While East Bay tenants activists have changed the political landscape in recent years in Oakland, Alameda, and Hayward, by forcing stronger housing protections, their achievements have largely sidestepped implementation in San Leandro. A newly formed San Leandro tenants group is… Read More ›
Last fall, San Leandro Councilmember Deborah Cox sailed to re-election. The result was expected in a race that again displayed the power of the incumbency. But some believed Cox had another notable advantage during last year’s election cycle after being… Read More ›
The last time the issue of a large city-backed forgivable loan came before the San Leandro City Council, the financial future of a beloved non-profit was in doubt, followed by a sexual misconduct scandal that made headlines because of rendezvous… Read More ›
A controversial request by San Leandro Councilmember Victor Aguilar, Jr. to approve a fence he constructed without a permit was denied by the San Leandro Planning and Board of Zoning Commission last week, setting up the possiblility of a contentious… Read More ›
San Leandro’s cannabis industry has failed to gain a foothold nearly four years after approving its first medical cannabis dispensary. The first dispensary to open, actually the third permit given by the city, only opened earlier this year. Three years… Read More ›
A few hours after San Leandro Councilmember Victor Aguilar, Jr. was grilled last Thursday night by a planning and zoning commissioner who took umbrage with his attempt to secure a zoning variance for a fence he constructed without a permit,… Read More ›
Victor Aguilar, Jr. was already eyeing a rematch for the San Leandro City Council in 2018 when incumbent councilmember Lee Thomas got caught up in a unsubstantiated scandal that he used his influence as an elected official to receive city… Read More ›
A pair of consequential ordinances bringing new housing protections to San Leandro will be finalized Monday night. Both navigated a lengthy vetting process to get to this point and each was approved by the San Leandro City Council on May… Read More ›
San Leandro accepted a nearly $32,000 federal grant that will allow its police department to purchase a drone. The San Leandro City Council, however, did so despite the city not having a specific drone policy. The lack of a policy… Read More ›
In early 2017, the San Leandro City Council approved a tiered schedule for taxing cannabis sales that gradually increases to eight percent by 2021. But as San Leandro’s tax rate is set to increase from six percent to seven percent… Read More ›
San Leandro councilmembers asked city staff last March to go back to drawing board and improve a proposed mobile home rent ordinance. On Monday night, San Leandro will make a second attempt at passing what is now a beef-up ordinance… Read More ›
A holiday card created by Alameda County firefighters depicting people in tradition Chinese attire created a fire storm of criticism from local leaders, activists, and elected officials last week, but the incident also underscores a woeful lack of diversity within… Read More ›
A short-term rental ordinance returns to the council after a work session last December that favored limiting hosted short-term rentals, commonly known as AirBNB or VRBO rentals based on the popular websites, to 120 days a year and continuing a… Read More ›
Just hours after receiving news of the passing of former San Leandro Mayor Tony Santos Monday night, the City Council took the first step toward finding a suitable way to honor him for posterity. “We are grateful for his legacy…. Read More ›
A new financial consultant, a good economy in San Leandro, and a little bit of old-fashioned belt-tightening is bringing a small surplus to the city for the upcoming fiscal year, according to an early budget presentation to the City Council… Read More ›
San Leandro city leaders are caught firmly between the desire of some councilmembers and progressive activists to completely divest from Wells Fargo, and a lack of viable options to replace the troubled institution as the city’s banking services provider.. Nearly… Read More ›
Since 2016, Wells Fargo Bank has been an angry touchstone among progressives because of its unscrupulous business practices and support for the Dakota Access Pipeline. The latter triggered a number of East Bay cities to seek divestiture from Wells Fargo… Read More ›
In the run up to the San Leandro City Council’s decision Monday night to renew a 14-year-old contract for red-light camera services, a few elected officials were alerted to the website HighwayRobbery.net. The no-frills site created by an activist who opposes… Read More ›
After San Leandro mobile home owners, many seniors with limited means, spoke Monday night of suffering harassment by their mobile home park owners, along with fears of retaliation, the San Leandro City Council voted to continue an agenda item that… Read More ›
San Leandro dispensaries say medical cannabis-only sales put them at a serious economic disadvantage against adult use stores.
San Leandro city staff is also recommending an expiration date for its two unopened permitted dispensaries.
San Leandro’s District 2 City Council election is essentially two years away, but two likely candidates are already talking trash in an odd, passive-aggressive standoff being played out in the city’s weekly newspaper. In 2016, Ed Hernández defeated Bryan Azevedo… Read More ›
At the same time acknowledging the need to diversify its mix of new housing, the San Leandro City Council, nonetheless, told the developer of a 45-unit green, multi-family apartment building on Bancroft Avenue that the project would not be approved… Read More ›
A fight over a neighbor’s fence is the most provincial of problems. But complaints of abuse of power last year against former San Leandro Councilmember Lee Thomas and his attempt to extend a fence on his property may have been… Read More ›
John Busch, the 82-year-old San Leandran who was evicted last year from his space at the Bayshore Commons mobile home park following his refusal to pay a large rent increase, has been a cause celebre for renters’ rights advocates in… Read More ›
Ribbon-cutting ceremony set for Jan. 11.
When a report by a San Leandro oversight committee on new revenues from three recent tax-generating measures was released last week, there was a glaring zero next to Measure NN, the cannabis business tax approved by voters in 2016. A… Read More ›
A structural deficit in San Leandro may worsen if the economy turns downward soon. High turnout elections in 2020 could help support tax measures.
San Leandro voted to sell a $700,000 investment note with Wells Fargo in Nov. 2017, but totally untangling itself from the bank has proven more difficult.
Former councilmember and top landlord had previously alleged 238 campaign finance violations
