Pedestrian violence again strikes Alameda County politics
Unincorporated Alameda County is alarmed by new state senate maps
A month after Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan was tragically killed by a motorist, tragedy has struck once again.
San Leandro School Board Trustee Christian Rodriguez has died after being hit by a vehicle last Friday while walking with his wife, the San Leandro Unified School District announced on Monday morning.
Rodriguez served as Area 2 school board trustee since 2016.
He leaves a wife and three children. His wife Marina Rodriguez is a well-known advocate for education, serving on the San Leandro Education Foundation.
His death comes just days after his colleagues appointed him to serve as San Leandro school board president for the upcoming year.
Chan was struck by a vehicle on the morning of Nov. 3 while she was walking her dog on Shoreline Avenue in Alameda. It was the fourth death as a result of pedestrian violence in Alameda this year.
Similarly, San Leandro has historically struggled with safe streets for pedestrians and cyclists. The prevalence of train tracks crisscrossing the city has been an issue in recent years.
Keep an eye on whether the pair of tragedies brings tangible changes to local city’s transportation and street safety plans. Whether because of residual stress from the pandemic, lax traffic enforcement, or other societal changes, public officials will need to grapple with how to entice people out of the cars while ensuring all forms of public transportation is safe.
—MORE ON CHAN— In the aftermath of Wilma Chan’s passing there has been the beginnings of several plans to name public edifices after the long-time supervisor. San Leandro, which Chan represented on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, may be getting into the act. San Leandro Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter last week raised the possibility of naming the Marea Alta housing development after Chan because of her support for affordable housing. The affordable housing apartments are located across the street from the San Leandro BART station.
—STATE REDISTRICTING—Today, the California Redistricting Commission will begin the process this week to give final approval for new congressional, state assembly, and state senate maps. In recent days, the state senate boundaries that would encompass much of Southern Alameda County was radically shift by the non-partisan commission.
Under new proposed boundaries, unincorporated Alameda County and San Leandro would have new homes. Alarming many unincorporated residents, who already feel left out by county matters, the new lines caused great consternation over the weekend. The new map shuttles the unincorporated areas to a sprawling district that mostly includes Contra Costa County. San Leandro would move from the Oakland-centric state senate district to Contra Costa County.
The bulk of what is currently the 10th State Senate District would travel further south to Sunnyvale, a situation that could hamper Alameda County candidates for the open state senate seat next year.
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