In Hayward, vote for Aisha Wahab and Call It a Day (sort of)

The Hayward City Council is one of the most lethargic and unresponsive government bodies in the Bay Area.  Getting the Council to adopt new policies or look forward to the future is like pulling teeth.  And forget asking them to make innovations on their own.  As homelessness has skyrocketed in the City, they’ve come out with no solutions (a much touted new housing development that will serve the homeless is actually a project devised and funded by the County).  As rents have increased displacing residents, they have done little to either enforce the existing rent control or expand it.  They completely refuse to even look at increasing the minimum wage, which is now $2/hr lower than neighboring San Leandro’s.

The Council, moreover, has failed in their obligation to hold city staff accountable: after the Fire Chief was caught drinking and driving during work time, he was not fired. They continued paying the husband of the Chief of Police, even after the chief “retired” on the wake of media attention on a corruption investigation regarding the Chief.  The City of Hayward has also violated transparency laws in order to hide evidence of such corruption.

Right now, four of the do-little Hayward Councilmembers are up for election/re-election.  We believe Hayward would benefit from having a completely new Council.

write in
write in

Mayor:  Write-In

As discussed, both Mayor Barbara Halliday and Councilmember Mark Salinas have failed to do their duty as Mayor and Councilmember.  Mayor Halliday has proven to be a weak and unprofessional leader (see video below), supportive of corruption. Both candidates have received financial contributions from landlords opposed to rent-control.

City Council (Vote for 2): Aisha Wahab

 Aisha Wahab is a dynamic, energetic, strong and yes, Muslim, Afghani-American candidate.  I had wanted to think her religion and ethnicity wouldn’t matter, but that has not been the case in Hayward.  Recently, she was asked by a constituent at a candidate forum if her campaign was funded by ISIS and she’s had her car broken into and her campaign materials stolen, in addition to receiving personal insults while canvassing.  

No matter, if there is something that Aisha is, is strong and persistent (forget Elizabeth Warren, Aisha is the real deal here).  She is also unapologetically progressive.  Much of her campaign has been based on enforcing and expanding rent control in Hayward, addressing homelessness and bringing a living wage to Hayward.  And, indeed, she has been fighting on the ground for progressive issues as an activist for many years.  She has been endorsed by Our Revolution national (despite having been a Clinton supporter), the Democratic Party and the Green Party.  We recommend that you vote for her solely on this race, as it would make it more likely than she be elected.

Her main opponents are incumbents Sara Lamnin and Marvin PeixotoWe supported Sara in the past, believing that her experience as a homeless advocate would lead her to bring real solutions to the issue, however she has shown no initiative on this issue or any other. Peixoto is even worse.

We were very unimpressed by the non-incumbents in the race.

Tom Ferreira doesn’t seem to have much in-depth proposals and he seems to have been absent from the campaign field.  Mekia Fields, a newcomer to Hayward, seems intelligent and has potential, but she has many misconceptions about City government founded in a lack of experience.  She should probably spend some time attending Council meetings and perhaps serving in a commission before running again.  Didacus Ramos is seemingly unaware of the powers – and lack thereof – of the City Council.  Plus his enthusiasm for small communities led him to express support for the privatization of city streets.  Joe Ramos, meanwhile, is the sort of lovable character that is fun to watch but would be totally unsuitable for governing.  At a candidate forum he expressed opposition for Measure T simply because Peixoto was in favor of it.

School Board (Vote for 2): McGee, Davis or Oquenda

We started this endorsement process by attending the Hayward Democratic Club’s candidate forum where we listened to (almost) all the candidates for School Board.  Our conclusion was that incumbents Lisa Brunner and William McGee did not make the case for why they should be re-elected to a third four-year term, but neither did challengers Ken RawdonTodd Davis or April Oquenda made the case as to why they shouldn’t be.

