “I know that there’s a lot of people out there that sometimes don’t feel safe and I know our council is not making them feel safe because, not only are we saying our city is not safe, then we’re not giving the police the tools to make us safe, and that worries me a lot,” Cutter said.
—Councilmember Pete Ballew, a former San Leandro police officer, added to the push back against opponents of the police department with a provocative statement. Ballew said some in the public want transparency about every firearm used by San Leandro Police, but wondered whether the police department should know about all the weapons in the public’s use.
“I think it’s interesting that police department’s throughout California have to go through this and we have no great plan to hold our public accountable,” Ballew said. “I don’t know how many guns are out there in the street, but I know everyday, or every other day, I get a report from the police department about taking another serious, scary weapons off the street.”
ALAMEDA
—Over the past month, Alameda city officials have faced great difficulty for getting its city manager situation in order. They finally settled on an interim city manager, or, at least, a candidate who won’t take a job elsewhere in Alameda County. Dirk Brazil is next up and likely to be officially named interim city manager at the Alameda City Council’s May 17 meeting.
—Brazil previously served as city manager in Davis, Calif. before retiring in 2017, and recently served as interim city manager in South Lake Tahoe. Brazil will earn $133.85 an hour. As a CalPERS retiree, he won’t be eligible for employment benefits and the number of hours he can work is limited as the City Council searches for a permanent city manager to replace Eric Levitt, who moved on to Fullerton, Calif.
ELECTION 2022
CAMPAIGN FINANCE ROUNDUP
—TEXT ME—The Independent Expenditure Committee in support of Pamela Price’s bid for Alameda County District Attorney, and backed by the man whose son was killed by Pleasanton Police, is focusing some of its efforts on text messaging. The Independent Expenditure Supporting Price for District Attorney 2022 allocated $19,750 for texting services on Friday, according to finance records. The IE is almost exclusively funded by John Bauer, who received a $5.9 million settlement after Pleasanton Police killed his son in 2019. Bauer has also given a maxed-out $40,000 contribution to Price’s campaign, making him her biggest donor.
—ENTHUSIASM GAP—Kate Dao was a late entrant to the open Area 7 seat In the Alameda County Board of Education race. Campaign finance records show her campaign struggled to raise much money, as of April 23. On Thursday, Dao’s campaign received a $10,000 boost from the Champions for Education PAC. The committee is funded by Doris Fisher, the co-founder of The Gap and mother of Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher. The Fisher family is a big backer of school privatization.
—THANKS, BILL—Retiring Assemblymember Bill Quirk continues to empty out his campaign committee’s coffers. Quirk’s committee gave $10,000 to the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee on Thursday, and another $10,000 to the Eden Area United Democratic Campaign, which he has long supported. In addition, Re-Elect Alex Lee for State Assembly 2022 contributed $1,000 to Alameda County Democratic Central Committee on Wednesday.
—GOLDEN BOY—Voters in the 20th Assembly District should expect to receive two more mailers coming from Keep California Golden, the IE backing Shawn Kumagai in the 20th Assembly District. The IE spent $39,542 for each mailer.
—MONEYBALL—Here’s a roundup of Form 497 Late Contributions from Thursday and Friday: Greg Ahern (Alameda County Sheriff) Betchart Properties $1,000, James Falachi $1,500… Yesenia Sanchez (Alameda County Sheriff), District Council of Iron Workers $2,500, Delong Liu of Danville $1,500… Rebecca Kaplan (Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 3), Alameda Fire Fighters Association PAC IAFF Local 689 $2,500, Bay Area Citizens PAC $1,000… David Kakishiba (Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 3), Shanthi Gonzales for School Board 2018 $5,000…
—Buffy Wicks (14th Assembly District), California Real Estate PAC (CREPAC) $9,700… Alex Lee (24th Assembly District), Buffy Wicks for Assembly 2022 $4,900… Teresa Keng (24th Assembly District), California Real Estate PAC (CREPAC) $9,700… Mia Bonta (18th Assembly District), Jerome H. Meyer $4,900, Roslyn Milstein Meyer $4,900… Shawn Kumagai (20th Assembly District), Anheuser-Busch Companies $4,900.
