Rob Bonta

Mia Bonta Launches Dirty Whisper Campaign Against Assembly Opponent, Janani Ramachandran

Mia Bonta Launches Dirty Whisper Campaign Against Assembly Opponent, Janani Ramachandran Politics No Responses »

Jul 072021

Unable to levy factual accusations, Bonta invents a millionaire father for Ramachandran.

There was never a question of whether Mia Bonta would launch a dirty whisper campaign against her opponent in the general election for the District 18 Assembly race. Rob Bonta, Mia’s husband and the most prominent and active member of her campaign, utilized a “dirty attacks” strategy when he, himself first ran for the Assembly seat Mia is now seeking. The question was what types of attacks the Bontas would launch against Janani Ramachandran, the other winner of the top-two primary. A brilliant public interest lawyer with an extensive history of social justice activism and work for non-profits, Ramachandran has as clean a background as you can find in a candidate. We now have the answer to that question: Bonta will seek to exploit resentment against Indian-Americans as a “privileged minority” and xenophobia in general. She has started by using tropes and dog whistles while making deceitful and outright false allegations against Ramachandran.

Mere days after the primary election, the Bonta campaign started sending out texts like these to voters:

It is true that Janani Ramachandran comes from a privileged background. Ironically, it’s privilege that Mia Bonta shares. Both Janani and Mia’s fathers were college graduates and held professional jobs while their daughters were growing up. Both their mothers attended New York state public colleges, and both families pushed education on their children. Mia’s privilege was tampered by a broken home, while Janani’s by her LGBTQ identity. Both Janani and Mia were very good students and were able to attend top schools: Mia graduated from Yale College and Yale Law School, while Janani graduated from Stanford and UC Berkeley. Both of them had to resort to financial aid to attend college. Their privilege can be contrasted with that of two of their opponents in the primary: both Victor Aguilar and James Aguilar (no relation to each other) are gay Latino men who were the first in their families to attend a four year college. They both have endorsed Janani.

The text the Bonta campaign sent voters attempts to awaken resentment and racism against Indian-Americans by casting her father as the founder of “a large international corporation”. It accuses Janani of lying about her background and suggests that her father was rich. He is not. The Kumar Ramachandran who is Janani’s father, is an engineer who has worked for a number of companies in the US and India. He ran a small engineering firm in Bangalore for a number of years and later founded a start-up that tried to connect Indian farmers with food retailers, cutting the middle man, increasing farmer’s profits and decreasing food waste. Corruption in India made that start up go bust and Kumar is now back at working as a consultant.

There is another man also named Kumar Ramachandran who co-founded a company later sold to Palo Alto Networks for over $400 millions. Indeed, if you google “Kumar Ramachandran“, his profile is the first one to come up – along with photos of him and a young girl with very dark skin and very big eyes. I imagine it’s possible that the Bonta campaign recklessly assumed that this man was Janani’s father, despite being far too young to have a daughter Janani’s age, and they might think that all Indians look alike and that little girl was Janani. Just as likely, the Bontas were just hoping anyone googling Kumar would make the same mistake.

The other attacks on Janani are not as much outright lies as deceptions. I have no doubts that when Janani’s family moved back to India, they sent her to a private school. The Indian public school system is such that most everyone who has access to one of the 400,000 private schools in the country and can afford the very reasonable fees, sends their kids to them. Close to half of Indian students attend non-government schools. The same is true, unfortunately, in many developing countries, including in Latin America. Ironically, Mia Bonta herself sent at least one of her children to a private school despite living in Alameda, a city best known for the quality of its schools and despite serving as the Alameda School Board President herself.

Mia’s attack on Janani “only” moving back to the Bay Area to attend college is more puzzling. It’s extremely common for American children who moved with their parents to other countries to come back to the US for college. Kamala Harris is a prime example of this, she went to school in Canada and came back to the US to attend Howard university. The children of my American professors at the American University of Cairo did the same thing. But perhaps Mia seeks to further stroke xenophobic feelings by suggesting that Janani is not really American. Again, an ironic trope when her own husband was born in The Philippines.

Finally, Janani moved to Oakland while attending UC Berkeley Law School. I’m surprised that Mia knows so little of the East Bay that she does not know that many UC Berkeley students live in Oakland. My husband and most of my friends did at some time or another when we all were at Cal (I, instead, was fortunate to get a rent controlled apartment a few blocks from campus!). Janani originally lived within the borders of AD 15 and later – long before Rob Bonta was appointed Attorney General and his seat became vacant – moved in with her partner into a larger place which happened to be on the other side of this arbitrary border, in AD 18. Now, while Janani didn’t move to AD 18 specifically to run and Mia’s allegation is an attempt to falsely claim her a carpetbagger – it is not uncommon for activists and community organizers who live in one area and work in another to seek to run in the area where they work, as that’s where they know the community best. Indeed, one of the problems with Mia Bonta is that despite living in the Bay Area for over a decade, she still doesn’t know the community outside Alameda.

This was just the first dirty attack on Janani that the Bonta campaign launched (or that I’ve become aware of). I anticipate future ones will be nastier and even more deceitful. I hope that voters will be able to see through them.

Want access to California’s new Attorney General Rob Bonta? It will cost you $1500.

Want access to California’s new Attorney General Rob Bonta? It will cost you $1500. Politics, Transparency No Responses »

Jun 032021

It’s been little over a month since Rob Bonta was sworn in as California’s Attorney General after being appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom and he is already busy selling access. For a mere $1500 contributed to his wife’s campaign for Assembly, you get to meet the AG by zoom and, well, you’ll know what you want out of that meeting. As a bonus, you can also meet with his candidate wife, in case you have any special requests in the likely case she gets elected to the Assembly. 2 for the price of 1, now that’s a bargain.