Almost two months later and having spoken at length to most of the candidates, as well as listen to them in other fora, we are no closer to having a sold view on who should be elected.    We can easily discard non-Democrat Nicholas Harvey from consideration, as he is running for five different offices. We are less inclined to vote for Ken Rawdon, a retired music teacher, as he favors dress codes and police resource offices in schools.  Incumbent Lisa Brunner seems extremely dedicated and knowledgeable of the schools, but perhaps not as progressive as the rest.   But it’s hard to chose between  McGee, Davis and Oquenda .   The disagreements over the former Superintendent does not bring any clarity to the matter.  We therefore recommend you chose two of the three.

April Oquenda for Hayward School Board

I'm incredibly grateful for all the support we're getting in our campaign for Hayward School Board. We're out talking to voters and doing all we can to engage our community. Please help spread our message! Thanks to the Creative Lab at MIMA LLC and @Dillon Wall. #oquenda4opportunity

Posted by April Oquenda for Hayward School Board on Monday, September 3, 2018

Measures

Measure T – Transfer Tax: Yes

Cities have few ways of raising revenue, and transfer taxes are among the most progressive ones.  If Hayward is going to tackle social problems, including homelessness, it needs the revenues to do so.

Measure H – School Bonds: Yes

If we want good schools, we need to pay for them, and bonds are the only way for schools to raise the money to pay for repairs and remodeling.

 

Alameda County: Demystifying the Democratic Party’s Endorsements

Oakland City Council District 2 candidate Nikki Bas speaks at at the Central Committee endorsement interviews. The incumbent in her race received the endorsement.

Welcome to the first post of my new political blog.  For better or worse, we’re starting with a hyperlocal inside baseball post.  The Alameda County Democratic Party has just announced their endorsements for races throughout the county and people are texting me and saying:  “They endorsed him?!!! What were they thinking?!” in more than one race.

While I cannot read anyone’s mind, after 8 years in the Central Committee I can guess why most candidates were endorsed.   In general, the Committee want to endorse candidates that are likely to win, so we endorse incumbents and clear front runners.  We like candidates that bring us money, as a committee and as consultants, so we endorse those with ties to developers and big donors. We want to pretend we support labor, so we often endorse candidates that have labor support – though that alone is seldom enough.  We like our friends, so we endorse candidates that hang out in Democratic party circles  And we like to play politics – some of us are even in the business of making money from politics – so we horse trade. You’ll note that there is no “I” in “we,” not all of us play those games.  But those of us who vote on endorsements based on the quality of the candidate or their values are a definite minority.

If you want to know how the endorsement process works, go to the bottom of this page.  Meanwhile, here are the Democratic party’s endorsed candidates in Alameda County and my best guesses as to why we endorsed them.  Note, in order to not betray anything I was told in confidence, I’m only guessing on those races in which, well, I have to guess 🙂

Alameda Mayor: No Endorsement

Assemblymember Rob Bonta has a lot of influence over the City of Alameda, both because he is an Assemblymember who lives there and because he’s the Committee’s greatest donor.  If there is no endorsement on this race, it’s because Bonta doesn’t support any of the candidates.  Indeed, none were nominated.  Incumbent Trish Spencer incurred the wrath of the Party back in 2014 when she ran against then incumbent Mayor Marie Gilmore, which was supported by the Firefighters Union and Bonta.  Her challengers, meanwhile, have fallen out of favor with Bonta.  The result was that none of the candidates were nomianted.   Establishment members didn’t nominate them out of respect to Bonta (or because they don’t want to get involved in Alameda politics) and progressives didn’t nominate them because all of the candidates endorsed Nancy O’Malley, and her record of supporting police brutality.

Alameda Councilmember (2 seats): Jim Oddie and John Knox White

Jim Oddie, the only incumbent in the race,  is Rob Bonta’s district directo and a member of the Central Committee’s executive board.  John Knox White had Oddie’s support. Both were put on consent by the Executive Committee.  They weren’t pulled by progressives because the candidates running against them are even less progressive.

Albany Councilmember (2 seats): Rochelle Nason and Margaret McQuaid

Both are incumbents and only two Democrats in the race.

Berkeley Auditor : Jenny Wong

No incumbent in the race, Jenny is the only Democrat running.

Berkeley Councilmember – District 1:  Igor Tregub

No incumbent in the race. Igor has been a long-time activist in the Democratic Party.

