Swalwell gave cover to Lily Mei, invited her to behind closed doors meeting with LGBT activists
Ignacio De La Fuente is bringing some flair to Oakland's sleepy mayoral field
COUNTY NEWS
—COVER STORY—Rep. Eric Swalwell flew into his district from his home in D.C. to support the LGBT community following last week’s attempt by the Proud Boys to disrupt an event at the San Lorenzo Public Library.
—Swalwell spoke defiantly against incident before a gaggle of television cameras and received rounds of positive press afterwards, but the reports neglected to mention the presence of some members of the LGBT community who called his actions hypocritical.
—Prior to the press conference, Swalwell sat in a private meeting with law enforcement, and members of the LGBT and Asian Pacific Islander communities for about 45 minutes. The individual who led the “Drag Queen Storytime” event at the San Lorenzo Public Library, and was the target of the Proud Boys’ invective, is Asian.
—The invitation-only meeting included Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, who is increasingly become a pariah among the LGBT community and the Alameda County Democratic Party for her views in opposition to LGBT causes.
—A few protesters at the press conference held signs criticizing Swalwell’s implicit support of Mei. One read, “Lily Mei is anti-gay. Swalwell is silent.”
—“Our sitting member of Congress used the LGBT community for a PR stunt,” said Austin Bruckner, a well-known Alameda County Democratic Party and LGBT activist. “He sat 10 feet from an anti-LGBT candidate and said nothing.” Bruckner organized a petition earlier this week urging Swalwell to lean on fellow East Bay Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna to rescind his endorsement of Mei’s 10th State Senate District campaign.
—It’s clear that Swalwell was offering Mei cover from the burgeoning outrage over her problematic anti-LGBT past. For one, aside from being Asian, there is no discernible connection between Fremont and San Lorenzo in this incident. No other elected officials closer in vicinity to San Lorenzo were invited to the meeting.
—In addition, only about one-quarter of the roughly 20 people in the private meeting were members of the LGBT community.
—According to accounts inside the private meeting, Dublin Councilmember Shawn Kumagai, also a member of the LGBT community and a candidate in the 20th Assembly District race, attempted to redirect the focus on Mei. Kumagai acted as a buffer in the meeting, hoping to keep the conversation focused on an Asian person being verbally attacked by the Proud Boys in San Lorenzo, and not on Mei.
—A Venn Diagram of Swalwell, Mei, and Kumagai will yield one common similarity. Their strong support from real estate interests in the 14th Congressional District and, primarily in unincorporated Alameda County. Landlords and developers in Swalwell’s district bankrolled his first primary campaign in 2012 and have stayed cozy with him ever since.
—The same groups helped fund or organized the massive amounts of Independent Expenditure Committee (IE) money that flowed in support of Mei’s state Senate campaign this year. Many of the same IEs spent heavily in support of Kumagai’s Assembly campaign. Both Mei and Kumagai are slated to face progressive, union-backed candidates in November.
ELECTION 2022
OAKLAND MAYOR
—IDLF IS OFFICIAL—After a decade in the political wilderness, former Oakland Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente is back in the game. De La Fuente officially announced his run for Oakland mayor on Thursday. East Bay Insiders Podcast listeners will recall De La Fuente talked up his interests about running for the open mayoral seat in a two-part episode last summer.
"Why not give it one last shot? I have nothing to lose, nothing to gain, so I will have the freedom to f--cking blow this sh-t up and rebuild,” De La Fuente said on the podcast. That type of bravado apparently survived the workshopping phase of his campaign. (Listen to Part 1 HERE. Part 2 HERE.)
In a press release, De La Fuente forcefully laid out his vision for Oakland. “I am running for mayor because our city is in deep trouble!” De La Fuente said. “I cannot let our city continue to be a place where seniors are assaulted and robbed in broad daylight, a place where illegal side-shows are constant throughout our city and a place where children are being shot and killed! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Oakland is not a dumping ground, and it is time to take action!”
—De La Fuente added he will be tough on homeless encampments, improve city services, while highlighting his experience in city government. Notably, De La Fuente said he will hire more police officers. More than a decade ago, amid the Great Recession, De La Fuente took heat for reducing OPD’s ranks.
—De La Fuente’s candidacy could be formidable in a field of candidates that have not yet capture the imagination of Oakland voters, although it’s still early. The three sitting councilmembers in the race—Loren Taylor, Sheng Thao, and Treva Reid—have not shown an ability to come anywhere close to the panache and showmanship that De La Fuente brings to the table, not to mention, his copious use of F-bombs.
CITY NEWS
HAYWARD
—OH, ZERMENO—A group hoping to redevelop a portion of the Hayward Executive Airport to attract high-tech businesses provided an uplifting proposal to the Hayward City Council on Tuesday night. As is the recent custom in Hayward, several councilmember issued overly effusive praise to the presenters. One feature of the redevelopment proposal is a museum dedicated to the Tuskegee Airmen, the decorated African American fighter pilots who fought in World War II.
—The proposal hopes to designate 4,000 sq. ft. of building space to a Tuskegee Airmen museum and a community room. The developer told Hayward councilmembers that it plans to dedicate roughly 2,000 sq. ft. to each endeavor.
—Hayward Councilmember Francisco Zermeno, who is prone to unmindful utterances, apparently doesn’t think the Tuskegee Airmen museum needs that much space. Zermeno asked the developers if they could allot more of the square footage to the community room. A representative for the developer appeared caught off guard, chuckled, and told Zermeno they were open to any ideas from the community.
ALAMEDA
—LANDLORD PASS-THROUGHS—Alameda landlords are pushing for a change in the city’s rent ordinance that would lower the threshold allowing them to pass through a portion of capital improvement costs to tenants. The current threshold is $25,000 in costs and a minimum of $2,500 for each unit.
—Landlords on Tuesday are pushing to lower the amounts to $7,500 and $750 for each unit. Since introduction of the ordinance in 2016, the city has received only 10 applications from landlords for capital improvements, and only three were approved. Landlords say the reason for so few application is the threshold is too high.
—SEA-LEVEL RISE—Estuary waters near Webster/Posey Tubes in Alameda are low-lying and highly prone to future sea-level rise. A long-term regional solution is needed. A $500,000 state grant comes before the Alameda City Council on Tuesday. The climate adaptation project is slated to begin November and also includes low-lying areas in Downtown Oakland (Lake Merritt), and other Oakland stakeholders.