2014 endorsements

Oakland: Annie Campbell Washington and Desley Brooks for City Council

Oakland: Annie Campbell Washington and Desley Brooks for City Council Politics 1 Response »

Oct 012014

I have already written about my endorsement of Dan Siegel for Mayor of Oakland.

I am making no endorsements in the Oakland City Council District 2 race. I was a strong supporter of Abel Guillen when he ran for State Assembly, and I still have a lot of respect for him. However, I am very concerned that he put political considerations before principle and did not speak out against the Domain Awareness Center. For that reason, I cannot endorse him.

I had a long and very productive conversation with Dana King. I found her to be an intelligent, prepared, caring woman who is running for City Council for all the right reasons. Friends who have dealt with her in her non-profit work hold a lot of respect for both her commitment to social justice and her ability to get stuff done. I think she will be a breath of fresh air in a very political and dysfunctional City Council, and I think her research skills and commitment for the truth will serve Oaklanders well. I am not endorsing her, however, because as I didn’t ask her to speak out against the DAC, I cannot be sure what her response would have been. Therefore I’m just staying out of this race.

Annie Campbell

City Council District 4: Annie Campbell Washington

Endorsing Annie Campbell Washington for Oakland City Council District 4 is a no brainer. She is smart, competent, a good listener, friendly and has a good sense of humor. She exudes humanity and lacks that airs of superiority so many politicians seem to have developed. I’m confident that if she’s elected, she will listen to all her constituents, find the validity in all voices and weigh different interests to come up with a policy that makes sense for the community.

Politically, Campbell Washington is your typical Oakland progressive. Her concerns include transit oriented development, developing a better system of bike lanes, supporting small businesses and trying to bring functionality to a deeply divided council. She is also deeply committed to education and having the City support schools and working together. She’s currently in the School Board and has two children who go to Oakland schools.

While I don’t believe we will always coincide, I can respect Campbell Washington’s thought process. Basically, she’s the sort of person whom I wish would run for Council here in San Leandro.

Her opponent is Jill Broadhurst, the Executive Director of the East Bay Rental Housing Association, an organization that works against the rights of tenants. One of their major accomplishments is stopping legislation that would have made landlords pay interest on security deposits they hold for years/decades.

Desley Brooks

City Council District 6: Desley Brooks

I will be the first to admit that I have not followed the Oakland City Council’s doing that closely. Brooks has been in office for many years, and I don’t have a clear picture of all her decisions. However, I did watch all the hearings that related to the Domain Awareness Center – a facility that would integrate mass surveillance throughout Oakland –, and I was very impressed with how Brooks performed in the final hearing.

She was prepared, she understood the issues, it was clear that she had spoken with the ACLU and other stakeholders and understood their concerns; she did not let staff, who had been less than candid with the Council about this project, get away with half-truths and misrepresentations and finally she advocated an intelligent compromise. I was very impressed.

Brooks has definitely made enemies, but as far as I can see this is based on the fact that she has a strong personality, she stands up for what she believes and the people she represents and she doesn’t back down. That’s exactly the type of leaders that I want to see elected. And it’s also exactly the type of criticism that is freely given to strong women, in particular strong women of color, by those who are uncomfortable when they rock the boat.

I reached out to most candidates for Oakland City Council and invited them to meet/speak with me and/or respond to a candidate questionnaire. I only endorse candidates who are strong liberals, are committed to accountability, transparency and fact-based legislating and who are intelligent, competent and knowledgeable.

Other Oakland Endorsements: Dan Siegel for Mayor and Tony Thurmond for Assembly.

See Marga’s 2014 Voter Guide for recommendations on propositions and other local endorsements.

Alameda: Trish Spencer for Mayor & Jim Oddie for City Council

Alameda: Trish Spencer for Mayor & Jim Oddie for City Council Politics No Responses »

Oct 012014

Trish Spencer

Mayor: Trish Spencer

I met Trish when she ran for re-election to the Alameda School Board. At the time, I spoke with her at length about her ideas on education and social justice, community building and political philosophy. I even watched several Alameda School Board meetings to see her in action. I was incredibly impressed. Trish, a lawyer by training, is a careful thinker. She has an analytical mind, is able to see the consequences of policies much more broadly than her colleagues, and is firmly committed to everyone in her community. In addition, she is committed to civil liberties and the environment. She is by far the most progressive candidate in this election – the incumbent Mayor has been pushing for the militarization of the Alameda Police Department -, but also the most competent one. I urge Alamedans to vote for Trish.

City Council: Jim Oddie

I have served with Jim Oddie in the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee for four years. I think Jim is intelligent, caring, personally and profoundly committed to social justice, equality and education. He is the dad of two beautiful young women and has lived in Alameda for many years. While his relationship with Assemblymember Rob Bonta is a bit problematic – he is Bonta’s Chief of Staff and will have to recuse himself from voting on some matters -, he is still the best candidate of the three running. That may not be saying much, when one of them, Stewart Chen, is an unapologetic insurance scammer and promoter of the genocidal Chinese government, but Jim Oddie would be a good choice even in a field of stellar candidates.

