THE WEEK OF APRIL 21-27
When Alameda County Treasurer-Tax Collector Donald White decided to hang ’em up last year, the news seemed plausible. White had served the county for three decades, so retirement was obvious. However, his decision to retire during the middle of his four-year term is a standard Alameda County trick and always stifles the chances of an outsider breaking the entrenched nature of business at Oak Street.
Certified Public Accountant Henry Levy appears to be the front runner to win Tuesday’s appointment. The act almost certainly assures that Levy will win election to the seat when White’s term ends in June 2018. The Board of Supervisors has anointed others in the same fashion. Former Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff retired during the middle of his term and appointed DA Nancy O’Malley who won the seat later has never faced a contested election.
Same for Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern who was tabbed by his mentor Charlie Plummer. And when long-time Alameda County Auditor-Controller Patrick O’Connell retired mid-term two years ago, his assistant Steve Manning was set up for success on Election Day.
–Meanwhile, it’s an uncommonly busy end of the month all over the East Bay political scene. Here’s your highlights:
➤Hayward is set to approve a massive 476-unit residential downtown housing project
➤The aforementioned appointment for Alameda County treasurer-tax collector come Tuesday morning.
➤Oakland has $2.46 billion in unfunded liabilities
➤Reps. Eric Swalwell and Ro Khanna appear at town halls in Dublin and Newark, respectively
➤Alameda’s usual suspects seeks two healthcare district board seats
HAYWARD — Council meeting, Tuesday, April 25, 7 p.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–LINCOLN LANDING APPROVAL– “The Lincoln Landing Project is Comprised of 80,500 Square Feet of Ground Floor Retail Uses, 476 Multi-Family Rental Units and Related Site Improvements on an 11.5-Acre Site Located at 22301 Foothill Boulevard and 1155 Hazel Avenue.”
–Staff recommends denying the appeal of the Hayward Planning Commission’s approval of the project on Feb. 23. Appellants claims the “Environmental Impact Report (EIR) did not adequately identify regional traffic impacts or analyze impacts related to urban decay; and that the Final EIR did not adequately respond to comments received on the Draft EIR.”
–PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE CAMS– “After a successful and extensive pilot project with the Hayward Police Department, staff recommends the purchase of 16 public safety camera systems from V5 systems…The Hayward Police Department began research into the requirements to outfit cameras in the area of Downtown Hayward to explore and evaluate a new solution to combat crime in this targeted area.” Cost: 10 existing cameras and additional purchase of 6 camera systems plus video data storage, setup, and maintenance for a total five-year project cost of $215,371.”
–CLOSED SESSION– Annual evaluation for City Manager Kelly McAdoo.
ALAMEDA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS, Regular meeting, Tuesday, April 25, 10:45 a.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–BOARD DELIBERATIONS– Alameda County supervisor spent two and a half hours last week interview four candidates for county treasurer-tax collector, an elected position. The office came open after long-time Treasurer-Tax Collector Donald White announced his retirement last year. The four candidates are Dr. Candi Clark, former Fremont Mayor Bill Harrison, assistant treasurer Gregory Lawson, and Henry Levy. Harrison and Levy are believed to be the frontrunners. The office is up for election in June 2018.
–BUDGET WORKSHOP– Thursday, April 27, 12 p.m., Alameda County Training and Education Cetner, 125 12th Street, 4th Floor, Oakland. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
OAKLAND — City Council committee meetings, Tuesday, April 25, start at 9:30 a.m. —
Finance & Management Committee, 9:30 a.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE] —
–OAKLAND PUBLIC BANK–“In response to the City Council’s referral regarding cost estimates to commission a study analyzing the feasibility and economic impact of establishing a public bank, and providing funding options for a feasibility study, this report requests that the City Council consider to appropriate $100,000 from the Fiscal Year 2016-17 General Purpose Fund (GPF) Balance reserves for a contract to complete a feasibility study on public banking in Oakland…”
–“Two firms submitted responses to the RFQ issued by the City—Global Investment Company and PFM Financial Advisors, LLC. In March, staff held interviews with each of the firms…In the event the City Council wishes to go forward on the feasibility study, as a result of the competitive process, staff would advise to contract with [Oakland-based] Global Investment Company to complete a feasibility study on Public Banking in Oakland based on their skills and their team’s knowledge of public banking.”
