elections

City Council Dist. 3 candidate Allen Schoenfeld On the Issues

City Council Dist. 3 candidate Allen Schoenfeld On the Issues Politics No Responses »

Oct 122014

In order to better get to know the candidates for San Leandro offices, I sent out a questionnaire with questions provided by San Leandro residents and relevant to San Leandro. Allen Schoenfeld has answered all the questions.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

1- Do you have a website, Facebor Smart Voter page with more information about you and your platform?

Yes, I have a smart voter page however you can email me personally at Grandpaal369@aol.com and I will be happy to answer any and all questions.

2- What is your political philosophy?

My political philosophy is I love my city and want a safe place to raise your family. I have lived in San Leandro for 45 years and know how they city functions. I would also like to save the marina with a boat harbor as well as hotels and restaurants. I would also like to fix all the pot holes in the roads around town.

3- How do you evaluate when to stick by your principles and when to compromise?

I always stick to my principles unless the other guy is bigger than me. (Just Kidding) Compromise can be accomplished by listening to the other person’s views and working things out peacefully.

4- How often have you attended City Council meetings in the last year and what, if any, issues have you spoken out about in such meetings?

Once elected, I will regularly attend City Council meetings. Until then, I use to go to City Council meetings when Faith Frazier was a Council woman and the city was open for all to speak.

GOOD GOVERNANCE

5- The San Leandro City Council is no longer producing full minutes of its meetings, and instead produces an audio/video recording and a record of its votes (but not comments/discussions). Would you restore full minutes?

San Leandro should have full mintues restored of all Council meetings, either online or a hard copy should be available if anyone wanted to pick it up at City Hall.

6- Do you support a sunshine ordinance in San Leandro? Be specific as to terms.

I thought the sunshine always shined in San Leandro. Yes, we need to have a sunshine ordinance to promote transperancy in city government.

7- Do you believe the City Council should censure Vice-Mayor Benny Lee for lobbying the Oakland City Council against renewing its $1Billion garbage contract with Waste Management? San Leandro collects $500K in taxes annually from WM’s transfer station.

No, the City Council needs to remind Council members that they represent the city and the city should educate Council members how to act when they represent the city.

REVENUE

8- What’s your position on measure HH?

I am NOT in favor of measure HH; the sales tax increase. We pay a lot of taxes now. A 30 year addition to sales tax is ridiculous. We need to save money and find other ways to generate revenue for the city.

9- Do you support continuing or making permanent the business license fee holiday for new businesses? Why or why not?

I think every business needs to pay the business license fee and no businesses should be exempt. The company I work for has been doing business in San Leandro for over 30 years and has always paid for their business license to do business in San Leandro.

10- Do you support pension reform in San Leandro? Be specific.

Yes, we should have had city employees contribute to their own pension years ago. If we did, we would not have a huge pension deficit in San Leandro today.

11- What are your plans for increasing revenue and/or cutting costs in San Leandro? Be specific.

We need to cut the fat out of city government. We have people who make the big bucks and hardly do anything. New business can help generate income but also create overhead. We need to stop giving the city away. As an example; no business license fees for new businesses and tax breaks for big businesses. Everyone should pay their fare share.

12- San Leandro is about to lose millions of dollars in taxes and development fees, due to Waste Management losing its garbage contract with the City of Oakland. What would you have done to prevent that situation from occurring and what will you do in the future to support San Leandro businesses?

The situation with Waste Management has changed and the city of San Leandro will not lose revenue because of Oakland’s garbage pick up. Waste Management will now pick up garbage and green waste and CWS will handle recycling. Waste Management is rumored to build a multimillion dollar recycling facility in San Leandro.

13- San Leandro has invested on creating a fiber loop and is trying to market itself to high tech manufacturing. What would you do to promote these efforts?

They city has already put out an open invitation to solicit high tech businesses to move to San leandro but we need to remember more business means more traffic which means more overhead.

DEVELOPMENT

14- What are your thoughts on redevelopment in general? What should the City do to spruce up downtown and the South part of town?

Development of the downtown area is important. More shops and more resturants means more revenue for San Leandro. The city needs to have a plan and stick with it. Now I see a dysfunctional city with disruptions.

15- What are your plans for the development of the Marina? If they include dredging, who should pay for it? Be specific as to what you will work to see happen.

This is the concern deep in my heart. I would like to see the channel dredged so we can bring back the boats and turn San Leandro Marina back into a marina again. We need to find the funds to do this. It seems everyone has given up. Money was found in the past, why not now? The developer who the city sold out to should have included marina dredging. I am looking to get a bid from a company to get cost effective ways of dredging the marina.

16- What type of affordable housing requirements do you support for new developments?

I support low income housing for senors. Senors have worked and supported this city and now the city needs to support them. Affordable housing is dear to my heart. Everyone needs a place to live, but there are some people that don’t want to work hard to achieve this.

17- How should the City and the School District collaborate regarding any new housing developments?

