The Advocate

As always, here are my votes for the 2022 primary election, along with the reasons and receipts. This will be a long post, so buckle up! I'm starting with the local San Leandro and district elections first, then county races and measures, then ballot propositions, then finally the statewide and federal offices. If you're strapped for time, you can find the tl;dr version just below and then check out the details further down at your leisure. NB: this post has been updated recently. City Offices: Mayor, toss-up with Lee Thomas 1st and Bryan Azevedo 2nd City Council District 1, Celina Reynes City Council District 5, Xouhoa Bowen City Council District 3, Victor Aguilar SLUSD Board Member Area 2, Jackie Calderón Perl District Offices: AC Transit Director-At-Large, Alfred Twu AC Transit Director Ward 3, Sarah Syed EBMUD Director Ward 7, Corina Lopez Eden Township Healthcare District Director Zone 5, Chike Udemezue Oro Loma Sanitary District Board Members, Mimi Dean, Rita Duncan, and ...

A project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of California. What is a DA?  "District attorneys (DAs) are more than just prosecutors. The district attorney’s job is to seek justice in criminal cases, work to prevent crime, and serve as a leader in the diverse communities they represent. The DA is also an elected official. In California, we have 58 elected DAs each representing one of our 58 counties." What makes a DA so powerful?  "District attorneys in California have tremendous power to impact the lives of millions of people, their families, and entire communities. If someone is accused of committing a crime, it is not the police but the DA who has the sole power to decide if criminal charges are filed and the severity of those charges. They alone decide who is deserving of a jail or prison sentence and who will instead be routed into a diversion program to help rebuild their life, or have charges dismissed." How do DAs serve their community? "DAs a...

This is something many suspected but only known to a few. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley colluded with local police unions (including the SLPOA) to smear political opponent Pamela Price who wants to clean up law enforcement in our county. Among the alleged violations, "O'Malley's deputy prosecutors also monitored Price's political activities "during work hours," which "constitutes an in-kind contribution" and should have been reported by the O'Malley campaign committee and even the DA's office. Coordinating campaign ads, fundraising and other activities using government letterhead, time and emails all on company time, violate state campaign laws." Learn more at  KTVU  and WaPo . Please sign and circulate the petition demanding accountability for these violations election law and state ethics requirements. Their joint misconduct shows how much both offices think they are above the law. Hopefully, exposure of this sc...

Art by @ines_ixierda San Leandro sits on the unceded land of the Lisjan Ohlone people. They have lived here for thousands of years before even recorded history as far as we have been able to discern. The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust is an urban Indigenous women-led land trust based in the San Francisco Bay Area that facilitates the rematriation of their land, with a particular emphasis on the Ohlone people.  Because of the destruction wrought on them by the Spanish, Catholic missionaries, American settlers, as well as other colonizers, the Ohlone are not part of a federally recognized band. However, they do descend from the federally recognized Verona band of Alameda County. Currently, they are holding a fundraising event this month as part of the larger land back movement to return Indigenous land to Indigenous people. Here is what they have to say: “To do Indigenous-led work in one the most expensive “real estate markets” in the world, Indigenous people have to be able to live here....

The Oaklandside published a new story on the recently released report by the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division on the mental health resources (or lack thereof) provided by Alameda County. You can read the story here  and the DOJ report here . Of particular interest to my fellow neighbors would be the conditions and practices at John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro: "An average of 1,111 people experiencing a mental health emergency enter John George Psychiatric Pavilion each month and remain there for up to 72 hours. The San Leandro hospital, which is operated by the county, provides care for people suffering nearly all of the acute psychiatric emergencies in the county. Nearly 240 people a month are admitted to inpatient services at the 80-bed public hospital, where they stay an average of 9 days. Some stay for months while they’re treated. Hundreds lasted for more than 30 days in a two-year period in 2017-2019. The hospital’s inpatient unit is used...

Almost 30,000 people have contracted COVID-19 in Alameda County and over 500 people have died from it. In San Leandro alone, we've had over 1,600 cases. The positive test rates in the most populated areas of the county, including most of San Leandro, vary from 5% to greater than 8%. The pandemic's impacted has disproportionately affected Black and Hispanic/Latino communities, particularly when adjusted as a share of the total population. But even when not looking at specific demographics, the devastation is startling, especially as we haven't even begun to review community spread from Thanksgiving yet. You can see the numbers for yourself, in a simple, interactive format on the county's website at https://covid-19.acgov.org/data. I understand people are scared. I understand people are frustrated. I understand there's lots of conflicting information crowding your media sources. I understand that the economic struggles are getting worse, the social and emotional tolls...

As has become my habit, here are my votes for the 2020 general election, along with reasons and receipts. This will be a long post, so buckle up! (For the tl;dr version, please scroll to the bottom.) For my general overview reference point, please see https://progressivevotersguide.com/california/2020/general/county/alameda and the official Voter Information Guide for Alameda County. For the propositions on the ballot, I am combining my research with LAist.com, SF Gate, MotherJones, and a useful graphic available at https://i.redd.it/t7lqvp58wbr51.jpg . I am also considering individual guides like those by Taina Vargas-Edmond on Facebook. More specific citations are provided in each area. The order of appearance below matches the order of appearance on my ballot. Standard caveats: I have not received in fact or in promise any money from any candidate. I have not received in fact or in promise a vote for a specific interest that would benefit me financially or professionally. I have ...