Democratic party

Conflicted About Conflict of Interest

Conflicted About Conflict of Interest ACDCC No Responses »

Jan 032013

Note: This ar Democrat Donkey ticle was originally published here.

Update on January ACDCC meeting: Members Sworn In and Party officers elected. I cast sole vote against having a paid campaign manager as local party Vice-Chair.

Last night was the first meeting of the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee of the year, as well as the swearing-in of the elected and re-elected members of the Committee. We were sworn in by Senate Majority Leader and San Leandro native Ellen Corbett, in a very uneventful ceremony.

Every member of the Committee, including “ad-hoc” members (Democrats elected to state and national offices who live in Alameda county), picks an alternate who can represent them when they can’t make it to the meetings. The alternates then have to be approved by the whole committee. My alternate this term is Tim Holmes. He is the owner of Zocalo Coffeehouse in San Leandro (where many a Democratic event has taken place), and a co-founder of the San Leandro Community Action Network. He is one of the most influential political voices in San Leandro, but he is also very liberal, perhaps even as liberal as I am. He is a better communicator, however.

We also voted to approve the Committee’s delegates to the state convention (basically, all the Committee members plus some of the alternates) and for Committee officers (Chair, Vice Chair, Recording Secretary, Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer). All of the latter ran unopposed and all but one were unanimously approved.

The one exception was Royce Kelley, who was running to be re-appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee. He is currently one of the state party’s regional directors. There was one vote against him: mine. I could not in good conscience vote for him, given the conflict of interest that holding his position signifies.

Royce Kelley is one of the principals at Alliance Campaigns Strategies. He and Angela Ramirez-Holmes, another member of the Committee, specialize in managing the political campaigns of Democrats running for office in Alameda county.

Candidates for local office usually seek the endorsement of the Democratic Party as a “seal of approval” to use in their literature; in the case of local candidates for non-partisan office, this means endorsement by the county Central Committee. Candidates are first interviewed by the Committee’s Executive Board, which is composed of the Chair, Vice-Chair, Treasurer, Secretaries and the District Vice-Chairs (each AD delegation gets to appoint its own vice-chair). The Executive Board then votes on which candidates should be put on the consent calendar to get the party’s endorsement. While it’s possible for regular Committee members to pull candidates from the consent calendar, it’s pretty rare. Usually, if you make it to the consent calendar, the endorsement is yours.

Both Kelley and Ramírez-Holmes are members of the Executive Board, as was their former partner, Shawn Wilson. Robin Torello, the Committee Chair, is very close to Kelley and they often speak with one voice. What this means is that Alliance Campaigns has an inordinate amount of influence on who gets the Democratic endorsement in Alameda county.

Now, I will not presume to say that Kelley and Ramirez-Holmes vote or lobby for the candidates that have hired them. However, they do seem to have represented quite a few candidates that have gotten the Democratic endorsement, even when running against more progressive candidates. And many candidates believe that they must hire Alliance Campaign if they want to get the Democratic endorsement, or at least prevent their opponents from getting it. I find this very problematic from an ethical point of view. A democratic system that is not or has the appearance of not being clean, an endorsement system that is based on something other than an objective evaluation of who is the best candidate for that often, is a corrupt and undemocratic system. And that’s what I ran to stand up against.

I understand why even fellow committee members who agree with me, are reluctant to speak out loud about this matter. If you hope to have a political career, it’s not a good idea to make powerful enemies. But I also believe that we need to vocally stand for what we believe, and I believe in a fair and open process

Marga Lacabe was is an elected member of the ACDCC representing AD 18. These articles are meant to update her constituents on what’s going on at the party.

Mary Hayashi on her Honesty and Integrity

Mary Hayashi on her Honesty and Integrity People, Police No Responses »

Sep 162012

On Sept. 15th, the Alameda County Democratic Party interviewed candidates seeking its endorsement for local office. Among those interviewed were Mary Hayashi and Richard Valle who are running for Alameda Council Supervisor (along with independent Mark Greene, who is not running a campaign).