The city needs to realize that with more housing you have more students. Developer should have to contribute to our school system by building or enlarging our schools. I remember when San Leandro had 3 high schools, and many elementary schools which were torn down in the name of progress. I think it’s time to rebuild them to divert overcrowded classrooms and promote the education of our future city leaders.

18- What is your specific plan for repairing streets and sidewalks in San Leandro?

The city needs to get on the ball and start fixing the pot holes. I remember when the city street crew used to do just this. What happened to them? Not having funds is not an excuse. How did we do it before? Seems like street repair has been forgotten.

ENVIRONMENT

19- Global warming threatens to raise sea levels. What should the City be doing to help prevent rising bay waters from damaging property?

Global warming is more of a national issue rather than a city one. We can help on the local level by reducing carbon monoxide from our city by taking public transportation, riding a bicycle or walking.

20- What’s your position on a “tree preservation ordinance”? Please be specific as to any ordinance that you would support.

People are concerned about their private property rights and consider a tree on their property their business and they should have the right to do as they please on their property. I heard the Mulford Gardens HOA wants to prohibit cutting a tree in our own backyard. I remember when my street was beautifully tree lined until the trees broke the sidewalk and clogged the sewers causing the trees to be removed. Now, to get a treet removed the city requires too much red tape.

21- Should the City offer incentives to encourage property owners to install solar systems or other alternative energy sources? Be specific.

Solar engery is the upcoming means of energy but it should be up to the individual home owners if they wish to install it. I think the city should not offer incentives because the federal government already has incentives in place.

22- What will you do to make San Leandro more friendly for pedestrians and cyclists?

San Leandro has already become pedestrian and cycle friendly. We have bike lanes, handicap ramps and crosswalks with flashing lights. I hear San Leandro is going to become even more bicycle and pedestrian friendly.

SURVEILLANCE & LAW ENFORCEMENT

23- What’s your position on red light cameras and why?

I have always thought we need to do away with the red light cameras, especially the one on the corner of Washington and Halcyon.

24- What is your position on public/police operated public surveillance cameras?

San Leandro does not need survallance cameras. NO BIG BROTHER! We as citiznes to watch and protect each other.

25- SLPD operates several mobile and static license place readers which photograph millions of license plates and cars. Do you support an ordinance that will restrict how long these records are kept and who they are shared with? Be specific as to terms.

San Leandro does not need license plates readers. People should be able to come and go as they please. What’s next? GPS tracking devices?

26- How would you tackle the increasing militarization of the SLPD? Do you believe that the SLPD should continue to operate its SWAT team?

San Leandro police does not need an armored vehicle by NO MEANS! San Leandro police does a great job in maintaining law and order in the city. Sometimes they show too much force when it takes 4 or 5 patrol cars to write 1 speeding ticket.

27- What are your public safety priorities?

Everyone’s priority is to keep our neighborhood safe from crime and violence. We can do this by watching out for your neighbors.

28- When the City Council passed an ordinance allowing citizens to keep bees with a permit, it provided that in order to get that permit citizens had to agree to waive their 4th amendment right to warrantless searches of their properties. What’s your position on this type of requirements? What will you do specifically with the requirement in the “chicken & bee” ordinance?

No BEES! No CHICKENS! If this is something you want you should not live in the city.

SOCIAL WELFARE

29- What do you think are the City’s responsibilities vis a vis ensuring that everyone in San Leandro has access to food, housing, health care and other necessities of life? How will you meet such responsibilities?

The city has a lot of community assistant programs. Davis Street Family Resource Center, Food Banks, and Churches have been doing a great job helping the less fortunate.

30- How should the Council promote community health in San Leandro?

With the new healthcare system in effect, everyone should have healthcare. San Leandro should not be responsible to provide community healthcare.

31- Will you support an ordinance to increase the minimum wage in San Leandro? If so, to what amount.

Yes. A living wage is important. A hard days work is worth a honest days pay. More people need to be educated to get higher paying jobs.

32- Do you support reducing development fees, zoning entitlements and construction permits in order to make housing more affordable?

Yes, construction fees have continued to sky rocket. More government involvement in the permit process, building inspections, and fire inspection. Everyone wants a piece of the pie therefore developers refuse to build in our city and go to other cities with less red tape. I was amazed to find out what it cost to break ground as far as taxes and permit fees.

33- What should San Leandro do to aid its homeless population?

We need to give more assistance to non profit organizations to provide services for the homeless. However, soime homeless people dont want assistance and want to remain homeless. San Leandro needs to help those who want to be helped by finding jobs and lost cost housing.

34- Do you support an ordinance that would stabilize rents and impose just cause requirement for evictions? Be specific as to what proposals you would support/oppose.

There is no rent control in San Leandro. We have a rent review board where landlords and renters can work things out. Yes, rents are on the rise but not as bad as other near by cities. Property owners have increased expenses as well; taxes, upkeep, utlities etc… and need to pass these increases to the renters. No one is getting rich.

35- What’s your position on having medical marijuana dispensaries in San Leandro?