Berkeley Councilmember – District 4: Kate Harrison

Incumbent.

Berkeley Councilmember – District 7: No Endorsement

No incumbent in the race.  The Executive Committee had put Rigel Robinson on consent because District 7 was created as a student district, and Rigel is a recent Cal graduate with vast experience in student government, active on the campus Democratic club and very well prepared for this role.  However, Ces Rosales, an older resident of the area, jumped into the race.  Rosales has also been a long-time associate and alternate member of the Central Committee and she had enough friends in the Committee to block Rigel’s endorsement.

Berkeley Councilmember – District 8: Lori Droste

Incumbent.

Berkeley Rent Board:  James Chang,  Paola Laverde-Levine, John
Selawsky, Maria Poblet and Soli Alpert

Slate of incumbents plus one Democratic activist.

Dublin Mayor: No Endorsement/No Candidates Nominated

Republican incumbent. Arun Goel is the only Democrat running for this seat.  However, the establishment does not support him because Arun is pro smart-growth rather than unfettered development, and he’s lost the support of progressives for his support of Nancy O’Malley.  He was not nominated for the endorsement.

Dublin Councilmember (2 seats): Jean Josey and Shawn Kumagai

No incumbent in the race, 3 Democrats running.  Kumagai got endorsed because he made the effort to show up at Committee meetings in the last two years and get to know the members. He is a delegate to the California Democratic Party and just a pleasant guy.  I’m guessing Josey got endorsed because she is being propped up by Angela Ramirez Holmes, a “consultant” (she dislikes the word “lobbyist”) for developers in the Tri-Valley.  Angela controls the tri-valley as far as the Democratic Party is concerned.  Bobby Khullar, the third Democrat in the race, was not endorsed because he is running on a smart growth agenda and does not have the support of developers.  Progressives were unable to pull Jean Josey from consent as the Party changed its rules to require that one of the members making the pull live in the Assembly district for the office in question.

Emeryville Councilmember (2 seats): Scott Donahue and Dianne Martinez

They are both incumbents, Dianne also serves in the Central Committee.

Fremont Councilmember – District 1: No Endorsement

No incumbent.

Three candidates are running for this seat, all new to politics.  The Party’s establishment is backing Chandrakala (Chandu) Siramdas, a candidate running on a Trumpian-sounding “Make Fremont Safe Again” platform and they put her on consent.  Apparently, the establishment considered her the front runner because she raised the most money.  Progressives were able to pull Siramdas from the consent calendar, however, and block her endorsement because even some of the more moderate members were put off by her extreme pro-police state ideology.

Fremont Councilmember – District 2: No Endorsement

The incumbent, Rick Jones, had the support of the establishment but his challenger, progressive Cullen Tiernan, represents Ro Khanna at the Central Committee and had forged personal relationships with Committee members.  Jones also made the mistake of making his racism clear during the endorsement interviews, when he replied to the question of whether Black and Latino Lives Mattered with “All Lives Matter” .  He still managed to get 16 votes from Party members, but not enough to win the endorsement.

Fremont Councilmember – District 3: David Bonaccorsi

Appointed incumbent.

Fremont Councilmember – District 4: No Endorsement

No incumbent.  The front runner, Yang Shao, is a homophobic school board member who recently voted to oppose teaching sex education in Fremont elementary schools.  A No Party Preference voter, Shao has four opponents, three of whom are Democrats.  Committee members wanted to be able to rally behind one candidate so as to best help defeat Shao – but they weren’t able to agree on whether to support Craig Steckler or Debbie Watanuki.  Ultimately, they split the vote and there was no endorsement.

Hayward Mayor: Barbara Halliday

Incumbent.

Hayward Councilmember (2 seats): Sara Lamnin and Aisha Wahab

There are two incumbents in the race but only one, Sara Lamnin, was endorsed.  The other, Marvin Peixoto, has a very bad relationship with his local SEIU and that particular SEIU representative is a regular at Central Committee meetings.  Five other Democrats are running for that seat, and of those Aisha Wahab was endorsed because she has the longest relationship with the Democratic party, being a regular at Party events and having served as a state party delegate.