I asked both the same question: “How do you exemplify the values of integrity and honesty we want for our elected officials?”.

Here are their answers:

Here is my posting with the Police Report on her arrest.

Note: This posting has been modified since its original publication.

Alameda County Democratic Central Committee Elections: Vote for me and…

Alameda County Democratic Central Committee Elections: Vote for me and… Politics 3 Responses »

May 102012

It’s a new day in California politics: open primaries are back. From this election forward, you’ll get to vote for whichever candidate of whichever party you want. Finally, are Republicans able to sabotage Democratic elections and vice versa, let the fun begin!

There are two exceptions to this, however. You can only vote for Presidential candidates for the party you are registered under. That means that if you really don’t like Barack Obama, you don’t get to vote for Green candidate Roseanne Barr instead (at least, not in June). And you don’t get to vote for County Central Committee members from other parties. Now, I can imagine that it could be great fun for Democrats in the Bay Area to try to take over the local Republican party, but they still can’t do that, at least without changing party registration.

All of this is to say that if you are a Democrat – but only a Democrat – and you live in San Leandro, Alameda and most of Oakland (Assembly District 18) you get to vote for me for the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee (ACDCC). You also get to vote for nine other of the nineteen candidates in the ballot. I am running as part of a slate (see below) and I’m asking that you vote for all the candidates on that slate. Of course, you can pick and choose as well

The ACDCC is the body that sets policy for the Democratic party in Alameda County. It endorses candidates and propositions, works to get them elected or passed, issues resolutions and presses its issues on the State party. Its members are Democratic activists, who work on a myriad of issues at the local level. All the members are elected from the different Assembly districts that fall in Alameda county.

This year, the elections for the AD18 members (us) has become quite interesting. Oakland Councilman and power house Ignacio De La Fuente is running a slate of close associates, purportedly to take over the ACDCC. In response, the incumbents (including me) have put out their own slate. Two or three candidates have been slateless.

Marga’s Slate

While the candidates on this slate are all quite progressive, they don’t all share the same political vision. Some of these candidates, for example, admire Obama just as much as I disapprove of him. However, in my estimation they are all people with integrity, who want what’s best for the country, the state and the party.

Margarita Lacabe. Yours truly. I’m a international human rights activist, dealing mostly with issues of truth, justice and memory in Latin America. I’m also a local community activist in San Leandro and I want to help steer the Democratic Party into one that can challenge those within the party that do not have a clear commitment to human rights and civil liberties.

Robin Torello. Robin is the current chair of the ACDCC and the ONE person that needs to be re-elected for our local party to function. Robin has been a Democratic activist since she moved to the Bay Area ages ago. I’ve never seen someone so committed both to the party, and to the ideals that it represents. She doesn’t receive compensation as Chair of the local party, but she spends countless ours in administration, fundraising, volunteer support, helping candidates, etc. etc. etc. Honestly, I don’t know anyone else even wants to try to do her job, much less would be able to do so with any competence. If you vote for ONE person in the slate, make sure it’s Robin.

Diana Prola. Diana is a retired teacher and principal and a current member of the San Leandro School Board. She’s been a party activist for years, has worked in countless campaigns, and has a real concern for the community. What I value most about her is how much of an independent thinker she is, and how she will understand the consequences of issues in ways that I haven’t seen.

Pamela Drake. Pamela is another long-time Democratic activist. She is new to the Committee and I’m really hoping she will be elected. I have only met her a few times, but I’ve been reading her blog about Oakland, and I’m blown away by the combination of progressive ideals and ethical pragmatism that she displays. I encourage you, in particular, to read her entries about the Occupy Movement.

Corina Lopez. Corina is new to Democratic activism, but I’m pretty sure she’s here to stay. After serving as president of her neighborhood association, she stepped up and ran for City Council here in San Leandro in 2010. Corina is yet another instance of the “American story”. She grew up as the child of immigrant farm workers in Soledad. She did well – very well – and got into Princeton, later became a financial analyst and finally started her own technology business with her husband. Her commitment, however, is to her community, and I think she has a long political career ahead of her.