I am okay with the marijuana dispensaries. San Leandro has already approved them. I would like to see a close watch on it to make sure they pay their fare share.

San Leandro Talk’s Guide to Ranked Choice Voting

San Leandro Talk’s Guide to Ranked Choice Voting Local Elections for Dummies, Politics 1 Response »

Sep 252014

2014 Edition

Here is the scoop on how to vote and how the votes are counted.

San Leandro instituted ranked choice voting (RCV) in 2010. This will be our third election using it. I am a fan of RCV for a couple of reasons. First, it saves the city money to only have to conduct one election for Mayor/City Council – rather than an election and then a runoff. Second, it gives people more of a choice and allows voters to cast “protest” votes without fearing that this will help the candidate they like the least. Third, it costs less for a candidate to run one campaign rather than two (a regular one and a runoff). The cheaper the campaign, the less the candidate is indebted to his contributors

RCV has its detractors. Candidates that have a strong but discreet base (e.g. ethnic or other affinity groups) may prefer a plurality system, as they may be able to win without having to appeal to the majority of voters. Candidates that have a lot of money may prefer runoff elections, as the primary election may exhaust their opponent’s funds, making it easier to defeat them in the general. Special interest groups dislike RCV both because it makes it more difficult to predict who will win a race and therefore whom they should back, and because it dilutes the power of their endorsement and financial contributions.

How to Vote

Voting in a ranked choice election is relatively easy. The ballot shows three columns marked “first choice”, “second choice” and “third choice”. Below them are the names of the candidates. You vote by completing the line next to the name of the candidate you prefer for that choice. Note that you must only mark one candidate under each choice, as otherwise your vote will not count. Importantly, ranking more than one candidate makes it more likely your vote will keep counting until the end of the count, and ranking a lesser choice never hurts your first choice.

To illustrate how RCV works, let’s say we have an election with four candidates: Smith, Chan, Jones and Garcia. Jones and Garcia are the two leading candidates, Chan is the middling candidate and Smith is the protest candidate – with a strong message but no chance to win. You support Smith’s message, but you want to make sure Jones does not get elected.

On your ballot, under “first choice” you fill the line next to Smith. For your second and third choices, you select Chan and Garcia. While the order is not important for your goal of making sure that Jones doesn’t get elected, if you mark Garcia as your second choice, chances are that your third choice, Chan, will not be counted, as Chan is likely to be eliminated before Garcia. If you prefer Chan to Garcia, you should put Chan as your second choice.

No matter how many candidates run, there are only 3 choices you can list. In a race with four candidates, this is not an issue, you just vote for the three candidates you prefer. In a race with 5 or more candidates, you may want to make sure that your third choice goes to a “safe” leading candidate, the least-bad option of the candidates likely to win.

How Votes are Counted

The process for counting votes is somewhat complicated and not in the least intuitive. Votes are counted in a rounds. An algorithm is used to determine how many votes each candidate has at the completion of the process. Here is how it works:

First Round: First Choices only

In the first round, the registrar will only count the number of valid first choice markings each candidate has received. Second or third choices will not be considered at all.

If a voter neglected to mark a first choice on her ballot, but marked a second (or third, if she didn’t mark a second either), then that second/third choices will be counted as a first choice. On the other hand, if a voter marked more than one candidate as his first choice (an overvote), then the ballot will be considered invalid and will be discarded, as the intention of the voter is not clear. This ballot will not count to the total of votes cast on that or subsequent rounds.

If any candidate gets 50% +1 of first-choices, that candidate is elected. If no candidate gets that many, then we go to the second round.

Let’s assume that 10,000 valid votes were cast in our imaginary election, with the first choices distributed in this manner:

Jones: 4,000
Garcia: 3500
Chan: 2000
Smith: 500

None of the candidates has 50% +1 of the first-choices – they would need 5001 – so Smith, having the least votes, is eliminated and the count goes into the second round.

Second Round: First Choices of top vote-getters + 2nd choices of lowest vote-getter

In the second round the registrar looks at the second-choices on the ballots that had marked the eliminated candidate as the first choice (Smith in our example). The second-choices are added to the count of the remaining candidates’ votes. Note that the registrar does not look at the second-choices for the ballots that have any of the remaining candidates marked as their first choice. That’s because every voter has one and only one vote, and your vote never counts for more than one candidate at a time.

Once again, if a voter has not marked a second choice, but has marked a third choice, then the third choice will be treated as the second choice. If the voter marked the same candidate as both his first and second choice, and that candidate is eliminated, then the registrar will look at the third choice and treat it as a second choice. If there are no 2nd or 3rd choices marked, or if more than one candidate is marked as a 2nd choice, that ballot will be considered exhausted/invalid and discarded and won’t count towards the total votes in that round.

In this and subsequent rounds, the registrar will count the number of ballots that remain valid, and calculate the percentage of the vote based on that number.

In our example, Smith got the least amount of first-choices so he’s out. Now we look at the 2nd-choices of the 500 people who selected Smith as their first-choice.

