EBC AGENDA — May 5-11 — AC TRANSIT’s school bus controversy continues – Water rates going up? – ‘Compassionate’ UNION CITY – More HAYWARD Housing

THE WEEK OF MAY 5-11
After Tuesday night in Union City it’s likely the Hayward City Council will be sitting quite alone when it comes to taking no official stance toward President Trump’s immigration rhetoric and policies. Of course, what were really talking about is Hayward’s reluctance to declare sanctuary city status or even using the less explosive term of “compassionate city.”

This Tuesday, the City Council in Union City is set to receive a report on the issue from its Human Relations Commission. The proposed resolution recommends the council declare it a compassionate city. However, the language in the resolution is basically the same as other East Bay sanctuary cities.

With Union City on board, that would leave only Hayward and Piedmont as sanctuary city/compassionate city outliers in the Greater East Bay. Local Democratic Party officials and advocates have largely given up on lobbying various Tri Valley city governments to join other sanctuary cities in the region. And at an Alameda County Democratic Party Central Committee meeting last week there were indications at least one Piedmont councilmember was on board, but the real work is in Hayward, which has stubbornly resisted the issue since January.

The reasons why are not entirely clear and many question exactly who is calling the shots in Hayward. Although, over the years many elected officials in Hayward have grown intensely insular about their decision-making process. Outside interests are often angrily resisted and this issue may be tapping into a similar psychosis.

Hayward Mayor Barbara Halliday has made some odd remarks on the issue and although insiders say she is on board for when the city takes on the issue at its June 6 meeting, her public comments appears to switch on a daily basis. For instance, Halliday maintained there is nothing the city can do to prevent ICE from doing its business in the city.

Specifically, she essentially told Latino children in Hayward, “Sorry kids, we can’t do anything to stop your family from being ripped apart” This came on a Tuesday and the next day she suggested to the city’s community task force that she would support becoming a sanctuary city.

The roll call looks like this, according to sources: For Sure Yes: Councilmembers Elisa Marquez, Francisco Zermeno. Yes: Barbara Halliday. On the fence or “keeping an open mind”: Al Mendall, Sara Lamnin. NO: Mark Salinas. HELL NO!: Marvin Peixoto.

Here’s your highlights for a big week in East Bay politics:
➤Oakland’s proposed Department of Violence Prevention takes a hit

➤Your water rates might be raised up to 9 percent

➤AC Transit’s Oakland school bus controversy continues.

➤Hayward’s city budget is unveiled and more housing is set to be approved

➤Bonta’s cannabis regulatory bill continues on to Appropriations

OAKLAND — City Council committee meetings, Tuesday, May 9, start at 9:30 a.m. —

Finance & Management Committee, 9:30 a.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE] —
–$86 MILLION ON THE CARD– “The borrowing of funds for Fiscal Year 2017-18 (“FY17-18”) in an amount not to exceed $86 million and issuance of one or more series of obligations (the “Notes”) will finance the prepayment of the City of Oakland’s (the “City”) Employer Unfunded Accrued Liability (“UAL”) contribution to CalPERS for FY17-18. The City will receive a 3.55 percent (3.55%) prepayment discount from CalPERS for the “pre-funding.” The early payment is estimated to save Oakland between $600,000 and $1 million due to the CalPERS discount.

–DEPT. OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION– Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney, Larry Reid, and now Rebecca Kaplan‘s proposed violence prevention department will be heard here and the Public Safety Committee on Tuesday. However, City Administrator Sabrina Landreth is pouring cold water on the plan, saying in a report, “…As there is a need for more evidence to prove that a separate department would further the City’s violence reduction goals. The proposed DVP would direct funds toward increased administrative expenses instead of toward direct violence prevention services, and may even decrease funds available for services unless ongoing supplemental City funds are made available.” Her office estimates the department would cost $945,441 in Measure Z funding and general fund expenditures.

Life Enrichment Committee, 4 p.m. –– [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE] —
–SMOKING PREVENTION ORDINANCE-– The proposed legislation seeks to address the longstanding practices of the Tobacco Industry to target and profile our most vulnerable Oakland residents… This legislation is focused on those products marketed directly to our youth” and would ban the “sale of flavored tobacco products, Require Tobacco Retailers To Post Full Retail Prices Of Tobacco Products, Prohibit The Redemption Of Tobacco Discounts And Coupons And Make Administrative Changes For The Licensure Of Tobacco Retailers.”

Public Safety Committee, 6 p.m. –– [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–CITY’S AMBER ALERT COMPLAINT– Oakland may decide to take action against the California Highway Patrol after an incident over the brief disappearance of a three-year-old Oakland boy earlier this year. The child was later found, but not before “OPD experienced a delay in the AMBER Alert authorization process by CHP on January 13, 2017. The incident involved the missing child case did not meet the AMBER Alert criteria when the boy’s mother first contacted OPD.”

–A report concerning data from police searches, specifically, how many times were firearms, cannabis, or other items were found will be submitted to the committee.

Community & Economic Development Committee, 1:30 p.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE] — Discussion on forming Koreatown/Northgate Community Benefit District. Public Works Committee, 11:30 a.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]. Rules Committee, Thursday, May 11, 10:45 a.m.

ALAMEDA COUNTY — Regular Board of Supervisors meeting, Tuesday, May 9, 10:45 a.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–OROVILLE DAM MUTUAL AID– For six days in February when the Oroville Dam spillway threatened public safety in Butte County, Alameda County sheriffs deputies provided mutual aid to the effort. Now the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office needs to be reimbursed. The board on Tuesday will approved the agreement, but no dollar is given.