Howard Egerman. Howard has been a Democratic activist since he turned 18, he was even elected as a delegate for Robert Kennedy the day of his assassination. He is a federal employee, and a labor activist.

Linda Perry. Linda Perry has been a Democratic activist since High School (or at least, so I’m told). She was in the San Leandro School Board and City Council and has been the ACDCC treasurer for years.

Mario Juarez. Mario is another Oaklander, with a profound commitment to his community. He’s a very successful realtor, but he’s committed to stay in the part of Fruitvale where he lives, to make it be a safe place to live for everyone. He’s run for Oakland City Council before, and I’m sure he will again. Our views don’t always coincide – but then again, I live in the mostly safe San Leandro – but I admire the fire in his belly and his commitment to make his part of town safe.

Helena Straughter. I’ll come out and say it, Helena is an Obama supporter – and, as a human rights activist, I’m anything but -, but I’m also in awe about the fire in her belly and her commitment to the party. Whenever there is a party function, whenever there is a door to be knocked on, there is Helena. She’s been an associate member of the ACDCC for years, I hope this time she finally gets elected.

Jim Oddie. Jim is the lone representative of the City of Alameda at the ACDCC. He’s a Democratic activist over there, very involved in local campaigns (he’s currently helping Rob Bonta get elected to the Assembly). He’s a lawyer, and I mostly like lawyers (at least, run of the mill, intelligent, liberal lawyers) because we speak the same language. So yep, I want him elected

The Slate-less

Three people are running for election without the “benefit” of a slate. They are:

Bernard Ashcraft. Bernard is a very well respected leader in the African American community. We tapped him for running for Surlene Grant’s seat back in 2008, but he had too many other commitments at the time. He hasn’t been active in Democratic politics in a while, but I am sure he will bring an experienced perspective to the committee.

Michael Katz. Yep, it’s my Mike Katz. For the un-initiated he is my husband. He’s been a member of the San Leandro School Board for six years, we pretty much share the same political ideology but he’s much nicer, more respectful, non-judgmental, non-confrontantional and likable. This is why I married him, rather than myself

Joe Macaluso. He’s a newly appointed associate member, I believe. I know he works as city auditor or something of the sort for the City of Oakland, but I know nothing else about him. I met him once, he seemed nice.

The Ignacio de la Fuente Slate

Ignacio De La Fuente. The man himself. He is a powerful Oakland city council member with Mayoral ambitions. I haven’t met him but I’ve heard that he started as a community activist wanting to improve life for his constituents, and slowly he was swallowed by the dark side. Leaving Star Wars aside, in addition to my practical fears that he’ll actually take over the local Democratic Party and destroy it, I’m bothered by the many corruption allegations that plague him.

Claudia Burgos. She is a staff member for De La Fuente.

Winnie Anderson. Winnie is Abel Guillen’s campaign manager. She was recruited to run for the ACDCC by De La Fuente, who is also a supporter of Abel’s. I like Winnie, but, as I’ve written before, I find this move politically troublesome.

Monique Rivera is a business manager who first ran for BART board in 2010 with the support of De La Fuente.

Mónica Tell is a former staffer of Don Perata, a close ally of De La Fuente.

Sandra Johnson. I don’t really know anything about Sandra Johnson, I don’t believe I’ve ever come across her at any Democratic functions, but I believe she was recruited by De La Fuente to run on his slate.

De La Fuente is also running a couple of other candidates in a different district – he wasn’t careful enough to notice where the lines were drawn after redistricting took place in 2011.

Remember, you get to vote for 10 of the 19 candidates, so make your vote count!

