Tenants advocates laid out demands and walked out of meeting with county supervisor, landlords
Santa Rita inmate’s death costs county $1.9m; county sideshow ordinance gets reduced jail time; ranked choice critic named to Election Commission
COUNTY NEWS
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—LINE IN THE SAND—Advocates representing renters in unincorporated Alameda County walked out of a meeting earlier this week that Supervisor Nate Miley had organized with the goal of finding an elusive compromise between renters and landlords over renters protections.
—Just minutes into the private meeting last Monday, a recording of which was obtained by the East Bay Insiders, a group of tenants advocates from My Eden Voice laid down their “ground rules,” including a demand that landlords accept, without further discussion, Just Cause protections for renters, or they would walk out of the meeting.
—For more than a year, county staff has been vexed by an inability to get tenants and landlords to agree on a host of renters protections.
—Last month, an exasperated Miley declared that he would bring a small group of stakeholders from both sides together for a meeting.
—If no deal could be hammered out, then Miley would bring his own ordinance to the Board of Supervisors sometime in mid-September.
—But hopes for a compromise on Monday were quickly dashed. The tenants advocates, however, stayed for nearly an hour before leaving. Most of that time, however, dealt with representatives for property owners urging the tenants group to stay.
—“I’m sorry. I’m really sad,” said Tom Silva, a property owner in unincorporated Alameda County, “because I’m born and raised in this area and I hate to see My Eden Voice throwing down such a hard line.”
—Silva added, “If you’re willing to sit and talk. We’re here. We want to make things better, but if you’re going to walk out because we won’t agree to signing our names on the line right now, it’s your call. It’s up to you.”
—Representatives from My Eden Voice, however, would not budge. “We’re on combat duty here and we’ve been waiting courteously for meeting after meeting after meeting about getting these protections for our tenants,” said Les Morones, a member of the tenants group. “In the unincorporated area they are left naked. They don’t have any protections here.”
—Throughout the meeting Miley was mostly quiet. As the tenants group was about to leave, he said, “I learned a long time ago that I can only control what I do. I can’t control what adults do. If that’s the decision to leave then you got to respect that decision.”
—After the tenants advocates left, Miley said he was surprised by their hardball tactic. “First of all, I didn’t know they were going to do the protest. Secondly, I didn’t know they were going to come in here and leave,” Miley said.
—The move by tenants advocates is curious. Just Cause protections were passed by the Board of Supervisors last December, but a new group of supervisors elected in January scuttled the ordinances and two others. A pro-landlord majority still exists on the board.
—About 40 minutes into the meeting, sensing the tenants advocates were squandering an opportunity to gain reforms, Michelle Starratt, the Alameda County director of housing, also urged them to stay at the table.
—“If you leave, again, I understand,” Starratt said, “but you’re basically putting the county housing staff in the position of representing low-income renters again and this is your one opportunity to talk to these folks. Otherwise, it’s me talking to them again.”
—Starratt’s comments were notable because some landlords have accused her of siding too often with renters.
—It’s unclear whether Miley will convene another meeting with tenants and landlords, but an ordinance in time for the Sept. 17 board meeting is likely, he said.
—“I think the board needs to adopt an ordinance, or, whatever we’re going to do, and see how that plays out in terms of implementation and the result,” Miley told the landlords. “As opposed to this constant Groundhog’s Day. We’re not getting anywhere.”
—SIDESHOW AMENDMENT—An ordinance approved by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in June to thwart sideshows in the unincorporated areas included quite a significant error.
—The board on Tuesday amended the ordinance targeting spectators at sideshows in order to reduce the prescribed jail time.
—The ordinance incorrectly includes six-months jail time for the offense, Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley said. The correct amount of jail time is three months.
—ELEX COMMISSION CHANGE—The board made a change to the newly approved Alameda County Election Commission. Offered by Supervisor Keith Carson, the amendment removes an unnamed organization and adds an at-large individual to its 13-member roster.
—RANKED CHOICE VETTING—For those wondering if ranked choice voting is going to get a fair vetting on this commission, take note of the latest appointment. Supervisor Nate Miley appointed Pamela Ferran to the Election Commission on Tuesday.
—Ferran was previously a staffer for former Oakland Councilmember Loren Taylor. Taylor lost last year’s Oakland mayoral race by the slimmest of margins amid serious questions about the county’s ranked choice voting system.
