Former San Leandro Councilmember Surlene Grant served from 1998-2008. SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCILNear the end of former San Leandro Councilmember Ursula Reed‘s second term in office, she began exploring ways to honor her predecessor in District 2, Surlene Grant, the city’s… Read More ›
Ursula Reed
San Leandro rules committee nixes extending council term limits; ban on flavored cigarillos proposed
San Leandro Councilmember Ursula Reed’s bid to lengthen term limits is falling flat. SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL |Using the same rationale that led to the extension of term limits to 12 years in the state Legislature, San Leandro Councilmember Ursula… Read More ›
SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL PREVIEW: Slim pickings across the board
Bryan Azevedo and Ed Hernandez face-off in the San Leandro City Council’s District 2–the only contested race of three open seats this fall. MEET THE CANDIDATESIn San Leandro, just four candidates filed for three seats this fall. But it gets worse…. Read More ›
San Leandro candidate says opponent literally didn’t stand up for workers
San Leandro council candidate Bryan Azevedo holds a union placard, while his opponent Ed Hernandez sits. SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL |ELECTION 2016 |Josie Camacho, the leader of the powerful Alameda Labor Council, asked fellow union members to rise in support… Read More ›
San Leandro will have just one contested race on the entire ballot this November
San Leandro District 2 City Council race between Bryan Azevedo and Ed Hernandez will take center stage in November. SAN LEANDRO |ELECTION 2016Either San Leandrans are content with how their city government and school district is running or nobody is… Read More ›
San Leandro may raise its city wide minimum wage to $15 by 2020
Councilmember Jim Prola proposes raising San Leandro’s minimum wage to $15 by 2020. SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL |The minimum wage in San Leandro could reach $15 an hour by 2020, the city council proposed Monday night. If approved at the… Read More ›
Support builds for comprehensive review of San Leandro’s ‘archaic’ city charter
San Leandro Councilmember Ursula Reed advocated for extending council term limits, but discussion turned toward revamping the city charter. SAN LEADNRO CITY COUNCIL | San Leandro’s city charter, its guiding document for governance, is archaic and need wholesale changes, said… Read More ›
Palpable fears of rising rents and evictions move to San Leandro
San Leandro Mayor Pauline Cutter is skeptical about rent control despite a chorus of speakers Monday advocating for greater protections. SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL | After months of public comment and vetting, the San Leandro City Council approved this week… Read More ›
San Leandro approves purchase of armored police vehicle
A LENCO Bearcat MedEvac on display last month in San Leandro. SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL | Despite concerns of many public speakers, the San Leandro City Council voted Monday night to accept a state homeland security grant for the… Read More ›
Down Ballot, May 21, 2014; 13 Days to Election Day
CONGRESS DISTRICT 17 Which number will be higher? The number of votes Joel Vanlandingham receives or the number of words allotted to him by the corporate press? On Tuesday, Vanlandingham told the San Jose Mercury News he will move within the… Read More ›
Sheila Jordan’s Legacy Poses a Challenge for her Hand-Picked Successor
Candidates to replace retiring Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan at a forum Wednesday in Hayward. Left to right, Jeff Bowser, Helen Foster, Karen Monroe and Ursula Reed. PHOTO/Steven Tavares CAMPAIGN 2014 | ALCO SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS |There has… Read More ›
Mayor Cassidy Hints He Knows Council Colleagues Don’t Like Him
Mayor Cassidy in 2010. How many of his colleagues would like to take a shot at the dunking booth today? SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL | Did San Leandro Mayor Stephen Cassidy make light of his apparent unpopularity among council colleagues… Read More ›
Cassidy’s Quandary: Juggling Work Demands With His Duties As Mayor
SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL | In San Leandro, being mayor is not a full-time job, at least, financially. Earlier this month, San Leandro Mayor Stephen Cassidy offered another in a long line of proposals that appear more suited to molding… Read More ›
San Leandro Approves Draft Ordinance Allowing Two Dispensaries
SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL//DISPENSARIES | After much advocacy and derision regarding one of San Leandro’s most controversial topics, the City Council passed a draft ordinance that could allow up to two medical cannabis dispensaries in city boundaries following over three years of debate…. Read More ›
San Leandro Inching Closer To Allowing Medical Cannabis Dispensaries
SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL | Nearly three years ago, the San Leandro City Council was in the midst of reefer madness. In late 2010, it nearly placed a 22-month moratorium on medical cannabis dispensaries–a potential death sentence possibly leading to an outright ban…. Read More ›
In San Leandro, And Alameda County As A Whole, Homelessness Persists Without Resources
SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL | Homelessness is a topic commonly swept under the rug not only in America at-large, but all over Alameda County. The San Leandro City Council, this week, discussed those living in the shadows. Although no new plan was… Read More ›
Commercial Wind Turbine Approved For San Leandro’s Shoreline As Residents Ready For A Lawsuit
SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL//ENVIRONMENT | Approval for a single 100-foot wind turbine on the San Leandro shoreline was reaffirmed Monday night by the San Leandro City Council, 5-1, leaving residents at the nearby Heron Bay housing development to weigh their next… Read More ›
Attack On Public Employees Embedded Into Administrator’s Pension Story
SUNDAY COLUMN | On the same day this week reporters from the San Francisco Chronicle took to social media in protest of a proposed hike in health care premiums laid out by their management, the paper’s two star reporters wrote Alameda County Administrator… Read More ›
San Leandro Councilwoman To Run For Alameda County School Superintendent
San Leandro Councilmember Ursula Reed SAN LEANDRO | Two-term San Leandro Councilwoman Ursula Reed says she intends to run for Alameda County superintendent of schools in 2014. The current holder of the seat since 1999, Sheila Jordan, is eyeing retirement in… Read More ›
After Suspending Committees, San Leandro Makes Exception For School Relations Group
SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL | To ease a strain on city resources in San Leandro last fall, the City Council suspended its collection of standing committees, including two of which were related to the area’s school districts. This week, however, it reversed course and… Read More ›
Controversial San Leandro Wind Turbine Proposal Comes Before City Zoning Commission
SAN LEANDRO | After six months of slight revisions and gathering of political will, a controversial plan to erect a 100-foot wind turbine on the San Leandro shoreline near the Heron Bay tract of homes, will come before the city’… Read More ›
2012 BEST QUOTES OF THE YEAR
“You just wait until my campaign is over. I’m going to find you and beat your (expletive) (expletive), you (expletive).” –Joel Young, former 18th Assembly candidate, to an aide for Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan at the Make Westing bar in Oakland,… Read More ›
San Leandro Voters Issue A Stunning Rebuke To Cassidy’s Beliefs, Cantankerous Style
Stephen Cassidy: in the drink? SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL | It appears San Leandro Mayor Stephen Cassidy went to the well one too many times. The stubborn moderate conservative mayor surprised many in 2010 with his victory based upon fiscal… 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 ›
Couch-Surfing Into Office?
ELECTION ’12//RESIDENCY | Even at this late stage of the campaign, voters in San Leandro are unclear whether city council candidate Dan Dillman really lives in District 2 or the home he owns in District 1. Most voters in the… Read More ›
Mack-Rose Called Reed Offering For A Clean Campaign Before Going Negative
ELECTION ’12//SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL DIST 2 | As early as last July, there were rumors the campaign for San Leandro’s District 2 seat would get vicious. Candidate Dan Dillman faces the possibility of incarceration next year for obstruction of… Read More ›
iPadGate: Mack-Rose Says Reed Uses City-Bought iPad; But It’s Not True
ELECTION ’12//SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL DIST 2 | San Leandro City Council candidate Morgan Mack-Rose accused her opponent Councilwoman Ursula Reed of misusing taxpayers’ dollars by pursuing a proposal earlier this year to purchase iPads for the council’s use. Mack-Rose also faulted… Read More ›
Inside The Mind Of Democrats: Fremont Mayor, Oakland, San Leandro City Councils
ELECTION ’12//DEMOCRATS | The blessing of the local Democratic Party is an important tool for any campaign, not only for the seal of approval it bestows, but access to the party’s purse strings and significant electoral amenities. This weekend, comments… Read More ›
San Leandro Moves Closer To Appointing New Council Member; Four To Be Interviewed
SAN LEANDRO CITY COUNCIL | When the remaining members of the San Leandro City Council meet Sept. 13 to choose a replacement for former Councilwoman Joyce Starosciak, who resigned last August, there will only have four candidates to pick from…. Read More ›
San Leandro Council Candidate’s Online Comments Rile City’s Asian Population
ELECTION ’12//SAN LEANDRO DIST 4 | A San Leandro city council candidate is running the risk of alienating the city’s largest demographic, after online comments Aug. 14, since removed, riled Asian American community leaders who now question the candidate’s trustworthiness as… Read More ›