The Advocate

Well, I told y'all this was gonna happen . I said it again and again in public comments to the city and letters to the editor in the local paper. It was only a matter of time before someone finally decided enough is enough and that's exactly what's happened. The City of San Leandro is on the verge of being sued for violating the California Voting Rights Act. Why? Because it has continued to refuse to use district-based elections. Instead, San Leandro uses at-large district elections where candidates must live in the district they run for office in, but are voted on by the entire city. This dilutes people's voting power, particularly for members of underrepresented groups, and exponentially increases the costs of running for elected office. The result? Our local elected officials are either independently wealthy or wholly reliant on special interest groups to fund their campaigns. They don't tend to focus on the interests of the constituents in their district, and th...

The Big Tent calls on the City of San Leandro to implement housing reform immediately and to declare that there exists a housing emergency. Each year, housing scarcity and rents rising faster than wages cause many renters in the City of San Leandro to be evicted or priced out of their homes, resulting in housing turnover and unstable neighborhoods. This displacement damages our families and communities by increasing homelessness, food insecurity, pollution, mental illness, and lowering life expectancy. Community displacement hurts not only San Leandro’s residents; it also holds dire consequences for the resilience of our economy. San Leandro’s manufacturing employers, schools, and small businesses are already challenged in their effort to find adequately skilled, reliable, local workers. An insufficient workforce hurts business growth and San Leandro’s ability to increase revenues and improve our facilities and services. San Leandro’s housing supply was approximately 73% below its Regi...

(Art by HEBSTREITS) The city of San Leandro is in violation of the California Voting Rights Act . Our rejection of district-based local elections and continued use of the at-large system prevents us from having a truly representative city council that advocates for everyone in our city. To understand why, we need to take a short trip to LA County and the case of the Pico Neighborhood Association v. The City of Santa Monica . A recent decision from the California State Supreme Court determined that Black and Latino voters in the area were being systemically disenfranchised and BIPOC candidates were unable to afford to run for office. The court further found that the local government, as well as some courts, "misconstrued" what the CVRA requires, sending the case back for review and equitable resolution in favor of the plaintiff's civil rights. San Leandro's at-large elections weaken the power of the different communities and neighborhoods that make up our city to choo...

This Tuesday, February 15, 6:30 PM, the San Leandro City Council will have its first work session on creating a police oversight program and we need the community to show up, show out, and make sure that the city takes decisive action. We need the City Council to direct staff to begin creating an oversight board that is independent, transparent, well-resourced, and diverse, without any further delay. Here's how you can support: 1. Forward this information to friends, family, and neighbors who are invested in making our police department more transparent and accountable to our community! You can also use the graphics embedded here in posts on social media. I have also put together a folder of educational resources courtesy of the San Leandro White Antiracism Initiative (SWAI) at tinyurl.com/SWAITools. 2. Use the link to the Oversight Action Packet to make a public comment on February 15 at 6:30! The meeting is virtual, and you can join by visiting tinyurl.com/oversight15 or visiting...

On Tuesday, January 18th, the San Leandro City Council will finally consider adopting a policy to end the sale of menthol cigarettes in the city. The meeting starts at 6:30 PM and the menthol cigarette ordinance is agenda item #12A, which you can find at https://sanleandro.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=A&ID=907619&GUID=F5D283C4-1357-48C5-BDEB-525A681DA612. Here is the meeting agenda and the Zoom meeting link is https://zoom.us/j/506831637. You can view the draft ordinance at https://sanleandro.legistar.com/ViewReport.ashx?M=R&N=Text&GID=191&ID=4649781&GUID=6068FFC3-E264-443A-B5F2-D21F73E6EF6A&Title=Legislation+Text. There will be an opportunity for public comment, and speakers on this item will likely be given 1-2 minutes each to provide their comments. The Alameda County Tobacco Control Coalition has developed a participation packet with background information on this issue, as well as participation details. You can find that at https://docs.google.com/docum...

I'm so excited to announce my support for the campaign of this incredible community organizer, advocate, activist, educator, Alameda County Democratic Party associate, former East Bay Stonewall Democrats Club Board member, and, most importantly, my friend... Celina Reynes for San Leandro City Council! Celina is a third-generation San Leandran, a descendant of Portuguese immigrants, a vibrant member of our LGBTQ+ community, and has been an integral part of the work happening in our city to implement progressive initiatives, from police reform to homelessness to healthcare to the environment to local development. She founded San Leandro for Accountability, Transparency, and Equity ( SLATE ) which successfully jump-started the city's creation of civilian police oversight through a grassroots movement of hundreds of residents, local leaders, and social service organizations. Celina also served on the Community Advisory Budget Task Force (CABTF), including a leadership role in craft...