2nd choice on 500 ballots that marked Smith as first choice

– Jones: 150
– Garcia: 200
– Chan: 100
– No or Invalid votes: 50

Totals after 2nd round

Total votes: 9950

– Jones: 4000 + 150 = 4150 votes (42%)
– Garcia: 3500 + 200 = 3700 votes (37%)
– Chan: 2000 + 100 = 2100 votes (21%)

None of the candidates have gotten the required 50% + 1 of the vote, so the candidate with the least amount of votes is eliminated (Chan in this case) and we go to the third round.

Third Round: First Choices of top vote-getters + 2nd or 3rd choices of 2 lowest vote-getters

In this round, the registrar will count the second choices on the ballots that had marked the most recently eliminated candidate as first choice (Chan in our example), and the third choices on ballots that had marked the two eliminated candidates as their first and second choices (Smith and Chan in our example).

2nd-choices on 2000 ballots that marked Chan as first choice

– Jones: 650
– Garcia: 750
– Smith: 200
– No or invalid votes: 400
– Total votes so far: 9550

3rd choices on the 200 ballots that listed Chan as first choice and Smith as second choice

– Jones: 100
– Garcia: 50
– No or invalid: 50
– Total votes so far: 9500

3rd choices in the 100 ballots that listed Smith as a first choice and Chan as a second choice

– Jones: 20
– Garcia: 60
– No or invalid: 20

The total number of valid votes cast after the third round is: 9480

By adding the third-round votes to candidate’s totals we get:

– Jones: 4150 + 650 + 100 + 20 = 4920
– Garcia: 3700 + 750 + 50 + 60 = 4560

Jones got 51.9% of the vote, and thus he wins.

Gaming RCV

After much thought, analysis and reading, I am confident that it’s impossible for voters to “game” ranked choice voting. With four or less candidates in a race, you really should vote for candidates in your order of preference. There are a couple of caveats:

1) If you want to cast a protest vote, mark that candidate first, otherwise your vote may not be counted for her, and nobody would know about your protest.

2) If you are a candidate, you can become a second choice by teaming up with another candidate in your race. However, this can be a dangerous strategy. If your opponent/collaborator is a strong candidate, your help may make her win. If, on the other hand, she is a weak candidate, associating with her may hurt your standing with voters. A better strategy is to ask voters who have already committed to one of your opponents to mark you as their second choice.

3) If there are more than four candidates, the only change in strategy is to try make sure one of your three ranked candidates is likely to be one of the two strongest candidates in the final round. In such a scenario, your first choice is for the candidate you like the most, your second choice is for your 2nd favorite, and your third choice is for a candidate you can live with.

Note that while I speak about what the registrar will do, in reality the actually calculations are done by a computer using a preset algorithm.

Please let me know in the comments below if you have any questions.

—
This article was written with information provided by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters and Fair Vote. It has been substantially revised for the 2014 election. The omment below reference the original article written in 2012. My gratitude to Rob Richie from Fair Vote for his invaluable help with this article.

Final List of Candidates for San Leandro Offices

Final List of Candidates for San Leandro Offices Politics 7 Responses »

Aug 132014

These are the candidates that will be vying for elected office representing San Leandrans. The candidate’s ballot designations are in parenthesis. Candidate statements, when available, follow the description of each candidate. Remember, all San Leandro voters get to vote for all members of the San Leandro City Council and School Board, regardless of the district/area they represent.

San Leandro Mayor

Pauline Cutter

Pauline Cutter (City Councilmember/Teacher) is the clear favorite to win this race. She served for many years on the San Leandro School Board, and was elected Board president three times, so she has experience as the executive officer of a deliberative body. She won her seat on the City Council four years ago in a competitive race, and has experience campaigning both for herself and others. She has a good relationship with labor – teachers’ union excluded – and is likely to win the Democratic endorsement. As the clear favorite, she’s also likely to be able to fundraise the money she needs to win this race. Politically, Pauline hugs the center. She’s a workhorse and very detail-oriented. She is probably the most independent voice in the council, there have been at least a couple of 6-1 votes, where she’s the 1. If elected, she promises to be a full-time Mayor. Candidate Statement. More on Pauline…

Dan Dillman

Dan Dillman (Businessman), the owner of the Bal Theater, is an amazing man. He has worked incredibly hard to renovate the theater and bring options for entertainment to San Leandro (much to the opposition of City Hall), as well as to revitalize the south area of town. He is also someone who is not afraid to speak his mind and who brings a level of love and laughter to San Leandro that make this City great. He is not a serious candidate; in the past he has failed to do what it takes to win a campaign: raise money and walk, but he will bring issues to the debate: privacy, civil liberties, freedom, that the other candidates rather ignore. Candidate Statement. More on Dan…

Diana Souza

Diana Souza (San Leandro Councilmember/Businesswoman) is running for Mayor because she has termed out from City Council. Her tenure on the Council has been uneventful. She got elected with the single goal of getting a competition swimming pool built in the Manor, and when that couldn’t happen, she basically became a second vote for Joyce Starosciak first and, after Joyce left, the City Manager. Her true puppeteer is the San Leandro Police. Diana, however, has a record of not accomplishing anything beyond trying to get the Chinese flag to be flown over San Leandro City Hall. Given that her name recognition is either negative or poor, she is unlikely to present a real threat to Cutter. Candidate Statement. More on Diana…

San Leandro City Council, District 1

This is for the Bay-O-Vista/Estudillo Estates/Downtown seat that Michael Gregory is being termed out of.

