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| The will of Bill Lockyer to fund his wife, Nadia Lockyer’s campaign for county supervisor kicks into high gear before the June primary. |
SANTOS BRINGS RCV BACK; CHAN BECOMES SUPERVISOR; S.L. SCHOOL DISTRICT LOSES $1.6 MILLION
APRIL
Fran David becomes Interim City Manager of Hayward after Greg Jones quits among rumors he will run for the school board. David eventually gets the job and Jones confirms the East Bay’s juiciest rumor–that he and Councilwoman Anna May are an item. They will get married later in the year.
Although the city council approved the deal with the county for ranked-choice voting, they still needed to approve an ordinance, which does not pass as Councilwoman Diana Souza votes no. The vote is deadlocked, 3-3, with Councilman Michael Gregory on vacation. The mayor vows to bring the back vote back two weeks later and it passes. It may go down as one of the biggest political blunders in San Leandro history.
Sutter Health’s financial statement shows the company made $700 million in revenue in 2009. San Leandro Hospital, though, continues to lose money, according to Sutter, which only riles critics who says they are fudging the hospital’s finances.
Alice Lai-Bitker switches her endorsement to Wilma Chan for supervisor after Lena Tam leaves the race. A scandal in Alameda involving the developer of the vacant former Alameda Naval Air Station will take up most of Tam’s time.
San Leandro school district makes a $1.6 million accounting error and nobody is held responsible. After already cutting $2.7 million from the budget, the mistake is not publicized for three weeks.
The parties partnered with the city of San Leandro to build the initial $110 million phase of the Crossings housing project near the San Leandro BART station bail on the city because of the failing economy.
MAY
Two years after being elected to the council, Ursula Reed becomes the new vice mayor, replacing Starosciak. Most had expected Councilman Jim Prola to get the nod.
The largest construction project in San Leandro history is approved. The 436,000 square-foot Kaiser Permanente hospital is slated for opening in 2014.
Sara Mestas, rapper turned local activist, announces she will run for mayor.
Shortly after Toyota closes the NUMMI plant in Fremont, it teams up with Tesla Motors to build electric cars. The announcement burnishes a reputation for Fremont as a hub of green technology.
Nadia Lockyer tells a group of senior in Fremont that she has received the endorsement of Sen. Ellen Corbett. The senator quickly denies the boast.
The first in a developing story of campaign largess appears as Lockyer receives over $400,000 in campaign fundraising dollars in March and April from the campaign of her husband, Bill Lockyer. Less than one percent of her $647,000, at this point, comes from the district she wishes to represent.
JUNE
Less than a week before the June primary, Lockyer alleges Liz Figueroa has not paid property taxes for the last three years on her Sunol residence. Figueroa says she has worked a deal with the county.
Lockyer wins the District 2 supervisorial race, but heads to a November runoff against Figueroa who narrowly beats Union City Mayor Mark Green for second. Chan wins the District 3 seat outright over Johnson; replaces Lai-Bitker.
In Hayward, Marvin Peixoto and Mark Salinas win the race for city council, replacing Dowling and Anna May.
Stark invites a firestorm of anger from the right when he asks a questioner from the right wing group, The Minutemen “who are you going to kill today?” The YouTube video of his June town hall meeting in Fremont becomes an Internet sensation.
The Hayward City Council condemns Arizona’s controversial immigration law. The council approves, 4-0, to send a letter to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, but Mayor Michael Sweeney and members Bill Quirk and May abstain.
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