Auditor candidate Blackwood says ALCO doesn’t have e-recording, but charged a fee for 12 years

Jovanka Beckles complains about Facebook’s new ad-buying rules

Up to until the end of last year, the Alameda County Auditor-Controller-Recorder’s Office had charged a $1 per page fee to record documents. The fee was set by state law in 2006 to facilitate counties to move toward procuring electronic recording systems of their own. Alameda County, for whatever reasons, has not made the move over the last 12 years, but county residents and businesses were still paying the e-recording fee. It is unknown how much the fee has collected over the years and where the money has gone.

Alameda County Auditor candidate Irella Blackwood’s campaign says the lack of oversight by the current office or transparency through audits is a reason for the uncertainty surrounding the fee and where its proceeds have gone. Not to mention, the county has failed to institute customer-friendly e-recording options for its residents, who instead of scanning documents into the system from their home or office, must travel to downtown Oakland to record them.

“It is truly unfortunate and outrageous that the Auditors-Controllers Office led by Steve Manning and Melissa Wilk have been collecting millions of dollars for electronic filing from the people of Alameda County and not even attempting to provide the service,” Blackwood’s campaign said in a statement. “This is just another example of significant problems inside that agency.”

–FACEBOOK UNFRIEND– 15th Assembly District candidate Jovanka Beckles’ campaign on Thursday sent a press release complaining about Facebook’s new rules for ad-buying, which was the social media giant’s response to the Russian meddling of the 2016 presidential campaign. Beckles, though, says the new rules are hampering her just as the campaign is heading into full Get-Out-The-Vote mode.

“Look at what Facebook is up to these days. After boosting several ads all year, now we are being denied. One week before the election they start playing this game ’cause they know grassroots candidates rely on this affordable method of advertising. Wow. Really, FB?” wrote Beckles.

“It’s telling—the fact that this is something that they are just now doing and hadn’t been doing all year. We’ve been boosting ads since last year—May or June,” Beckles said by phone on Thursday. “Why didn’t they ask me for this verification a month ago? Two months ago? Because you know what, they just told us this on Tuesday.”

In a tight race with up to four other candidates hoping to secure a top two place in the June primary, Facebook’s decision could greatly affect Beckles’ campaign, which is not well-financed and relies greatly on retail politics. Here’s more on how Facebook’s rules are hurting other campaigns.

–MORE TOUGH WORDS IN ALCO DA RACE– Pamela Price’s campaign is continuing to turn the heat on Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley. On Thursday, the Sacramento Police Officers Association gave to an Independent Expenditure Committee backed by police unions across the state. On Saturday, the campaign unloaded.

“Nancy O’Malley has some new friends – the Sacramento Police Officers Association,” said Price in an email to supporters. “They just gave $5,000 to support one of the staunchest bad cop defenders in the state: Nancy O’Malley. They did so while they are still under investigation for the murder of Stephon Clark. They shot that boy in the back 8 times and then claimed self-defense. He was armed with a cell phone.”

The contribution echoes the $10,000 contribution O’Malley infamously accepted from the Fremont police union last November when two of its officers who were being investigated by O’Malley’s office for murder of a 16-year-old pregnant girl.