'When we have an earthquake there is going to be major issues'
San Leandro moves plan to monitor soft-story buildings, many of which are near the Hayward Fault; Alameda County eyes gun storage ordinance; Union City councilmember lashes out against cannabis haters
CITY NEWS
SAN LEANDRO
—SOFT SELL—San Leandro has more than 370 soft-story buildings, totaling 4,000 housing units, and most are located in a liquefaction zone near the Hayward Fault.
—“When we have an earthquake there is going to be major issues,” a consultant told the San Leandro City Council’s Rules Committee last week.
—Soft-story buildings are typically multi-unit dwellings in which the first floor is occupied by parking spaces. In older building the weight of the building is susceptible to collapse during natural disasters.
—Neighboring Alameda passed a soft-story ordinance way back in 2009. Oakland did so in 2019, and Hayward followed last year.
—San Leandro, though, has been taken its time dealing with the pressing matter. The city expended Covid relief funds to create a soft story program in 2021. The Rules Committee weighed in on the matter last year.
—Under the proposal offered last week, property owners would be required to conduct an engineering screening and install an earthquake gas shut off valve.
—Cost is likely to be an issue when the soft-story proposal comes to the full council.
—An engineering screening report can cost between $3,000 and $7,000 for large buildings, the city said.
—In addition, if a full soft-story retrofit is required, the cost ranges between $5,100 and $8,700 per dwelling unit, based on data from Alameda, Hayward, and Oakland.
—The goal, however, is to get property owners to get the initial engineering report and begin identifying soft-story buildings, and a plan for how to pay for potential retrofits, said Tom Liao, San Leandro’s community development director,
—“Can [property owners] afford to do it?” Councilmember Pete Ballew said “My immediate thought was, ‘Can they afford not to?’’
—San Leandro will likely lean heavily on Alameda’s ordinance where 63 percent of soft-story buildings have been identified and retrofitted since 2009.
—The proposal would focus on all wood framed residential buildings with five or more units permitted before 1985.
UNION CITY
—PERMIT UP IN SMOKE—It’s increasingly unlikely that a bid for Union City’s third retail cannabis permit will be awarded anytime soon.
—A group of residents have organized strong opposition for months against Embarc Union City’s bid to set up shop.
—Union City Councilmember Jaime Patiño said opponents have deployed half-truths, fear tactics, and deception to thwart approval of a third cannabis permit.
—Statewide and Union City residents have overwhelmingly supported cannabis, Patiño said. Even a majority of Republicans now support the industry. “Do you see the trend there?” he said.
—“What we see here, people yelling, people coming up to us at home and doing these other scare tactics—Drug City and Reefer Madness—whatever the heck they want to talk about. That is not the majority of the people.”
—Patiño said if the council is going to vote against awarding the third retail permit, he’s fine with it.
—“But let’s use clear evidence, clear data. Not scare tactics. Not fear tactics that come from a bad Cheech & Chong movie,” Patiño said.
—A large chunk of future city revenues are also on the line. “Where are we going to come up with the $700,000 hole that we’re going to create for ourselves?” Patiño said.
COUNTY NEWS
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
—MISFIRE—Alameda County is readying a gun storage ordinance for the unincorporated areas. A presentation was set for last week’s Board of Supervisors Unincorporated Services Committee.
—A mix-up led to its postponement, Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley said. It’s set to return in September.
—The city of Alameda approved a gun storage ordinance in 2020 requiring owners of firearms to lock their guns in safes or outfit them with trigger locks.
—DEVIL’S IN THE DETAILS—In yesterday’s newsletter, I misidentified one of the four county supervisors labeled as Satan by Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.
—Supervisor Lena Tam abstain, not Supervisor Keith Carson, on the item last week to potentially place a charter amendment on the November ballot to reorganize employees at Price’s DA’s office.
—Therefore Tam is not a princess of darkness. Instead, the moniker, according to Price, belongs to Supervisors Nate Miley, Elisa Márquez, David Haubert, and Keith Carson. Each voted for the charter amendment opposed by Price.
—In reference to the vote last week, Price said over the weekend, “We’ve been under attack for these last 18 months, but on Tuesday, Satan himself showed up!”
ELECTION 2024
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
—RECALLER BALLERS—The group seeking to recall first-term state Sen. Aisha Wahab isn’t very good at organizing a proper campaign. They have failed the basics of filing paperwork for the recall on three occasions.
—However, the Committee to Support the Recall of Aisha Wahab is pretty good at fundraising.
—The group has raised $125,559 this year, according to a fundraising report posted on Tuesday, along with cash reserves of $88,657, through June 30..
—Most state senate districts have more than 1 million residents, so any successful recall campaign would need millions to be viable.
—One avenue for the recall group to fortify itself bank account is to seek contributions from out of state. Tuesday’s finance report, in fact, reveals quite a few donors from other states.
—The ire toward Wahab is mostly from conservative Indo-Americans in south county and Santa Clara County who opposed her bill to prohibit caste-based discrimination in the state.
COMMITTEE TO SUPPORT THE RECALL OF AISHA WAHAB—April 1-June 30
Cash IN $38,542
Cash OUT $1,291
Total Cash IN (2024) $125,559
Total Cash OUT (2024) $89,966
Loans/Debts $0
Cash on Hand $88,657
Top Donors: Naresh Solanki of Cerritos, Calif., $5,000; Santosh Khedkar of Lexington, Mass., $4,500; Viraj Raut of Cupertino, $2,551.
NOMINATION PERIOD
—PULLING PAPERS—Candidates who pulled papers on Tuesday. *Incumbent