Livermore Mayor: John Marchand

Incumbent.

Livermore Councilmember (2 seats): Trish Munro and Neal Pann

The single incumbent running is an NPP.  There are three Democrats in the race and these two are likely to be the two most pro-development, Munro has gotten the endorsement of the Building Trades union (which in the tri-valley signifies support for unfettered development) and Pann is an architect.  The third Democrat, Rosmary Bartsch, has a history of speaking out against developments.

Newark Mayor: Alan Nagy

Incumbent.

Newark Councilmember (2 seats): Mike Bucci

Incumbent, member of the Committee and the other candidate is a Republican.

Oakland Mayor: Libby Schaaf

Incumbent.

Oakland Auditor: Courtney Ruby

This one has a long and sordid history.  Four years ago, when Courtney Ruby chose to run for Mayor rather than for re-election as Auditor, the Party endorsed Brenda Roberts, despite her becoming a Democrat the day she filed her papers to run.  Sharon Ball, a (now former) member of the Party who worked in the Auditor’s office, was her strongest advocate.  Alas, Brenda ended up being terrible, Sharon quit her job and spilled the beans to the East Bay Express.

Oakland Councilmember – District 2: Abel Guillen

Incumbent

Oakland Councilmember – District 4: No Endorsement

No incumbent in the race.  Oakland City Council member Rebecca Kaplan’s Chief of Staff, Sheng Thao, has been able to use her boss’ political capital and receive most of the endorsements out there.  But Pamela Harris, an African American member of the California Democratic Party, was able to steal her thunder with far superior rhetorical gifts.  Harris’ support from progressives and some African Americans, I suspect, was enough to block Sheng’s endorsement but not get it for herself.

Oakland Councilmember – District 6: No Endorsement

Incumbent Desley Brooks is not liked by many in the political establishment.  A scuffle with former black panther Elaine Brown left the City of Oakland with a lawsuit it settled for around $2.2million.  Her weakened position has brought her four challengers, none of whom was compelling enough to deserve the endorsement on their own.

Piedmont Councilmember (3 seats): Teddy Gray King, Tim Rood, Betsy Smegal

Incumbents

Pleasanton Mayor: No Endorsement/No Candidates Nominated

The Republican incumbent is unchallenged

Pleasanton Council Members (2 seats): No Endorsement/No Candidates Nominated

Neither Democrat sought the Party’s endorsement

San Leandro Mayor: Pauline Russo Cutter

Incumbent

San Leandro Councilmember – District 1: Deborah Cox

Incumbent

San Leandro Councilmember – District District 3: Lee Thomas

Incumbent

San Leandro Councilmember – District 5: Corina Lopez

Incumbent and Central Committee member

Union City Councilmember (3 seats): Emily Duncan, Pat  Gacoscos and Harris Mojadedi

Duncan and Gacoscos are incumbents (the third incumbent is not a Democrat).  Mojadedi, meanwhile, has made alliances with the Party establishment in southern Alameda County.

Chabot-Las Positas CCD Trustee – Area 2: Linda Granger

No incumbent.  Linda Granger has the stronger campaign and more experience for the job.

Chabot-Las Positas CCD Trustee – Area 3 (short term): No Endorsement

Both the appointed incumbent and the challenger had their own areas of support within the Committee and neither could get the necessary votes to get the endorsement.

Ohlone CCD Trustee – Area 1 (2 seats): Vivien Larsen and Richard Watters

Incumbents

Ohlone CCD Trustee – Area 2 (2 seats):  Suzanne Chan and Lovedeep Jhamat

The single incumbent in this race was not endorsed, and the reasons for this were discussed in confidence so I cannot share them. Both Chan and Jhamat seem to have solid bases of support in Fremont.

Ohlone CCD Trustee – Area 2 (short term):  Tejinder Dhami

No incumbent. Tejinder has been making the rounds of the Democratic Party for a while and he has the support of the local establishment. His opponent is well known for being a progressive Bernie supporter.  Progressives weren’t able to find a fifth member willing to pull Tejinder.