MAILBOX
SURVEY OF MAILERS IN THE EAST BAY
—NOT EVERYONE LOVES OAKLAND—One of the biggest questions about Rebecca Kaplan’s Alameda County supervisorial campaign is how does she win over District 3, which is not a predominately Oakland seat. Kaplan’s campaign blanketed the district, which is dominated by Alameda and San Leandro, with the mailer above. It’s features Kaplan’s strength—her experience. But it also features what could be her weakness—her strong connection to Oakland. Kaplan has served on the Oakland City Council since 2008.
—Oakland officials often struggle with an unfortunate fact in the East Bay. Their neighbors in Alameda County view them as bullies. A good example is the perception that Oakland’s attempts to seemingly gobble up all state and federal funding for homelessness. Meanwhile, voters view Oakland as Gotham City. Perhaps, blame local television for incessant stories of violent crime in Oakland? So, it’s a bit odd that Kaplan’s mailer features so many Oakland officials that have endorsed her campaign when voters in Alameda and San Leandro might not find that to be a good thing.
—NOT EVERYONE LOVES EAST BAY TIMES—Progressives in the East Bay know the East Bay Times editorial board of one is unfriendly to their cause. Is the 20th Assembly District, which includes Hayward, San Leandro, Union City, Dublin and Pleasanton sufficiently progressive to make this an odd endorsement to trumpet? I would say, yes. But the mailer that arrived in mailboxes in recent days is not from Shawn Kumagai’s campaign, but Keep California Golden, the Independent Expenditure Committee in support of his campaign.
—Knowing the IE is funded in part by Tri-Valley interests, it might be more tailored for moderates in the 20th District. But one other thing comes to mind when featuring newspaper endorsements: Do people really care about what this newspaper thinks when it doesn’t even cover local government beats in the East Bay? This mailer feels retro, like a artifact from the early 1990s before newspapers gave away their product for free on the World Wide Web and customers learned that’s what it was worth.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE CAPSULES
14TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
BUFFY WICK (D)—Jan. 1-April 23
Cash on Hand $305,585
Cash IN $105,908
Cash OUT $62,975
Loans/Debts $21,362
Notable Donors: California State Council of Service Employees $9,700; SEIU-UHW West PAC $9,700; United Domestic Workers of America Action Fund $8,000; California State Pipe Trades Council PAC $7,500; California Nurses Association PAC $5,200; Operating Engineers Local Union 3 Statewide PAC $5,000; Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 104 PAC $4,900; Alameda Labor Council AFL-CIO PAC $4,200; Anheuser-Busch $4,000; Lyft, Inc. $4,000; California Apartment Association PAC. $3,500.
16TH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
REBECCA BAUER-KAHAN (D)—Jan. 1-April 23
Cash on Hand $591,526
Cash IN $61,755
Cash OUT $46,511
Loans/Debts $771
Notable Donors: PORAC PAC $,6,400; California Apartment Association PAC $,4900; Facebook $4,900; Anheuser-Busch Companies $4,900; Santa Rosa Rancheria $4,900; AFSCME CA People Small Contributor Cmte $4,900; Steamfitters Local 342 PAC $4,900; AirBNB, Inc. $4,900; Davita, Inc. $4,900; Walmart $4,000; Google, LLC $3,000; Los Angeles Police Protective League PAC $3,000.
JOE RUBAY (R)—Jan. 1-April 23
Cash on Hand $1,150
Cash IN $1,150
Cash OUT $0
Loans/Debts $0
Notable Donors: David R. Minor $500.
18TH ASSEMBLY IDISTRICT
MIA BONTA (D)—Jan. 1-April 23
Cash on Hand $160,562
Cash IN 134,853
Cash OUT $81,222
Loans/Debts $0
Notable Donors: SEIU-UHW West PAC $9,700; Construction & General Laborers Local Union 304 PAC $9,700; Professional Engineers in Calif. Govt PAC $9,700; Blue Shield of California $4,900; Napa Valley Casino $4,900; Lucky Chances, Inc. $4,900; Rob Bonta for Assembly 2022 $4,900; Fortune Players Group, Inc. $4,900; San Miguel Band of Mission Indians $4,900; Google, LLC $4,900; California Apartment Association PAC $4,900; Allstate Insurance Company $4,900; SEIU Local 1021 PAC $4,900.