–EXTENSION OF CONTROVERSIAL EMS CONTRACT– “Authorize the Board President to sign a Second Amendment to the Emergency Medical Services Ambulance Transport Provider Amended Agreement between the County of Alameda and Paramedics Plus, LLC, to include among other provisions an extension of the existing contract for an additional three years through 10/31/20.”

–WARRIORS ARENA LEASE– The Oakland City Council last week approved the two-year lease extension for the Golden State Warriors to play at Oracle Arena through 2019, along with three one-year options. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors take a shot at approving the deal.

HAYWARD — Special council meeting, Tuesday, May 9, 7 p.m. –– [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–HOUSING BOOM CONTINUES– The “Mission Crossings” project to be approved Tuesday night consists of “140 three-story condominiums of a town home design, a 93-room hotel, and 7,225 square feet of community serving retail use on a 9.72-acre site located at 25501 & 25551 Mission Boulevard and 671 Berry Avenue…The project represents consolidation and re-use of abandoned, obsolete, or underperforming uses, resulting in permanent improvements to the area.” No affordable housing is included in the project, but the developer will pay $1.02 million toward Hayward’s Housing Impact Fee.

–BUDGET OVERVIEW– Hayward City Manager Kelly McAdoo will present the Fiscal Year 2017-18 preliminary budget overview Tuesday. But the budget document will not be available to the public until Monday evening, according to the city.

–SANCTUARY CITY– One of the last holdouts from a flurry sanctuary city declarations earlier this year will discuss the issue at its June 6 council meeting.

FREMONT — Regular council meeting, Tuesday, May 9, 7 p.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–BIKE MASTER PLAN– A special Tuesday council meeting precedes Tuesday night’s regular agenda at 5:30 p.m. to allow for an update on Fremont’s Bicycle Master Plan. [ENTIRE AGENDA PACKET HERE]. During the regular meeting Tuesday the council will allocate $216,249 for the Walnut Avenue Bikeway Project between Civic Center Drive and Argonaut Way.

GATHERINGS — ‘DRO TOWN HALL– San Leandro City Council town hall for District 1, 2, 5, Monday, May 8, 7 p.m. Senior Community Center, 13909 East 14th Street, San Leandro. The districts are represented by Councilmembers Deborah Cox, Ed Hernandez, and Corina Lopez.

–ALAMEDA’S CITY MANAGER TALK– Alameda City Manager Jill Keimach gives Island Dems an update on the city’s recent developments, City of Alameda Democratic Club, Wednesday, May 10, 7 p.m. Alameda Hospital, Dal Cielo Room, Second Floor.

AC TRANSIT — Special board meeting, Wednesday, May 10, 6:30 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–OAKLAND SCHOOL BUS CONTROVERSY– A resolution to eliminate supplementary service to the Oakland Unified School District’s Montera Middle School, Skyline High School and Community Day School will be discussed. However, the report is not yet available, according to AC Transit. The Board of Directors will also meet Tuesday before the likely contentious special meeting, starting at 5 p.m. [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]

EBMUD — Regular board meeting, Tuesday, May 9, 1:15 p.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–RATES HIKES COMING– East Bay MUDS’s general manager will recommend the board to approve rates increases for the next two fiscal years as part of its budget considerations. According to the GM’s report, EBMUD suggests the water habits of its customers may be permanently changed. That’s good for conservation, not so good potentially for the district’s bottom line.

–“The overall increases of 9.25 percent in FY18 and 9.0 percent in FY19 will raise the monthly bill for the average single family residential customer to $51.49 in FY18, a $4.34 (9.2 percent) increase, and to $56.12 in FY19, a $4.63 (9.0 percent) increase. However, the overall impact to individual customers will vary depending on their actual water consumption.”

BART — Regular board meeting, Thursday, May 11, 9 a.m. — [ENTIRE AGENDA HERE]
–MEASURE RR UPDATE– “Over the last few months, Maintenance & Engineering and Planning, Development & Construction staff have refined the scope of the projects that were presented at the Workshop and have developed detailed cashflow projections for them. These cashflows projections served as input in establishing the size of the initial $300 million Measure RR Bond issue scheduled for this Spring.”

LEGISLATURE — Assembly Committee Hearings — (Watch all the action at CalChannel.com.)
–5G NETWORKS– Over the years, Assemblymember Bill Quirk has carried a number of bills for the cellular telecoms, including one that sought to undermine local control over the approval process for cell towers. ACR 62, an assembly concurrent resolution to heard at the Communication and Conveyance Committee, Wednesday, May 10, 1:30 p.m. is another.

–“This measure would urge policymakers in federal, state, and local government to work in cooperation with one another to modernize and streamline the processes that will enable rapid deployment of the small cell wireless infrastructure that supports 5G wireless networks and that will bring the many benefits of this important new technology to communities across California.”

–POT REGULATORY BILL– Assembymember Rob Bonta‘s bill to square the Medical Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act, signed into law in 2015, with the state’s newly-approved cannabis legalization initiative last November, moves on the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednsday, May 10, 9 a.m. AB 64 was unanimously approved last month in the Business & Professions Committee.

–PRISON REFORM– Bonta’s attempt to tell the state’s for-profit prison operators to take a hike (AB 1320) also comes to the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.