Mike Katz-Lacabe

Mike Katz-Lacabe (Trustee, San Leandro School District Board of Education) starts off as the favorite in this race. He was elected to the San Leandro School Board after a competitive race, and has been elected School Board President twice. He has been endorsed by the Alameda Labor Council. Mike has high-name recognition also due to his involvement in the community. He blogs at San Leandro Bytes, is a frequent speaker at City Council meetings and is often quoted in the paper. He is perhaps best known for his work on behalf of privacy rights, but his real strengths come from his vision for the City – he’s the main proponent of turning the 9th grade campus into a High Tech High School -, his thorough understanding of how the city is run and his common sense. Mike is my husband. Candidate Statement. More on Mike…

David Anderson

David L. Anderson Sr. (Retired Sheetmetal Worker) is a retired sheetmetal worker and former Oakland School Board member. He gained notoriety in Oakland after he tried to bribe then OUSD laywer Dan Siegel. Siegel recorded the bribe offer, and while no charges were filed, Anderson lost his re-election. Anderson ran for the District 1 seat against incumbent Michael Gregory in 2010 and lost. Candidate Statement. More on David…

Kenneth Pon

Cheery accountant Kenneth Pon (Certified Public Accountant) is the comic relief candidate for this race. Pon, who served a term in the San Leandro School Board before being ousted by now-Mayor Stephen Cassidy, is known for his bon vivant predisposition, humor and sociability. He’s very involved in the downtown business association, Rotary and other organizations. When he previously ran for office, he proved to be a very lazy campaigner. He’s likely to play the “Sara Mestas”, “Justin Hutchinson” wannabe spoiler role on this race and – he hopes – pick up votes from conservatives who don’t like Cox. Like Cox, he doesn’t speak at City Council matters much, but he did in support of Walmart coming to San Leandro. Candidate Statement. More on Kenneth…

Deborah Cox

Deborah Cox (Public Policy Analyst) is a fundraising dynamo. She is in the boards of many organizations and has helped raise money for schools and the now defunct conservatory theater group. Her crowning achievement as the head of the Estudillo Estates association was to get a marker for the neighborhood. She’s also in the Human Services Commission. Deborah is rarely seen at City Council meetings, but she’s gone to speak against medical marijuana dispensaries and in favor of selling the former Albertson’s property for 1/3 of what the City paid for it, in order to build Village Marketplace (the new location for CVS). What Deborah is not is a public policy analyst, she works as a field representative for Assemblyman Quirk on education matters – which is a very different thing. Candidate Statement. More on Deborah…

San Leandro City Council, District 3

This is for the seat that Diana Souza currently occupies.

Lee Thomas

BZA member Lee Thomas (Family Services Manager) has been running for a year, so I think we can assume he’s on the lead. Thomas is a nice and jovial guy, it’s hard not to like him, but he is unwilling to commit himself to positions. For example, he was at the meeting where the Council voted to raise the Chinese flag over City Hall, but he wouldn’t speak publicly on it. He belongs to an extreme right fundamentalist church, which opposes medical marijuana. Candidate Statement. More on Lee…

Victor Aguilar

Victor Aguilar Jr. (Accounts Manager) is a young account manager at a legal discovery firm. He studied political science in college, worked as a field rep for a City Council member in LA, and is now putting roots in San Leandro. Victor is very active with LGBT rights organizations. Candidate Statement. More on Victor…

Allen Schoenfeld (Salesperson) graduated from San Leandro High in 1971. He keeps a very low profile online. No candidate statement filed. More on Allen…

San Leandro City Council, District 5

With Pauline Cutter running for Mayor, her seat in the City Council is now open. This district includes the north-eastern part of San Leandro.

Mia Ousley

Mia Ousley (Financial Analyst) is the co-founder of the successful Coalition to Save San Leandro Hospital, as well as the editor of the newsletter of the Broadmoor Neighborhood Association and active MoveOn.org organizer, among other things. She is a go-getter and has worked on behalf of issues as diverse as getting the City Council to legalize urban farming, expanding entertainment options and developing community-centric public safety initiatives. Mia is currently a member of the Rent Review Board. She has worked in campaigns for Obama, Pete Stark, Mayor Stephen Cassidy, Morgan Mack-Rose, Hermy Almonte and Ursula Reed, among others. Mia actually likes campaigning, which gives her a leg up on this race. Full disclosure, Mia is my friend and I’m helping her with her race. Candidate Statement. More on Mia…