Three in the Ring for Superior Court Judge

Three in the Ring for Superior Court Judge Politics 3 Responses »

Apr 172012

Tara Flanagan: best of the bunch

Catherine Haley

I love Democracy (it deserves a big “D”, in my opinion) as much as the next person, hey, I’d venture to say even more – but I believe California takes it to its logical but dangerous extreme. We can see this by the mess the state has gotten into by having its major legislation all be passed by initiatives – which can not be easily or even practically undone once they’ve proven themselves to be harmful. And we can also see it vis a vis the election of judges. Like it or not, elections cost money, and money seldom comes without strings attached.

That said, judges are still elected and we still need to vote on them. This year, the election to watch is the one between Tara Flanagan, Catherine Haley and Andrew Weiner. Flanagan, Haley and a representative for Weiner came before the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee, of which I’m a member, to seek our endorsement. After a brief presentation, each answered a few questions.

Tara Flanagan

Tara Flanagan seemed to be the favorite going in. As a lesbian, she had the support of those members of the Committee who want to see greater diversity in the judiciary. If elected, Flanagan will only be the second lesbian judge in Alameda County. Vicky Kolakowski, who is both transgendered and a lesbian, was elected to the judiciary in 2010, one of the first transgendered judge in the nation.

Flanagan’s strength does not come from her sexual identity. Her resume is impressive and her focus on domestic violence commendable. Flanagan started as an assistant DA in LA, prosecuting domestic violence cases. She went on to open her own family law practice, also dealing with domestic violence issues among others. She’s worked as a legal aid attorney, helping people navigate the legal system and serves as a temporary judge overseeing family, traffic and small claims cases.

Catherine Haley‘s background is a little different. She also has served as a temporary judge and has experienced in legal aid, but she started her career as a flight attendant, went on to work as a law clerk before becoming a lawyer. She’s worked as a solo practitioner since, dealing with all sorts of cases.

Andrew Weiner

Andrew Weiner, meanwhile, is a mediator/arbitrator which focuses on alternative resolution, apparently in particular in employment cases. It’s not clear to me why someone with that background would want to be a judge, and as he didn’t go to the endorsement meeting I was unable to ask him. I will e-mail him and find out.

Of the two women running for judge, I was most impressed by Flanagan. Indeed, I was very impressed by Flanagan. She was the only of the two who knew she wasn’t allowed by law to comment on any legal issue that may come before her in the future. She was thus unable to directly answer my question about whether she believes minors should be tried as adults. However, she made it clear that she understood all the issues at play. Haley, who answered after her, seemed much less prepared. I don’t usually vote for prosecutors or former prosecutors, but I think Flanagan’s experience as an assistant DA actually gives her a deeper understanding of criminal law issues. Plus I like the way she thinks.

I voted to endorse Flanagan and she did, indeed, get the endorsement of the party. I am fairly certain I will vote for her in June. Though I recognize that alternative conflict resolution is essential – our justice system is just not equipped to deal with the enormity of legal cases – I also think it most often leads to unfair results for the public. I’m uncomfortable with the idea of having an arbitrator as a judge.

Why, come June, I might vote for Mickey Mouse for public office.

Why, come June, I might vote for Mickey Mouse for public office. Politics 3 Responses »

Apr 102012

Aisha Knowles

Race for Alameda County School Board Lacks Qualified Candidates

*May 6th Update*

In the last few weeks Geraldine Sonobe seems to be all over the place, meeting with officials and learning about the issues concerning education in the county. Last weekend alone, she was at the public meeting with San Leandro school officials Saturday morning, and at the Bike SL event on Sunday. Aisha Knowles, however, seems to be MIA.

For this reason, in addition to Sonobe’s greater experience and commitment to the issue of minority education, I will be voting for her.

Original Blog Post

Aisha Knowles is a well-liked woman. She is very good at her job as public information officer for the Alameda County Fire Department. She is poised and works well with people. She sits on many boards and has the support of both unions and the Democratic political establishment. She doesn’t have kids or a background in education, but that’s not required to be a Trustee on the Alameda County Board of Education.

Her opponent, Geraldine Sonobe, looks even better on paper. She was an English development teacher at one of the toughest schools in Oakland and now works developing new programs for a non-profit which prepares disadvantaged children for college. She is the mother of twins who attend public schools in San Leandro.