Though there are two open-seats in the Alameda City Council, I’d recommend that voters only vote for Jim Oddie. Both of his opponents supported the raising of the Chinese flag. A single vote for Oddie would increase his chances of being elected.

I reached out to all candidates for Alameda Mayor and City Council and invited them to meet/speak with me and/or respond to a candidate questionnaire. I only endorse candidates who are strong liberals, are committed to accountability, transparency and fact-based legislating and who are intelligent, competent and knowledgeable.

See Marga’s 2014 Voter Guide for recommendations on propositions and other local endorsements.

Oakland: Eng, Debro and Gonzalez for School Board

Oakland: Eng, Debro and Gonzalez for School Board Politics No Responses »

Oct 012014

This election season the quality of candidates for Oakland School Board is so high, that there is a lot of room for hope that things in the school district will turn around. We could only wish that we had such great people in the San Leandro School Board.

Aimee Eng

DISTRICT 2: AIMEE ENG

Aimee Eng is a very impressive candidate. She has an M.A. in education from Stanford and works for a foundation that gives grants to educational projects in the Bay Area. I had a very long conversation with her, and later heard from her at the Democratic party endorsement interview, and it’s clear that this is a woman who knows education, understands the needs of children, in particular those from under-privileged backgrounds, and who understands Oakland. Her knowledge of educational policy is much more complex than mine, but I was impressed she had to say and her views very much matched mine vis a vis respecting the whole child as a basis for educating her.

Karl Debro

DISTRICT 4: KARL DEBRO

Karl Debro is a pretty much all you want in a School Board candidate. A Philosophy major at UC Berkeley, he went on to teach English at Bancrot Middle School and San Leandro High School for 20 years. He later earned a Masters and a Doctorate in Education and currently directs a program that allows high school dropouts to earn their HS degrees while taking college classes.

But it’s Karl Debro’s courage and willingness to stand up for what’s right that makes me confident he will be an amazing School Board member. At San Leandro High, Debro co-founded the straight-gay alliance in the late 90’s. When a lesbian student couple experienced harassment at the school, he and other teachers conducted class discussions on discrimination and harassment against LGBT students. Homophobic parents complained, and Debro, the only African American among the teachers that had engaged in those class discussions, was disciplined. Rather than accept it meekly, Debro sued the district on free speech and racial discrimination grounds. He ended up winning and as the result of his lawsuit, the San Leandro school district implemented an anti-bullying program that has been very effective in creating an attitude of inclusiveness and non-discrimination among district students.

I think that Debro’s commitment to issues of equality and social justice, coupled with his educational achievements and extensive classroom experience, will make him an ideal School Board member. I fully endorse him.

Shanthi Gonzales

DISTRICT 6: SHANTHI GONZALES

I had a long conversation with Shanthi Gonzales, and her knowledge of educational policy and the needs of children, in particular children of color in the Oakland school district, is incredibly vast. I was surprised to learn, when I looked at her biography, that she is not an education professional. Instead, she’s a social justice activist and lawyer. Her heart is definitely in the right place, but so is her mind. She is intelligent, definitely knowledgeable, has a no-nonsense approach to public policy and would undoubtedly increase the professionalism on the board.

I reached out to all candidates for Oakland School Board and invited them to meet/speak with me and/or respond to a candidate questionnaire. I only endorse candidates who are strong liberals, are committed to accountability, transparency and fact-based legislating and who are intelligent, competent and knowledgeable.

Here are my endorsements for: Oakland Mayor, Oakland City Council, Assembly District 15.

See Marga’s 2014 Voter Guide for recommendations on propositions and other local endorsements.

Fremont: David Bonaccorsi & Raj Salwan best Choices for City Council

Fremont: David Bonaccorsi & Raj Salwan best Choices for City Council Politics No Responses »

Oct 012014

davidbonnacorsi David Bonaccorsi is, to put it simply, the most progressive candidate running for City Council in Fremont this year. A lawyer, he understands the importance of due process, presumption of innocence and the need to preserve constitutional rights; concepts that often escape his will-be-colleagues. He also understands the need for fact-based policy making and for the use of common sense in making policy. For example, as a member of the planning commission he voted against banning medical marijuana patients from growing cannabis plants in their backyards. Fremont does not have a medical marijuana dispensary and the alternative of growing marijuana inside a home can be dangerous because of the electricity and humidity needs for such endeavor. The Council, however, decided to address complaints about cannabis plants getting too tall not by imposing a height limit on such plants, but by banning them altogether.

Competence and common sense, coupled with the willingness to do your own research and stand up on your own two feet, are among the most important qualities for a Council member. It’s for these reasons that I endorse David Bonaccorsi for Fremont City Council.

Raj Salwan

I have known Raj Salwan for several years, since he has been an alternate in the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee. He is truly one of the nicest people I have ever met. He is pleasant, caring, polite, and completely and absolutely non-conniving. In other words, he is the antithesis of a politician. What he’s doing in politics, I will never know.

