The mere presence of the Alameda firefighters’ contract on a city council agenda is certain to elicit howls from island conservatives as it did Tuesday night. The agenda item was placed on consent for Tuesday meeting, but Alameda Councilmember Tony… Read More ›
Alameda County Supervisor District 1 This race has already been the East Bay’s most punishing for months. The Alameda County race for District 1 supervisor pits candidates from both halves of the roughly equal east county and Fremont district. Amazingly,… Read More ›
Alameda became the second city in the county to allow the issuance of citations to those who do not wear masks during the pandemic and fail to adhere to social distancing protocols. Fines will begin at $250 for a first… Read More ›
A progressive majority on the Alameda City Council was solidified two years ago with the defeat of its moderate mayor and the addition of a fourth lefty councilmember. But in a city that once represented a conservative island in the… Read More ›
Alameda’s Trish Herrera Spencer was the self-proclaimed “people’s mayor,” but voters dismissed her from office two years ago after just one term. Perhaps, this fall Spencer is hoping to rebrand herself as the “people’s councilmember”? Spencer pulled papers earlier this… Read More ›
In the wake of an embarrassing incident in which Alameda police officers arrested a black man for dancing or exercising in the street, Alameda Police Chief Paul Rolleri announced his retirement on Wednesday. Rolleri notified the Alameda City Council of… Read More ›
Alameda’s first city park will no longer be named after President Andrew Jackson. The Alameda City Council voted Tuesday night to “de-name” Jackson Park because of his legacy of slavery and atrocities against Native Americans. The unanimous vote followed a… Read More ›
While Alameda largely avoided the type of civil unrest seen in neighboring cities earlier this month, an incident involving the arrest of Mali Watkins, an Alameda resident who is black, for dancing and exercising in the street on May 23,… Read More ›
Alameda officials took steps to defy Alameda County Sheriff Gregory Ahern’s five-day countywide curfew on Tuesday night when they decided against extending the city’s two-day curfew past Wednesday morning. The council went further by directing its city attorney to study… Read More ›
Alameda Councilmember Jim Oddie is upset about a proposal to delay an increase in the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour for up to one year because of the impacts of covid-19. The city council will discuss the proposal… Read More ›
Alameda officials approved a 60-day emergency moratorium on evictions, along with a prohibition on landlords shutting off utilities as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The moratorium is tied to a state declaration of emergency, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed… Read More ›
Alameda became one of the first city’s in the East Bay to approve gun-safety ordinances that regulate safe storage of firearms in homes, and video surveillance of legal gun purchases at retail outlets and dealers. Alameda elected officials unanimously approved… Read More ›
Alameda elected officials backed early consideration for a proposal to could bring mounted automated license plate readers at entry and exits points around the island, including bridges, tunnels, and some intersections. Some Alameda police vehicles have been fitted with license… Read More ›
And just to be clear, I didn’t tell you who to hire. And I don’t think Malia did, either.-Alameda Councilmember Jim Oddie speaking to former City Manager Jill Keimach in an audio recording released Wednesday that she secretly made in… Read More ›
Audio of a secret recording made by Alameda’s former city manager of a meeting between her and two councilmembers released Wednesday highlights a lobbying effort on behalf of a labor-friendly candidate for the then-open fire chief position, but also immense… Read More ›
A certain segment of Alameda clamoring to learn the contents of a secret recording made of two councilmembers will have to wait a few more days. Transcripts and audio of the infamous 2017 recording made by former City Manager Jill… Read More ›
Alameda Councilmember Malia Vella said the transcript of a secret audio recording set to be released soon by the city should include as few redactions as possible. She also suggests in a statement that some context could be omitted from the… Read More ›
A secret audio recording by Alameda’s former City Manager Jill Keimach made two years ago in hopes of gathering evidence that two former Alameda councilmembers were illegally pressuring her to hire a fire chief of their choosing is again in… Read More ›
Alameda resident Arminda Graca received her file last week from the Alameda Housing Authority, a thick stack of documents delivered in quadruplicate. But Graca, whose Section 8 apartment was inundated with mold and mildew following a suspected sewage leak, told… Read More ›
An Alameda City Council referral calling for a town hall on the issue of gun violence was unanimously approved Tuesday night. But not before two councilmembers repeatedly questioned the scope of the event and whether its aims had already been… Read More ›
A loophole in Alameda’s recently enacted just-cause ordinance was closed Tuesday night after the City Council approved an urgency ordinance that adds the same protections to low-income Section 8 recipients. The council also voted to extend tenant relocation payments to… Read More ›
When Alameda’s former city manager made shocking allegations two years ago that Councilmember Jim Oddie threatened her employment if she did not select a candidate for fire chief preferred by the city’s firefighters union, the charge not only kickstarted a… Read More ›
With a segment of Alameda residents fuming over a scathing civil grand jury finding that two Alameda elected officials violated the city charter, the Alameda City Council on Tuesday night voted to accept its findings and recommendations. Jim Oddie and… Read More ›
An Alameda County grand jury last month determined, among other findings, that two Alameda councilmembers violated the city charter by exerting undue influence on the city manager’s decision to hire a new fire chief. The civil grand jury also faulted… Read More ›
An Alameda resident, who as a candidate for the state legislature, questioned whether his opponent, Assemblymember Rob Bonta, is a U.S. citizenship, and then unsuccessfully attempted six total recall petitions against two Alameda councilmembers in the past year, has launched… Read More ›
Alameda renters scored a major legislative victory late Tuesday night when the Alameda City Council approved an ordinance that places a cap on annual rent increase. The change amounts to a reduction in annual increases from up to five percent… Read More ›
People dying at Santa Rita Jail. Seems fine, says Alameda County grand jury.
Despite a highly critical grand jury report last week that skewered Alameda City Hall and urged them to bolster its city charter with specific interference laws, Alameda officials have actually been working on the issue for more than six months…. Read More ›
Two Alameda councilmembers violated the city’s charter by interfering in the city manager’s duties to independently hire a new fire chief, the Alameda County civil grand jury concluded in a report released Monday. In the case of one of the… Read More ›
A forthcoming Alameda County civil grand jury report will include an investigation into allegations that Alameda councilmembers violated the city charter by exerting undue influence on its then-city manager to hire a fire chief candidate of their choice, according to… Read More ›
