CASTRO VALLEY | For residents of unincorporated Castro Valley, the Municipal Advisory Committee is its de facto local government. In county literature it’s even called Castro Valley’s “Un-City Council.” But, the seven-member committee has no real power and its members are appointed exclusively by Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley.
In recent years, some Castro Valley residents have grown critical of the arrangement for its lack of transparency and a direct connection to the public. A vocal minority has routinely urged Miley to make the committee an elected board.
The lack of a true government body for Castro Valley residents to control their own destiny appears to be manifesting around three open seats on board, known as the CV MAC, soon to be filled by Miley.
A reported 16 candidates have applied for the appointment, but the interview process scheduled for Wednesday night in Castro Valley is not open to the public.
“Why is that?” wrote East Bay Municipal Utilities District board member Frank Mellon on Facebook Wednesday morning. “This will be the selection of people who will affect Castro Valley and we are not invited.”
Mellon also worried about the composition of the interview committee which he labeled as Miley’s “cabinet.” “Who are the members of this ‘cabinet’? And why do they get a say without our input?” Despite the 6 p.m. meeting not being open to the public, Mellon said he plans to show up at Castro Valley Library anyway.
Anna Gee, operations chief for Miley’s office, said the appointment process has never been open to the public. When asked about the concern by some in the community that the process lacks transparency, she said, “People are going to think what they want. I can see the perception, but it’s never been an elected position.”
“It wouldn’t hurt,” added Gee, to make the process open to the public, but in this case, no public outreach was previously made to inform residents of the meeting. In addition, the applicants were not informed they would be interviewed in front of an audience, said Gee. In the end, any decision over future appointments would have to be made by Supervisor Miley, she said.
The list of applicants is not publicly known, which has added another level of consternation for residents, some who chose not to be quoted for fear of angering Miley and hurting the chances of a few potential candidates.
However, two candidates believed to have applied are labor leader John Maher, who unsuccessfully ran for a seat last year on the Castro Valley Sanitary District board and Tojo Thomas.
Thomas’s bid is the most intriguing. In 2012, he challenged Miley for the District 4 supervisorial seat and has indicated he will again run for the seat in 2016. Although Miley easily defeated the severely underfunded Thomas in the June Primary, it was not without a few bruises laid upon the incumbent.
Thomas, who is also an Alameda County probation officer, routinely pestered Miley in public forums and infamously challenged Miley to back his candidacy. “Why don’t you just endorse me like a real man?” said Thomas.
UPDATE Supervisor Nate Miley allowed members of the public to witness the interview process Wednesday evening. The number of applicants was reported as 18, however, only 14 participated.
UPDATE II Supervisor Nate Miley filled two of the open three seats on the Castro Valley MAC on Monday. Miley named Castro Valley businessman Chuck Moore to the advisory board, along with Janet Everson, an attorney. The third vacancy will be filled soon, according to Miley’s office.
There are 114 MAC's statewide. 19 of them are elected, including 2 in San Mateo County, 6 in San Joaquin and 8 in Stanislaus Counties. Castro Valley ranks fourth in overall population in unincorporated MAC areas, but it is the largest single area or town underneath a MAC. The three larger areas are multiple communities under a single MAC.
http://castrovalleymatters.org/macs-throughout-california/
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Per California law, the Castro Valley MAC can be elected – it doesn't have to be appointed: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=gov&group=30001-31000&file=31000-31011
All the Alameda County Board of Supervisors has to pass a resolution authorizing elections.
There are smaller unincorporated communities in California with elected MACs: http://castrovalleymatters.org/eight-elected-macs-stanislaus-county/
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Sorry, Castro Valley, Miley is within his rights. If you want an elected council, incorporate. But then you'd have to play by the same rules as everyone else, hunh?
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By MW:
So perhaps Nate Miley will now mollify the critics by pretending to have legitimate interviews of various candidates interested in being on the MAC.
However most likely what will actually happen is that Miley will decide in advance who he will appoint – but to make it look good and supposedly legitimate, first, and before he appoints the person he had intended all along to appoint, he will go through the choreographed charade of first pretending to consider all interested applicants.
And anybody who disagrees with what I have just said has no idea as how things almost always actually function in Alameda County government, and especially when Nate Miley is involved.
And if too many skeptics vehemently attack the process that had such a choreographed charade of only pretending to look for the best and most qualified person for the MAC, to “prove” that the whole choreographed charade had been “legitimate” and “honest.” the so called practitioners of the “law,” well actually stooges, rubberstamps, and puppets on a string, in the County Counsel's office will do an “investigation” that will “prove” the whole thing was “proper” and “legitimate.”
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Miley don't give a shit about Castro Valley. Miley told MAC applicants that a decision will be made about the appointments last Thursday. No news as of today. So much for respecting Castro Valley! Who gives a crap about commitees and how many of them you are in. The person who can stand up for Castro Valley and its people should be on the MAC.
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Why should Thomas be put on the council if there are more qualified candidates? Just because someone ran a political race that means they are more qualified? What about people who are more involved in the community who participate in the EALI process or on other committees? What about people with more education and knowledge about the issues? You know, another supervisor could ignore and not support CVs MAC. I think it is a positive that Miley want's to hear what the community says.
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By MW:
I have seen Nate Miley in various settings, and including in certain instances in which he has ranted and raved, yelled and screamed, and carried on like a totally out of control maniac when someone said something he did not like.
But than Miley is a law school graduate, and those “superior” creatures who have received law school “educations” have: one, skyhigh rates of alcoholism and drug abuse; two, extreme delusions of grandeur; and three, the “skills” and “talents” to get virtually everything backwards, sideways, and upside down. In fact the way Miley has often ranted, raved, yelled, and screamed like a totally out of control maniac, I have often wondered whether he was on drugs,
(NOTE: For more details on the skyhigh rates of alcoholism and drug abuse among those “superior” creatures who have received a law school “education,” contact Nadia Lockyer, the lawyers in Alameda County's DA's office, the lawyers in San Francisco's DA's office, or the California State Bar.)
So since Miley, and just like most law school graduates, is such an extremely “rational,” “logical,” “level headed,” and “superior” person, I think we should allow him to do whatever he wants and appoint whomever he wants, and without any oversight from people who lack his “intelligence,” “levelheadedness” and “rationality.”
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The right thing to do is put thomas in the Mac but I don't think miley will do it.
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Tojo has no chance. you think a creep like Crawford would allow a probation officer in the Mac. Crawford is Miley's boy.
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It would be good to see Miley place Thomas in the MAC. Things are said against each other during campaigns. Let's move on. It will be classy from Miley's side.
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