Corina Lopez

Corina Lopez (Trustee, San Leandro School District Board of Education) is currently on the San Leandro School Board, after running unopposed in 2012. Previously, she ran against Pauline Cutter for District 5 and lost. Before that she was in the City’s Human Services commission. Corina serves in the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee with me and I consider her a friend. Corina grew up in Soledad as the daughter of farm workers, made her way to Princeton and now runs an IT company with her husband. She has been endorsed by the Alameda County Labor Council. Candidate Statement. More on Corina…

Leah Hall

Leah Hall (Community Organizer) is, well, one of those characters that make San Leandro such an amusing town. She’s very active online, a member of the Human Services Commission and a big lover of the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. Unfortunately, she’s nowhere as funny as her Comedy Central role models, so while her role in the race is that of comedic relief, she’ll probably leave more people puzzled than laughing. Candidate Statement. More on Leah…

San Leandro School Board, At Large

Jason Toro resigned from the School Board to apply for a job as director of the new student health clinic (a job he got). That means that his seat is open and anyone in San Leandro can run to finish his 2-year term.

Evelyn Gonzalez

Evelyn Gonzalez (Community Volunteer) is a mother of three kids that have been making their way through San Leandro Schools. She has always been extremely involved with the schools, serving in PTAs and school councils, and helping with fundraising. When McKinley Elementary needed a new computer lab, Mike Katz-Lacabe contacted Evelyn. Even though her kids weren’t there, she was able to put in a fundraising plan and in no time we had the computers we needed. Evelyn, a theologian by training, is very involved in the social justice work in her local Parish. Candidate Statement.

Monique Tate (Parent/Administrative Assistant) is an SLUSD parent who is in the LCAP Design Team. She seems to work as an administrative assistant in the Alameda County Office of Education – which might bring conflict of interest issues.

Peter Oshinski (Child Nutrition Administrator) has lived with his partner in the Broadmoor for the last four years. They don’t have children. Peter is a former instructor at the California Culinary Academy and now works in food services for a school district. He does not have a history of involvement with San Leandro schools. Candidate Statement.

Elsie “Jeanne” Kinkella (Retired School Teacher) graduated from San Leandro High in 1962. She worked for the New Haven Unified School District.

San Leandro School Board, Area 4

Several candidates are vying to replace Mike Katz-Lacabe, who is running for City Council. None of the candidates have been attending School Board meetings until recently.

Latrina Dumas (Property Manager/Landlord) is a parent at San Leandro High. She ran against Mike Katz-Lacabe in 2008, because of Katz-Lacabe’s vote to fire superintendent Chris Lim. Dumas was an ardent Lim supporter.

Leo Sheridan

Leo Sheridan (Businessman/Parent) is parent at Monroe Elementary. He’s in the Dad’s Club and LCAP team. He works for a paint distribution company. He has refused to meet with me to answer questions as to his qualifications and plans if he’s elected. Candidate Statement.

Chike C. Udemezue (Financial Analyst/Parent) has to have the coolest candidate name in San Leandro. He seems to be a government worker. He shares his name with a a writer of self-published Nigerian accounting books, and I can only hope they are one and the same. I have learned that he is the brother of Uche Udemezue, the Engineering & Transporation director for the City.

San Lorenzo School Board

Several candidates, including the incumbents, have filed for the two at-large seats on the Board.

Isabel Polvorosa

Isabel Polvorosa (Incumbent) has been in the San Lorenzo School Board since 2002, this would be her fourth term in office. She is a spunky lady, but as I have not followed the doings of the San Lorenzo School Board I know very little about how she’s done there.

At 89-years-old (you read right) incumbent Helen T. Randall (San Lorenzo Unified School District Governing Board Member) is the second oldest candidate running for office in San Leandro. She has been in the San Lorenzo School Board for 20 years. Before that, she was a secretary at the San Lorenzo School district.

Steven Kirk

Steve Kirk (Banker/Financial Adviser) is secretary/treasurer at the San Lorenzo Village Homes Association, where he’s live since 1997. He works in the financial services industry. He was very involved in the campaign to re-elect Barak Obama as President. He has been endorsed by the San Lorenzo teachers union. Candidate Statement.

Ronald Joseph Pereira II (Retired Teacher)

Janet Zamudio

Janet Zamudio (Family Program Administrator), she seems like an obvious choice for voters. She is Director of Parent Services at Children’s Council of San Francisco, and has a BA in Social Welfare/Education from Berkeley, and and MA and EdD in Education, Leadership in Early Childhood from Mills College. She is the mother of three kids attending San Lorenzo public schools. She has been endorsed by the San Lorenzo teachers union. Candidate Statement.

Guillermo Nevárez (Substitute Teacher) is an activity director for the city of Newark and a substitute teacher for Hayward Unified. He is a new father and was Mark Salina’s campaign manager.

Isobel Dvorsky

Chabot-Las Positas Community College District – Area 2

Isobel Dvorsky (Educator), the incumbent, has been representing San Leandro in the Chabot board since 1985

Gene Judson (Higher Education Consultant). He’s a former San Lorenzo School Board member. A Republican Mormon, Judson lost his seat after one term in 2008.