Peralta CCD Trustee – Area 3: No Endorsement

see below

Peralta CCD Trustee – Area 5:  Cynthia Reiss

This was probably the single race on which the endorsements were based on the actual merit of the candidates.

This was one of the most controversial races at the Central Committee.  Instructors at Peralta community colleges are very dissatisfied with the Chancellor, whom they apparently believe is misusing money from a parcel tax.  They’ve recruited a couple of candidates to run against the incumbents in the Board who, apparently, are rubber stamping whatever the Chancellor does.  Labor is backing these candidates.   Meanwhile, the papers have reported financial problems with the district that scream out “board negligence”.   For this reason, I think the Committee members were willing to give the challengers a chance.

Corean Todd, the challenger in Area 3, seemed like a committed community member, but she came into the race late and she wasn’t able to answer those questions that required knowledge of the district.  Linda Handy, the incumbent, did not come to the endorsement interviews. She sent  the President of the Board of Trustees to speak for her, and while she did a very good job, she wasn’t Linda.   A “no endorsement” decision on that race made the most sense and is what I voted.

In Area 5, however, Cynthia Reiss was dynamite.  She spent many months reading and analyzing all the financial papers of the district and  talking to different stakeholders before deciding she would run, so she was able to answer all questions expertly.  She is also an exciting and engaging speaker.  The incumbent did not have her breadth of knowledge and is a fairly poor communicator.

Alameda School Board (2 seats): Gary Lym and Mialisa Bonta

Mialisa Bonta is the wife of Assemblymember Rob Bonta, the aforementioned largest donor to the Alameda County Democratic Party, and she was the only candidate to be put on the consent calendar.

The competition for the other spot was between Gary Lym, an elected incumbent, and Anne McKereghan, an appointed one.   As mentioned above, Rob Bonta controls the endorsements as far as Alameda goes.  If Gary Lym got endorsed instead of McKereghan, it’s because that’s what Bonta wanted.

Albany School Board (3 seats) : Charles Blanchard, Brian Doss and Sara Hinkley

They are the only three Democrats in the race.

Berkeley School Board (3 seats) : Ty Alper, Ka’dijah Brown and Julie Sinai

Ty Alper is the only incumbent running for re-election.  Julie Sinai was a previous Berkeley School Board member and was endorsed by the party when she last ran in 2014. Ironically, she lost her seat to Alper. The two are now running in a slate with Ka’dijah Brown.

Dublin School Board- District 2:  Megan Rouse

Incumbent

Dublin School Board- District 5:  No Endorsement/No Candidates Nominated

No Democrats in the race

Emery School Board (3 seats): Brynnda Collins, Susan Donaldson and Sarah Nguyen

Four Democrats are running for these three. The one not endorsed is also running for Emeryville City Council and, therefore, is not considered a serious candidate.

Fremont School Board (2 seats): Dianne Jones and Fahria Khan

The one incumbent running for re-election, Larry Sweeney, is a conservative who most recently voted against sex-ed in Fremont elementary schools.  Of the other five Democrats running, Dianne Jones and Fahria Khan are the ones most involved with the party and the political power centers in Fremont.

Hayward USD Director (2 seats) William  McGee and Todd Davis

Two incumbents were running, but of these only Bill McGee was endorsed, probably because he has the most developed relationships with members of the Central Committee.  The rumor going around was that Todd Davis got the second spot because his mother is the head of the local NAACP chapter.   Given how unusual it’s to not endorse an incumbent, that seems possible.

Livermore Valley School Board (2 seats):  Craig Bueno and David Vonheeder

The only two Democrats in the race.

New Haven School Board (2 seats): Linda Canlas and Sarabjit Kaur Cheema

Incumbents

Newark School Board (2 seats):  Nancy Thomas and Elisa Martinez

Nancy Thomas is the only incumbent running for this seat.  She is also a member of the Central Committee. I’m guessing Martinez was endorsed because she has Thomas’ support.

Oakland School Board  District 2:  Aimee Eng

Incumbent and running unopposed.

Oakland School Board District 4:  Clarissa Doutherd

I have heard from several members that she is an amazing candidate.  Her opponent, Gary Yee, is a former School Board member-turned Superintendent who seems to lack credibility among many.