–YIKES!– Oakland’s unfunded liabilities total is $2.46 billion.
Public Works Committee, 11:30 a.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE] —
–ILLEGAL DUMPING– “Illegal dumping service requests received through the Public Works Call Center have increased 100% in the past five years. Crews have gone from collecting 14,083 piles of illegally dumped material in FY 2010-11 to collecting 29,370 piles of illegally dumped material in FY 2015-16…”
“Oakland Public Works (OPW) spends approximately $5.5 million on eradication of illegal dumping annually. Crews remove the illegally dumped materials seven days a week and address 85% of the requests within three business days. Yet even with this herculean effort in
picking up material faster than weekly garbage service, the challenge of the illegal behavior persists.”
Community & Economic Development Committee, 1:30 p.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE] — Informational Report On A Proactive Rental Inspection Pilot. Life Enrichment Committee, 4 p.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE] — Status Update On Progress Of Implementation Of Measure To Aid Homeless Individuals Residing In Oakland. Public Safety Committee — CANCELLED. Rules Committee, Thursday, April 26, 10:45 a.m.
SAN LEANDRO — Council work session, Monday, April 24, 7 p.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–POT POLICIES– with three permits for medical cannabis dispensaries in San Leandro and voter-approved mandate for a cannabis business tax, the City Council begins a policy discussion related to adult recreational use, legalized by Proposition 64 last November and “potential code amendments related to lab testing and manufacturing.”
Joint council work session with San Leandro and San Lorenzo school boards, Tuesday, April 25, 7 p.m.
–SAFE HAVENS/SANCTUARY CITIES– San Leandro became a sanctuary city earlier this year. Its school district declared “safe haven” status around the same time as did San Lorenzo. Tuesday’s work session will examine the each jurisdiction’s roles and relation to law enforcement; and steps going forward.
GATHERINGS — “How Safe Are Our Election? — Friday, April 21, 7 p.m. — Special presentation by Dr. Rebecca Mercuri on election security re-engineering, hosted by Hayward Area Democratic Club and South Alameda County Young Democrats, Pancho Villa Event Center, 1026 B Street, Hayward.
–Rep. Eric Swalwell town hall in Dublin — Saturday, April 22, 4 p.m., Dublin High School Student Union, 8151 Village Parkway, Dublin.
–Rep. Ro Khanna town hall in Newark– Sunday, April 23, 1 p.m., Newark Memorial High School Student Events Center, 39375 Cedar Boulevard.
–Fremont’s Elections Are About To Change — Wednesday, April 26, 6:30 p.m. — Fremont Chamber of Commerce is holding an event on Fremont’s coming switch to district-based elections with a panel including, Fremont City Councilmember Raj Salwan; Gautam Dutta, election law attorney; Pedro Hernandez, Deputy Director, FairVote California; Preston Jordan, Californians for Electoral Reform; Fremont City Hall chambers, 3300 Capitol Avenue, Fremont.
AC TRANSIT — Regular board meeting, Wednesday, April 26, 5 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–SERVICE TO TREASURE ISLAND– “Presentation on the Treasure Island development, and authorize the General Manager to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Treasure Island Transportation Management Agency to provide bus transit service between Oakland and Treasure Island.”
–WELLS FARGO DIVESTMENT– Like other East Bay jurisdictions, AC Transit has studied divestment from Wells Fargo because of its corporate malfeasance and investment in environmentally unfriendly projects, such as the Dakota Access Pipeline. Through November 2016, the transit agencies investments with Wells Fargo is $75 million, including a $40 million treasury note.
BART — Regular board meeting, Thursday, April 27, 7 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
ALAMEDA HEALTHCARE DISTRICT — Special meeting, Monday, April 24, 5:30 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–BOARD APPOINTMENTS– Two available appointments on the Alameda Healthcare District Board of Directors. Four will be interviewed Monday. They include former board member Stewart Chen; former Alameda school trustee Mike McMahon; Robert Sullwold; and Geoffrey Sylvester. Three other candidates will be interviewed May 3.
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