Before 2010, San Leandro voters had never seen a city council incumbent lose re-election. With the aid of ranked-choice voting that year, San Leandro Mayor Tony Santos was upset by Stephen Cassidy. Two years ago, Councilmember Lee Thomas was narrowly… Read More ›
The San Leandro City Council approved one of the city’s most contentious housing projects in years on Monday night amid continuing concerns from neighbors over parking and traffic. The project, referred to as the 1388 Bancroft Apartments, is a three-story,… Read More ›
Facing a hard deadline to put forth a balanced city budget by the end of the month, the San Leandro City Council closed a $7 million budget shortfall that includes the potential for later shifting more than $1.7 million from… Read More ›
San Leandro councilmembers voted in closed session on Monday night to request an independent investigation by the state attorney general’s office into the fatal shooting of Steven Taylor, an African American resident, by police on April 18. The move comes… 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 ›
Cities without campaign contribution limits, however, will be preempted by a new state law coming into effect in 2021.
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 ›
Unless somebody complains then, you know, I’ll submit an application for a modification.-San Leandro Councilmember Victor Aguilar, Jr., in an interview on June 6, admitting he had built an illegal fence on his property all the while politicizing his council… 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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
One clever Twitter user called Alameda Mayor Trish Spencer’s re-election defeat last month an “end to an error.” After covering Spencer for the last four years, I’ll break down the worst mayor that I’ve covering over the last decade in… Read More ›
At least five seats in various East Bay cities remain in doubt a week after the Nov. 6 election.
Altogether, the number of alleged campaign finance violations is potentially more than 200.
San Leandro Councilmember Benny Lee’s ever-growing city council campaign coffers is coming in handy for his mayoral campaign this fall against first-term Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter. Lee transferred $50,000 from his council committee to his mayoral campaign last March—an already… Read More ›
City may be worried about potential legal liabilities, but the agreement could also hamper some commissioners who are running for the City Council this fall.