Despite their different backgrounds, Knowles and Sonobe have one thing in common: neither seems to have a clue as to what the Alameda County Board of Education does. And that’s pretty depressing, given that they are the only two candidates for District 4 (which includes San Leandro).

I had never been particularly enthusiastic about Aisha Knowles, despite how nice she is. In 2010, upon the death of the then sitting trustee for District 4, Knowles tried to be appointed to the Board. Despite her public speaking experience, even then she could not articulate a particularly good reason for seeking that office. Unfortunately, this has not changed. According to her ballot statement, her goals are to “improve communication between the County Board of Education and our local community; work to better prepare our schools in fire safety and emergency preparedness; assist schools with the challenges of state budget cuts, and ensure that we are training, recruiting, and retaining quality teachers.” Those are worthy goals, no doubt, and if she was running for the San Lorenzo School Board they would certainly be worth pursuing. The problem is that they are not pertinent to the position she’s running for.

The Alameda County Board of Education is responsible for overseeing the work of the Alameda Council Office of Education (ACOE). This work includes approving the budgets of local school districts, offering staff development programs, approving county-wide charter schools and hearing appeals from students expelled or denied transfers. The ACOE is also in charge of the education of students incarcerated in county facilities, students who have been expelled from public schools and students who are pregnant or have young babies. They provide oversight for foster children, who are frequently moved from school district to school district. What the ACOE does not do is run public schools, recruit and retain teachers or interact with the local community. That’s the job of local school districts.

Geraldine Sonobe

Geraldine Sonobe also seems unaware of what the County Board does. Her ballot statement is all about making smart decisions when dealing with budget cuts. Again, this is something that affects school districts, who run the schools and have to make those cuts. But it’s not something the ACOE has to deal with – indeed, they are doing quite well financially.

Both Knowles and Sonobe came before the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee, to which I belong, to ask for our endorsement. After listening to their presentation, I had the opportunity to ask one question: how do they think the County is under-serving expelled and incarcerated students and what they would do about it. Neither could answer the question. Indeed, they both admitted that they didn’t know what the ACOE did for these students. That is not acceptable.

My first instinct is to be most critical of Knowles. She has been planning to run for this office for two years. She’s had plenty of time to find out what the ACOE does and how she can actually affect it. Sonobe, however, can also not escape criticism. While she jumped into the race at the last minute – and I’m glad, as I believe every race should be contested -, she had enough time to at least take a look at the ACOE website and familiarize itself with its programs.

Unfortunately, Knowles and Sonobe are not the exception as far as candidates go. I have encountered multiple candidates who have little understanding of the office they seek. In 2006, for example, neither Diana Souza nor Julian Polvorosa could speak intelligibly about transit-oriented development, which the City was then pursuing with gusto.

But I think it’s time we say “enough,” that we challenge those candidates that have not done their due diligence and do not understand the offices they are running for. If they are too lazy to put the time and effort to find out about them – what exactly can we expect of their performance once they are elected?

At the Democratic party endorsement meeting I called for the party to not endorse either candidate. I knew, of course, that it was a useless call. Knowles would have been endorsed, no matter how qualified her opponent was (because the Democratic party likes to support insiders). I, of course, made many enemies that night, and I’m sure I’ll be making more with this blog entry. But I feel that if I don’t speak up, nobody will. We’re so used to “business as usual,” to demand so little of our elected officials, that we ultimately make a mockery of democracy. I believe, however, that democracy can be restored one voice at the time.

At this point I’m not inclined to vote for either candidate – but I’ll remain hopeful until election day that one of them will shape up and take the office they’re running for seriously. If they don’t, I’ll probably go ahead and do a write-in for Mickey Mouse, I hear he might be a pretty popular candidate this year.

I will be writing about other local elections, those that affect San Leandro in particular, in the upcoming weeks. I welcome your comments here or in Facebook.

Older Entries Newer Entries