Oakland Councilmember Libby Schaaf OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL | MAYOR | Councilmember Libby Schaaf made official what everyone in Oakland has known for weeks when she filed campaign papers Monday morning to challenge Mayor Jean Quan in 2014. Schaaf enters a… Read More ›
RCV
An Early Shot Across Tuman’s Bow
Joe Tuman OAKLAND//MAYOR 2014 | What exactly likely Oakland mayoral candidate Joe Tuman thought he was getting away with when he placed personal political aspirations in the middle of his syllabus is unclear. The San Francisco Chronicle reported Thursday Tuman… Read More ›
Benny Lee Becomes San Leandro’s First Asian American Councilmember
SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 4 | San Leandro’s demographics of a generation ago is a well-known secret. In 1970, 99.9 percent of the East Bay city was white. Times have changed when it comes to its City Council, which… Read More ›
Former San Leandro Mayor, RCV Rival Speaks Before Assembly Committee
The former mayor of San Leandro’s took his quixotic transformation from supporter of ranked-choice voting to fervent opponent of the little-used election system to the state capitol last week. The Tony Santos’ Traveling Road Show testified before the State Assembly Elections Oversight Committee Aug…. Read More ›
Like Ed Lee in S.F., San Leandro Had A Mayor Rethink His Political Future
San Francisco has a lot of things San Leandro doesnt have. A championship baseball team. A rampant homeless problem or even an Asian American power broker in the mold of Rose Pak, but it once had a very similar dilemma… Read More ›
Santos Seeks Hawaiian Punchout Of Ranked Choice Voting
SAN LEANDRO MAYOR IS WORKING WITH HONOLULU CITY COUNCIL TO THWART RCV ON THE ISLANDBy Steven Tavares For whatever it means, there is a common refrain among opponents of ranked-choice voting across the country. Most like former San Leandro mayor… Read More ›
Money was the Message for the Lockyers
YEAR-IN-REVIEW / APRIL-JUNE The will of Bill Lockyer to fund his wife, Nadia Lockyer’s campaign for county supervisor kicks into high gear before the June primary. SANTOS BRINGS RCV BACK; CHAN BECOMES SUPERVISOR; S.L. SCHOOL DISTRICT LOSES $1.6 MILLION APRILFran David… Read More ›
The Crusade Against Ranked-Choice Voting
SANTOS VOWS TO STOP RCV ACROSS THE COUNTRY; COUNCIL TELLS HIM, ‘I TOLD YOU SO’By Steven Tavares Opponents of ranked-choice voting typically share one unique trait–they have been bitten by its topsy-turvy results in the past. Newly-minted adversaries of the… Read More ›
Santos’ RCV Legal Argument May Be Difficult To Defend
CITY MEASURE AND ORDINANCE APPEARS TO UPHOLD CASSIDY’S MAYORAL WINBy Steven Tavares “Upon reflection, I am sorry I supported ranked-choice voting,” San Leandro Mayor Tony Santos wrote Friday to the city council. Once one of the voting system’s most staunchest… Read More ›
Perata Concedes in Oakland
EXIT THE DON: Don Perata listens to a reporter’s question during a press conference Thursday morning conceding defeat in the race for Oakland mayor. (PHOTO Steven Tavares/EBC) PERATA SLIPS SILENTLY INTO THE NIGHTBy Steven Tavares Former state senator Don Perata… Read More ›
CASSIDY WINS; MAYOR NOT CONCEDING
UPDATED RESULTS GIVE CASSIDY SLIGHT LEAD; SANTOS WINS MOST FIRST-PLACE VOTESBy Steven Tavares Stephen Cassidy declared victory Wednesday evening after the Alameda County Registrar gave the upstart San Leandro mayoral challenger a narrow lead over Mayor Tony Santos in its… Read More ›
No Change in San Leandro Mayor’s Race
TIGHT RACE IN OAKLAND POSTPONES RESULTS TO TUESDAYA week ago, the Alameda County Registrar told voters the results of the first-ever Ranked Choice election would come by the end of the week. Then, it was next Tuesday, then Monday. The… Read More ›
What If Neither Candidate Gets 50 Percent?
SAN LEANDRO CITY CHARTER CALLS FOR A WINNER WITH SIMPLE MAJORITY; RUNOFF COULD BE POSSIBLEBy Steven Tavares So many variables still exist in deciding whether San Leandro Mayor Tony Santos wins re-election or Stephen Cassidy pulls off the big upset…. Read More ›
Alameda County Learns RCV from Experiences in S.F.
RCV DEBUTS IN ALAMEDA COUNTY; 2004 INTRODUCTION IN S.F. RAN SMOOTHLYBy Steven Tavares Choice is good. But will voters in Oakland, Berkeley and San Leandro quickly take to the first-ever use of Ranked Choice Voting in Alameda County? If San… Read More ›
Candidates Miscalculate RCV’s Kumbaya Factor
It’s difficult to attract the cooperation of your opponents within RCV when divisive ads like the one above alienate a large segment of the electorate. VOTERS WERE SOLD ON RCV’S FRIENDLY CAMPAIGN SEASON; IT HASN’T TURNED OUT THAT WAY By… Read More ›
