ELECTION 2018

By the looks of it, Alameda Mayor Trish
might be running for re-election against
the entire City Council.


➤I think after what the East Bay Times and columnist Daniel Borenstein pulled with the Alameda City Council and city manager interference story, you should assume every story in that paper is Fake News or contains strains of lies and inaccuracies. Borenstein wrote a flimsy column alleging serious wrongdoing by one Alameda councilmember without offering any evidence, and then penned an unsigned editorial the next day calling for that person and another councilmember to be removed from office. The whole thing was so amateur. To me, these two pieces amount to Borenstein hinting he’s about to retire. He’s better than this.

➤I think Alameda Councilmember Malia Vella needs to run for mayor. No other true progressive is expected to challenge Mayor Trish Herrera Spencer, whose first three years in office has been rocky, to say the least. I think Alameda Councilmember Frank Matarrese is looking good, too. He’s preternaturally calm on the dais, reasonable and gives people a sense that he’s in control. Although I seriously wonder how he won’t split votes with Spencer, meaning both would lose.

➤I don’t think, I know for a fact, that the spread of the cannabis industry and the permitting and zoning processes being approved in more East Bay cities will result in so much corruption involving unscrupulous cannabis vendors and politicians. Whenever municipalities strapped for revenue realize they can make their city a quick and easy buck, they will, and cities down the line, like Hayward, that won’t attract Cadillac dispensaries like Harborside, are going to get some shady businesspeople looking for permits.
➤I think there’s hints that San Leandro Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter‘s re-election could face some trouble next year. But she has been solid during her first term and has successfully cooled what used to be a fractious council. On the whole, as of now, there isn’t any reason why she should be voted out of office. Furthermore, there isn’t anyone who could beat Cutter or has the rhetoric to put her on the defensive during a campaign, except former Mayor Stephen Cassidy. I can’t tell you how many people ask me if he’s running, at least, for something. It’s mostly due to the noticeable uptick in public appearances he’s been making lately. Cassidy is savvy. In fact, if he didn’t come on the scene as a such a hawk on public employee pensions, he would be in line for higher offices.

➤I think this is an easy one folks, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley won’t need a runoff to beat Pamela Price in June and nobody will run against Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern, except maybe someone with a resume that rivals Barney Fife. When it comes to these two offices, democracy does not exist.

Five more things I think on Thursday including who’s going to be the next assemblymember in the 15th District….