But it’s exactly these human qualities that make Raj, who is running as an appointed incumbent, such a pleasure to endorse for the Fremont City Council. He brings a degree of humanity, of conviviality – in the literal sense of the word – and of calmness, that I think is needed in every legislative body. Raj listens and he gets down to the basics, how will this affect the community?

I neglected to include him when I first posted by Fremont endorsement because for me he’s such an obvious choice, that I saw it as a given that he’d get elected. I hope he will.

I reached out to all candidates for City Council in Fremont and invited them to meet/speak with me and/or respond to a candidate questionnaire. I only endorse candidates who are strong liberals, are committed to accountability, transparency and fact-based legislating and who are intelligent, competent and knowledgeable.

See Marga’s 2014 Voter Guide for recommendations on propositions and other local endorsements.

Berkeley: Soto-Vigil, Worthington and Beier for City Council; Alper and Daniels for School Board

Berkeley: Soto-Vigil, Worthington and Beier for City Council; Alper and Daniels for School Board Politics No Responses »

Oct 012014

These are the candidates that I’m personally endorsing for Berkeley races. I have spoken with them and/or received answers to my questions and have been incredibly impressed by their qualities. As I look at the list, I can’t help but note that all my recommendations are for men. This doesn’t make me happy, and yet it’d be utterly sexist of me to chose a woman just because of her gender. I will note that in the School Board race there are two women running who seem capable and caring, and who are very well thought of by all Berkeley politicians I’ve spoken to. I am not recommending them because one of them just did not impress me as much at the Democratic interview – though it may have been more her manner than her answers – and the other is very close to the Bates machine.

Alejandro Soto-Vigil

City Council District 1: Alejandro Soto-Vigil

I have seldom met a candidate with the commitment, energy and plain force than Alejandro Soto-Vigil exudes. He is young, in his mid-30’s, but I would describe him as an old-fashioned liberal, a Latino version of a young George Miller, Ron Dellums or Barbara Lee. At a time when politicians reflect the values of those who fill their coffers, Soto-Vigil stands for the poor, the disenfranchised, young families, students,Berkeleyans.

I had a long conversation with Alejandro, and I am confident he has both the education (political science degree from Cal, followed by law school), experience and clear policy thinking to make him succeed both at the City Council level and beyond. I also think that he will be listen to the community and bring new ideas to the table.

Kriss Worthington

City Council District 7: Kriss Worthington

Kriss Worthington has been in the Berkeley City Council forever, and yet Berkeley deserves to have him there for even longer. He is currently the leading liberal voice in the city, taking the side of residents against the benefits of developers. His opponent, Sean Barry, who has the support of Mayor Tom Bates, is not ready for the position. His inability to answer some of my questions – he had no idea what Urban Shield was, for example – made me wonder whether he actually reads newspapers.

George Beier

City Council District 8: George Beier

I wish I lived in Berkeley District 8. Not only is it beautiful there, but it would mean that I’d get to chose between three great candidates. Of the three, George Beier stands up for a couple of reasons. First, he is not afraid to stand up for his beliefs, even when it goes against the interests of his allies. Second, his answers to my questionnaire for city council candidates were among the best I’ve gotten from all candidates. They showed that he is clear about his principles, and he knows how to think about the issues critically and analyze possible consequences. Finally, the Berkeley City Council is strongly divided between the Tom Bates camp, with 5 members, and the liberal camp, with 3. Unlike his opponents, George is not supported by either faction, which would allow him to be the bridge builder and swing vote that the Council really needs.

School Board Ty Alper and Josh Daniels

I had the opportunity to hear all the candidates at the Democratic endorsements. I also spoke with a couple of them, and received answers to my questionnaire from two of them. I was particularly impressed with Alper and Daniels.

Ty Alper

Ty Alper is a social justice attorney who runs Boalt’s death penalty clinic. He is also the father of three kids attending Berkeley public schools. He is intelligent, definitely committed to education as the way of lifting children up, a clear thinker and someone who will bring a different perspective to the Berkeley School Board. He is endorsed by liberal lion Robert Reich, among others. I very much appreciated how well thought out the answers to my questions were, and how Ty believes in data-driven solutions, rather than on suppositions. I believe his analytical approach, and his persona experience both as a lawyer and as a current parent at Berkeley schools, will enhance the quality of the decisions made by the Board.

Josh Daniels is a young education attorney and current President of the Berkeley School Board. I was impressed by his approachability, understanding of the challenges, and progressive values. He seemed the candidate most committed to understanding and honoring diversity, while taking the needs of different student groups into account. I also thought he was the most energetic of the incumbents and the one who had the most comprehensive view of the issues, perhaps because he is an education attorney. He had great answers to my questionnaire.

I reached out to all candidates for Berkeley City Council and School Board and invited them to meet/speak with me and/or respond to a candidate questionnaire. I only endorse candidates who are strong liberals, are committed to accountability, transparency and fact-based legislating and who are intelligent, competent and knowledgeable.

Other Berkeley Endorsement: Tony Thurmond for Assembly.

See Marga’s 2014 Voter Guide for recommendations on propositions and other local endorsements.

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