Oakland School Board District 6:  Shanthi Gonzales

Incumbent and running unopposed.

Piedmont School Board (2 seats):  Julie Caskey

I am guessing Caskey was the only candidate that applied for the endorsement.  Candidates from Piedmont seldom do.

A.C. Transit District Director – At Large:  No Endorsement//No Candidates Nominated

Incumbent Joel Young still has not recovered from domestic violence charges that came out during a 2012 Assembly election. He has also not yet apologized. His opponent, a former bus driver, is a perennial candidate who has been unimpressive in previous elections.

A.C. Transit District Director – Ward 4: Mark Williams

Incumbent & sole Democrat running.

A.C. Transit District Director – Ward 5: No Endorsement

No incumbent is running in this race.

Kewal Singh has the support of Labor because he, literally, represents labor.  He works for BART as a team leader and has represented workers in strike negotiations.  He also has the support of the Fremont political establishment.  For this reason, he was put on the consent calendar.
However, progressives pulled him and nominated Diana Shaw, who is far more knowledgeable about all aspects of AC Transit’s operations as she worked for the San Mateo County Transit District until retiring.  She was supported by a former AC Transit Director that is a member of the Committee and Singh has very troublesome pro-surveillance tendencies.  In all, Shaw was able to block the endorsement.

BART Director – District 4:  Robert Raburn

Incumbent & sole Democrat running.

BART Director District 6: Anu Natarajan

Anu has a long history of involvement with the Democratic Party and is a former Fremont City Councilmember.

City of Alameda Healthcare District Director (short term): Dennis Popalardo

Appointed Incumbent

Dublin San Ramon CSD Director (2 seats) : Georgeann Vonheeder and Ann Marie Johnson

Vonheeder is the only incumbent running. I don’t have a guess as to why Johnson was endorsed (put on consent) vs the other Democrat running.

East Bay MUD Director – Ward 7: Frank Mellon

Incumbent & sole Democrat running.

East Bay Reg. Park District Director – Ward 3: Dennis Waespi

Incumbent & sole Democrat running.

East Bay Reg. Park District Director – Ward 5:  Ayn Wieskamp

Incumbent & sole Democrat running.

Eden Township Hospital District Director : Roxann Lewis, Mariellen Faria and Felix Martinez

They endorsed all the Democrats that are not former San Leandro Mayor Stephen Cassidy, whom the Chair and other Committee members hate with a passion.

Fairview Fire Protection District Director: Michael Justice

Incumbent & sole Democrat running.

Oro Loma Sanitary District Director (3 seats): Shelia Young, Rita Duncan and Frederick Simon, Jr.

Only Democrats running

Washington Township Health Care District Director (3 seats): Jacob Eapen, Hon. Michael J. Wallace and  Hon. Bernard L. Stewart

Incumbents

***

The Democratic Party’s endorsementsare made by the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee, an organization that consists of around 46 members, 32 elected and 14 ex-officios.   Most of the members of the Committee are moderates/establishment politicians.  There are a total of six actual progressive members, with a handful more  that are progressive in some issues and not in others.

There is a new requirement that candidates must be registered as Democrats by the first day of the filing period to be eligible for the endorsement  – this requirement made Oakland Mayoral candidate Cat Brooks ineligible for the endorsement as she registered too late (not that there was any chance anyone but the incumbent would get it).

Candidates are first interviewed by the Executive Committee, which is formed by the most establishment members of the Party.  A candidate needs 2/3 of the votes of the Executive Committee to be put on consent.  The aim of the Committee is to put as many candidates on consent as possible, so as to make the Committee-wide interviews as short as possible.

Until this year, it took two members of the Committee to either nominate a candidate or pull them from the consent calendar.  As more progressives entered the Party, the establishment decided to make it harder to pull candidates by requiring five members to do the pulling, one of whom would have to live in the same Assembly district as the office being pulled.   That meant that progressives weren’t able to pull some incumbents in districts where no members were willing to risk the ire of the incumbent.

What do you think? Did I get something wrong? Comment below!