Republican California gubernatorial candidate John Cox probably wasn’t going to win many votes in heavily blue Oakland next month, but he didn’t help himself either on Monday. Cox criticized Gov. Jerry Brow’s signing over the weekend of Assemblymember Rob Bonta’s bill that could help pave the way for a new A’s ballpark at the Port of Oakland. He also slammed a similar signing that will help the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers with an arena of their own.

“Unfortunately, this action pushed by the Sacramento political class and special interests, and signed by Governor Brown was taken for new, fancy sports stadiums–and not for new affordable housing desperately needed by Californians struggling to pay their bills. We need to address the high cost of housing and lack of supply,” said Cox.

Instead, Cox wants to take a hammer to the California Environmental Quality Act, which both bills aimed to tweak, and use the same hammer to allow developers greater control to build new housing.

ODDIE IS OUT
Alameda Councilmember Jim Oddie came out last week in an article in the Bay Area Reporter, a LBGT newspaper. The news was roundly welcomed by many in East Bay politics, although quite a number were surprised. As one East Bay elected official quipped, “If have a really big secret to keep I know that guy knows how to keep it.” Meanwhile, Oddie’s big reveal also appears campaign related. Roughly two days after the news report was published, came a large-size campaign mailer–the first from Oddie’s re-election campaign this year–making slight reference to his coming out and likely timed to arrive in sequence. Aside from the personal aspect of the news regarding Oddie, his political rhetoric over the past few months has also been noticeably different. Whereas, he sometimes wavered on issues, recently he has shown to be more forceful in his convictions and combative with opponents such as Alameda’s landlords.

DUPLICITY IN FREMONT
Progressives should always be wary of receiving a fair shot when participating in East Bay Times endorsement meetings with pension hawk Daniel Borenstein. Over the years, it is not unusually for candidates who espouse progressive credentials in labor and Democratic Party circles to do a complete reversal and sing a different tune to Borenstein. It apparently happened last week in Fremont’s contested District 1 council race. Candidate Jose Oropeza posted on Twitter that another challenger for the newly created council seat flip-flopped during the endorsement interview.

In addition, to Chandu Siramdas, Teresa Keng also met with Borenstein. Ultimately, Keng received the paper’s endorsement. Curiously, Fremont District 4 candidate Yang Shao also won the East Bay Times’ support, but made no mention to his notorious comments toward the LGBT community.

DAMN YOU, (EAST BAY TIMES)!!

Oakland mayoral candidate Ken Houston is the self-describe “Son of Oakland” and his entertaining Facebook videos have run the gamut between following an Uber driver chauffeur his mom to the Social Security office to highlighting illegal dumping in the city. Last Thursday, Houston lashed out at the East Bay Times after their editorial team neglected to acknowledged him as he waited 35 minutes for his scheduled appointment. They were busy with Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s endorsement interview, according to Houston. Like many of his videos, turned the camera phone on himself and documented his departure from the newspaper’s office. However, there was one big problem with the scene. In the video, Houston slammed the wrong newspaper. He repeatedly lashed out at the East Bay Express when, of course, it was the East Bay Times that had done him dirty. Once Houston exits the building, its clear that he’s in downtown Oakland. The East Bay Express is located near Jack London Square.

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