Oro Loma Sanitary District Board of Directors

The Oro Loma Sanitary District board consists of five old white men, four of whom have served for at least 20 years. Three seats are open, but only two incumbents are running. Board members receive about $1500 of compensation a month plus medical/dental insurance.

Timothy P. Becker (Director, Oro Loma Sanitary District) is the newest director . He was appointed in 2007, and then elected in 2008. He works in environmental services.

At 91-years-old, incumbent Howard Kerr (Director, Oro Loma Sanitary District) has the honor of being the oldest candidate for office in San Leandro. He has been on the Oro Loma board for 28 years, before that he served on the San Leandro City Council. Kerr is an “old San Leandro” guy, representing the values of what was “lily white” San Leandro.

Shelia Young

This will be former San Leandro Mayor Shelia Young‘s (Business/Environmental Consultant) third attempt to get onto the Oro Loma board. She has high name recognition, which will help her as one of the incumbents is not running. Candidate Statement.

Chike C. Udemezue (Financial Analyst) is Nigerian and the brother of Uche Udemezue, the Engineering & Transporation director for the City of San Leandro. He’s also running for San Leandro School Board.

Dan Walters (Engineer/Business Owner) is a San Leandro resident who runs a chemical company in town. He is quite involved with the Chamber and the Boy Scouts, and leans Republican/libertarian on his politics. Candidate Statement.

AC Transit Director At Large

Joel Young

Joel Young (AC Transit District Director, At Large), the incumbent,was censured by the AC Board last year for reviewing confidential AC transit legal files, to help him with a case he was handling for the private law firm for which he works. He had descended into ignominy earlier, after allegations of domestic violence against an ex-girlfriend. Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, Young tried to blame the young woman. He ran for Assembly in 2012, and lost in the primaries. Still, this is a county-wide race with several candidates, and being the incumbent makes him the favorite.

Dollene Jones (Retired Bus Driver), a retired AC-transit driver who went on to fund a casino-bus service, ran for AC Transit board against Elsa Ortiz in 2012 and lost, she’s now making a run for the at-large seat. Here is a video of her answering questions in 2012.

Adrienne Andrews (Paralegal/Student)

Murphy McCalley

AC Transit, Ward 4

Covers another part of San Leandro

Mark Williams (AC Transit District Director, Ward 4) is the incumbent

Murphy McCalley (Retired Transportation Consultant) has “served as Chief Financial Officer for two major California transit systems, and as a Consultant/Advisor to various transit systems throughout the United States.” Candidate Statement.

Karen Monroe

Alameda County Superintendent of Schools

This is the runoff from the June election, in which none of the 5 candidates was able to garner 50% of the votes. The two candidate now are:

Karen Monroe (Associate Superintendent/Educator) The current Superintendent, Shelia Jordan, designated Monroe as her successor and appointed her Associate Superintendent of Schools so she could run with that title. Monroe is a young and dynamic African-American woman. While her relationship with Jordan worry some, she is the favorite to win this race. Candidate Statement.

Helen Foster (Teacher/School Principal) is currently an administrator at the Hayward Unified School District and a San Lorenzo School Trustee. Candidate Statement.

Races NOT on the ballot

San Leandro School Board, Area 2

Lance James

Incumbent Lance James is a teacher in Hayward and active in the teacher’s union there. He has two children who’ve gone to San Leandro schools. He doesn’t have any competition, and therefore this race will not be in the ballot. Mr. James will be considered to be an appointed School Board member by the Education Code.

San Leandro School Board, Area 6

Appointed incumbent Ron Carey is unopposed.

Eden Township Healthcare District Board of Directors

There are 3 positions open.

Lester Friedman (Incumbent)

Roxann Lewis (Appointed Incumbent), a nurse who was very active in the campaign to Save San Leandro Hospital, was appointed to the board this month to fill a vacancy.

Thomas E. Lorentzen (Health Care Consultant) served in the Reagan, Bush Sr. and Bush Jr. administrations, including as Regional Director of the US Department of Health and Human Services. He later worked as a private health services counselor. He lives in Castro Valley.

AC Transit, Ward 3

Covers part of San Leandro

Elsa Ortiz, the incumbent, is running unopposed.

EBMUD, Ward 3

Frank Mellon, the incumbent, is unopposed.

I’ve Decided to Not Run for School Board

I’ve Decided to Not Run for School Board Short Notes No Responses »

Aug 042014

A couple of weeks ago I pulled papers to run for San Leandro School Board (see below). After much consideration, I’ve decided that I will not be running for the office.

I have several reasons, but they all come down to the fact that I don’t really want to do it. A friend of mine, campaign manager Charles Gilcrest, told me once that if you had to chose between two equally good candidates, you should go for the one that has the fire in her belly. I don’t feel fired up when I think about serving in the School Board.

