After more than three decades of dreaming and 12 years of sporadic success, San Leandro’s Marina-Shoreline project appears closer than ever to possibly becoming one of the city’s prime destination spots. On Monday night, the San Leandro City Council approved… Read More ›
The rivalry between San Leandro Councilmember Victor Aguilar, Jr. and the man he replaced on the city council, Lee Thomas, is easily the most bitter in all of East Bay politics. And following a newspaper article in which Aguilar, Jr…. Read More ›
San Leandro is about to take a higher profile in the East Bay’s issues with traffic and transportation. The Alameda County Transportation Commission named San Leandro Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter as it next chairperson on Thursday. Cutter served as vice… Read More ›
Like vice-president and lieutenant governor, the honorific of vice mayor sounds important. But it’s not. The ceremonial title’s job prescription is solely to be a stand-in for the mayor at ribbon-cuttings and sometimes preside over a council meeting when the… Read More ›
Cities without campaign contribution limits, however, will be preempted by a new state law coming into effect in 2021.
Howard Kerr, a former San Leandro councilmember who led the effort to implement speed bumps in the city, and later served as a member of the Oro Loma Sanitary District for 29 years, died Jan. 2. He was 96. “Howard… Read More ›
San Leandro City Clerk Leticia Miguel said a rising number of public records requests are taxing her office. Following passage of AB 1421, which opened up access to video footage and records related to police officer-involved shootings and police misconduct,… Read More ›
San Leandro’s response to two power shut-offs by Pacific Gas & Electric last October was suboptimal, but the city ultimately learned from its early mistakes, city officials said. The pair of power shut-offs, which occurred in the northeastern area of… Read More ›
San Leandro’s early projections that the cannabis industry would bring roughly $500,000 in new annual tax revenues have largely failed to materialize. One big reason is the inability of its three permitted cannabis dispensaries to actual open shop. Last January,… Read More ›
San Leandro Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter wants a pay increase equal to three times that of her council colleagues. Cutter, who is in her second term as mayor, wrote a letter to the city highlighting in great detail why the… Read More ›
The process for construction of Grover Cleveland Park in San Leandro during the 1980s and early 90s was an arduous task for then-councilmember Tony Santos. Now the park located in the Davis Street-West area of San Leandro will now be… Read More ›
Almost immediately after the passing of former San Leandro Mayor Tony Santos last April, city officials began contemplating how to honor the long-time public official who served 18 years on the City Council spread across three decades. On Monday night,… Read More ›
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 ›
Tony Santos, a former San Leandro mayor, stalwart progressive and friend of labor, who lead the once-segregated city toward a more equally diverse future, died Monday afternoon. He was 86. Santos had been in declining health for months and passed… 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 ›