—REPARATIONS APPT—Artavia Berry was appointed to the Alameda County Reparations Commission on Tuesday. The appointment was made by Supervisor Elisa Marquez. Berry has long raised awareness about the unjust demise of Russell City, a minority-majority enclave that was forcefully annexed by the city of Hayward in the 1960s.
—SANTA RITA SETTLEMENT—The Alameda County Board of Supervisors approved a $1.875 million settlement with the estate of Leonard Brown, county counsel reported on Tuesday.
—Brown was an inmate at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin when found unresponsive in his cell. Brown had a history of mental illness.
—The civil rights lawsuit, with includes then-Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern as a defendant, asserted that Alameda County sheriff’s deputies left Brown unsupervised even after he showed clear intent to commit suicide.
—When Brown’s family checked on his status they were incorrectly told he had been released from the prison. In fact, Brown had been taken to the hospital unresponsive and “braindead,” according to the lawsuit. The family only learned of Brown’s death after being ask to authorize the harvesting of his organs.
ALAMEDA COUNTY DEMOCRATS
—SAVE THE DATES—The Alameda County Democratic Party’s Unity Dinner, the Met Gala for progressives (not really), will be on Oct.14 at a location TBD in Oakland, the central committee announced on Wednesday.
—Rep. Barbara Lee will make an appearance at the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee’s September meeting in Oakland.
—The Alameda County Democratic Party’s pre-endorsement meeting for the March Primary is set for Oct. 21-22. The party’s endorsement is a big get for candidates in local state and federal races. This year, the battleground is the county’s three open state Senate races.
—PLAYER HATER!—Over the past few months, the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee has been cracking down on their member’s unexcused absences. The latest to be called to the carpet is Oakland activist Melody Davis.
—“Don’t hate the player,” said party chair Igor Tregub. “Hate the game.”
—Davis apologized and was reinstated. She added, “Like you said, ‘Don’t hate the players. Hate the game.’ Player hater!”
—NO KOMBUCHA?—Someone brought vegan pizza to Wednesday night’s Alameda County Democratic Central Committee meeting. No word on whether anybody grabbed a slice.
ELECTION NEWS
FREMONT MAYOR
—BACON BITS—Former Fremont Councilmember Vinnie Bacon will announce his campaign for mayor soon. Bacon scooped himself at Wednesday night’s Alameda County Democratic Central Committee meeting.
—“I will be running for office soon,” Bacon told county Democrats. “I will be making an announcement soon.” Bacon is stepping down as the central committee’s treasurer in advance of his run for mayor.
—Fremont Councilmember Raj Salwan is also expected to announce his candidacy for mayor soon. Salwan’s interest in the job has been well-known. He opened a campaign committee for mayor back in May 2022.
—Current Fremont Mayor Lily Mei is termed out of office next year.
—CAMPAIGN FINANCE DATA—Below is Form 497 campaign contributions ($5,000 or more) filed July 24 through Aug. 3. (Contributions not included in the recent campaign finance reports.)
ALAMEDA COUNTY
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—David Haubert (District 1), Salka LLC of San Diego, $10,000 (July 27); Plumbing Industry Consumer Protection Fund United Association Local 159, $5,500 (July 27); GE Home Supply, Inc, $5,000 (July 27); Athletics Investment Group (John Fisher), $5,000 (July 31); Int'l Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers Local 549 PAC, $5,000 (Aug. 2); Deputy Sheriffs Association of Alameda County PAC, $5,000 (Aug. 3). TOTAL: $35,500.
STATE LEGISLATURE
STATE SENATE
—Jesse Arreguin (7th Senate District), IBEW. Local Union 302 PAC, $10,900, (July 11); Another Planet Entertainment, $5,500 (July 13). TOTAL: $16,400.
—Kathyryn Lybarger (7th Senate District), IBEW Local Union 1245, $5,000 (July 18); Liz Ortega-Toro For Assembly 2024, $5,500 (July 18). TOTAL: $10,500.
—Ernesto Falcon (7th Senate District), Loraine Reitman of San Francisco, $5,500 (July 25).
—Citizens for a Better California, a ballot measure committee sponsored by Senator Steve Glazer, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, $5,000 (July 13).
STATE ASSEMBLY
—Liz Ortega (20th Assembly District), James Ramos of Highland, Calif., $5,500, (Aug. 1).