My children still have many years in the San Leandro School District, and I am concerned about the quality of the board members that will be joining the board – though I’m excited at the possibility of Evelyn Gonzalez winning the at-large seat. Still, I have great confidence on the Superintendent, and I know that my actual strengths lie as an activist. I work better outside the system, not inside it. And that, I will continue doing.

Thank you to everyone who encouraged me to run.

Jul. 18, 2014

I’ve Pulled Papers to Run for School Board

I have just pulled papers to run for the San Leandro School Board Area 4 race. At this point, it’s not my intention to file to run. But I want to make sure that there is at least one candidate in that race I can get behind. So far, I’m not impressed by the other candidates that have puled papers – if for no other reason that they have not reached out to Mike Katz-Lacabe, the incumbent. In general, the first thing you do when you think about running for a seat is to reach out to the incumbent to learn about their experiences and challenges on the seat. Anyone who runs blindly, will likely serve blindly as well.

As I wrote in my letter to the San Leandro Times, I’m looking for a candidate who understands technology and can be a champion for turning the 9th grade campus into a High Tech campus. I want someone who is intelligent, analytical, and makes data and research-oriented decisions. But I want more.

I want someone who will fight to educate our students, rather than have them score well on standardized tests. SLUSD’s focus on testing at the expense of education has pushed many high-achieving students away from our schools, I want to have them back and I want us to provide them the educational challenges they deserve.

I want someone who will also fight to embrace the diversity in our student body and make sure all students have the same opportunities to thrive without compromising their own selves.

I want someone who is forward thinking, who has a vision for the district in five and ten years, but also someone who is accessible to the community and who can act as a true representative for the concerns of parents /and/ students.

In other words, I want someone great – or, at the very least, better than me (not too hard, eh? 🙂 I think our kids deserve that.

My plan right now is to meet with any declared or potential candidates to this office. If you are one, I urge you to contact me to arrange a meeting/conversation. If I find I can get behind one or more candidate, I won’t file. Otherwise, you’ll see me on the ballot 🙂

Conventional Wisdom Wins in California June Election

Conventional Wisdom Wins in California June Election Local Elections for Dummies, Politics 2 Responses »

Jun 042014

This is the second open primary that California voters faced, and what I, personally, have learned from it is that voter behavior was pretty much like in a regular primary.

To recap:

♦ Name Recognition Matters Greatly
Incumbents and candidates with generic names did particularly well. My guess is that Helen Foster‘s 2nd placing in the Alameda County Superintendent race was due greatly to her name. Similarly, there can be no explanation for either Leland Yee or Mary Hayashi placing third in the races, ahead of other candidates, beyond name recognition.

♦ Ballot Designation Matters
The best explanation for why unknown Republican candidate David Evans is currently in a three-way-tie for second place in the Controller’s race with Democrats John Perez and Betty Yee, is that his ballot designation was as “Chief Financial Officer”. His generic name probably helped as well. Indeed, Helen Foster might also have been helped by choosing the ballot designation “Teacher” rather than the “Educator” chosen by two of her losing competitors.

♦ Don’t Neglect Your Ballot Statement
I’m betting that Assembly Speaker John Perez’ poor showing in the Controller’s race is due to his lack of a candidate statement in the voter information pamphlet. For many voters that’s the only source of information about a race.

♦Incumbents Win
Incumbents, even those who faced well-funded and/or well-known opponents, fared very well this June. It’s probably correlated with a low-information electorate.

♦ Republicans will vote for Republican candidates and Democrats for Democratic candidates
While there has been much speculation about moderate Republicans and Democrats crossing party lines to help elect candidates with closer views to their own or just to play games, this doesn’t seem to have happened. Only in districts with very high Democratic registration are we seeing 2 Democrats face each other in the general election. Thus the prediction that you would have 2 Democrats in the CD 11 and 15, AD 16 and 25 and SD 10 races did not come to fruition.

♦ You have to be a Democrat or Republican to win (added)
With the rise of declined-to-state voter registrations in California, and an open primary that allows the top-two candidates, regardless of party, to advance to the November general election, there was much speculation that independent candidates finally got a chance. Voters made it clear that they don’t. Dan Schnur a former Republican strategist and head of the FPPC, took a chance by listing himself as NPP or “no party preference” in his run for Secretary of State and he came out below Leland Yee despite endorsements from major newspapers. All the buzz behind spiritual author Marianne Williamson and her high name recognition still could not overcome her running as an NPP.

♦ Negative Campaigning and Lying About Your Opponent Works
The research says otherwise, but all the dirty campaigning we saw in Alameda county seems to have worked.

♦ Polls are Wrong
Not many polls were released around here, but the ones released in the CD 17 race had Mike Honda capturing a much smaller percentage of the vote. Swalwell did not release his polls, but given that and the fact that he went after his Democratic opponent Ellen Corbett viciously, one can speculate that they didn’t have him winning by such a large margin either. Mary Hayashi claimed she had a poll that showed her getting the majority of the votes, though that was before her shoplifting video was released.

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