Mia Bonta, California Attorney General’s Wife, Implicated in Voter Fraud

Mia Bonta, California Attorney General’s Wife, Implicated in Voter Fraud Politics 4 Responses »

May 212021

Mia Bonta’s campaign casts fraudulent vote in failed attempt to obtain the California Democratic Party’s endorsement

Update: Bonta’s campaign appears to have forged delegate signatures on dues waiver applications.

At the top of Mia Bonta‘s Facebook page, right below her name, lies a question: “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”. In the present circumstances the question sounds almost mocking. Party activists have kept quiet about the attempted fraud to secure the California Democratic Party endorsement — exactly because they are afraid of angering Mia’s husband, Rob Bonta, California’s recently appointed Attorney General. Nobody wants to make powerful enemies. It’s exactly this fear that makes powerful politicians get away with all sorts of misdeeds.

Rob Bonta, California Assemblymember for District 18 (Alameda, San Leandro and much of Oakland), was appointed Attorney General a couple of months ago – leaving his Assembly seat vacant and precipitating a special election in late June.

Mia Bonta, Rob Bonta’s wife, is running for his seat against a myriad of other candidates (8 at last count). Five of those candidates sought the endorsement of the California Democratic Party – a valuable endorsement as campaign finance laws allow political parties to funnel money into their endorsed candidate’s campaigns with little transparency and high contribution limits.

To get the coveted endorsement, a candidate needs to receive 60% of the votes cast in the endorsement election. The rules of who can vote in endorsement elections are rather arcane, but in this case it included about 40 people who had been Democratic Party delegates for Assembly District 18 in 2020. I was one of them.

It was clear the endorsement would go to Mia Bonta or nobody at all. Rob Bonta controlled many of the votes, either because he had appointed the delegates himself or he endorsed and financially supported the delegates. However, it was an open question whether he controlled enough delegates to get his wife the endorsement.

Not long before the endorsement meeting, a woman showed up to the house of the parents of a delegate. This delegate had not yet cast her ballot. The woman identified herself as Mia Bonta’s mother.

The woman presented the delegate’s father with a ballot already filled out. The woman falsely told him that his daughter had agreed to sign it.

She then asked him to sign his daughter’s name on the ballot. The father complied.

The woman from Mia Bonta’s campaign marked the ballot for Mia Bonta and e-mailed an image of it to the Party’s regional director, who was responsible for receiving the ballots and counting votes.

When the delegate learned what happened, she immediately contacted the regional director and told him that she had neither cast nor authorized anyone to cast a vote on her behalf.

The delegate then went on to cast a valid ballot for “no endorsement”. Mia Bonta ended up being three votes short of receiving the Party’s endorsement.

This whole chicanery might have flown under the radar, but at the end of the endorsement meeting, a delegate close to Rob Bonta asked whether anyone had cast two votes. This prompted the regional director to explain what happened.

Mia Bonta has yet to give any explanations as to why her campaign cast a fraudulent vote. I reached out to her personally asking to speak about this, but have not received a response. It is possible that Mia’s mother acted on her own and lied to the campaign about who had signed the ballot and how she had procured it. It is also possible that she acted under the direction of either Mia or someone else in the campaign.

The candidate, of course, is ultimately responsible for what their campaign does. It is incumbent on Mia to address this matter publicly. How and whether she does it will speak to her character, and voters have the right to know about it before they cast their votes. As things stand, Mia Bonta is the likely frontrunner in this race. Thanks in no small part to Rob Bonta’s efforts, her campaign has raised twice as much money as her closest opponent. If she does win the Assembly seat, her term should not start with questions about her ethics.

Update: I have recently confirmed that Mia Bonta’s campaign not only cast a fraudulent vote, but they are likely to have forged one or more delegate’s signatures in fee waiver applications. In order to be able to vote for this endorsement, delegates had to have paid their 2020 delegate fees. Usually, delegates pay these fees together with their California Democratic Party annual convention fees. However, there was no convention in 2020 (the 2020 convention actually took place in the fall of 2019) and thus many if not most delegates were in fee arrears when they learned they were called to vote for this endorsement. Delegates could either pay the $85 dues before the endorsement caucus or request a dues waiver due to financial difficulties. Requests for waiver require the signature of the delegate making the request.

The delegate mentioned above did not pay her 2020 dues nor did she request a dues waiver. However, a dues waiver application was filed with the party, which included a forged signature, and the only likely party to have made this fraudulent dues waiver request is the Mia Bonta campaign, the ones who cast the fraudulent vote in the name of the delegate.

It is possible, and even likely, that the Mia Bonta campaign also forged the signatures of other delegates who applied for due waivers and then proceded to vote for her, it appears that quite a few of the delegates who voted for Mia Bonta had their dues waived.

The California Democratic Party should investigate this matter. However, it is very unlikely that they will given the close relationship of the Party Chair, Rusty Hicks, with Rob Bonta, who endorsed him when he ran.

Similarly, falsifying someone’s signature with the intent to defraud is a crime under California law. However, no DA is likely to investigate the campaign of the wife of the Attorney General.

—

Full disclosure: I voted no endorsement on the CDP’s endorsement election, but I personally intend to vote for Victor Aguilar – as a San Leandro City Council member Victor has worked to bring reforms to the police department and has pushed a progressive agenda. I thought I had left political blogging behind – but misdeeds like this one need to be part of the public record.

(Note, this article was slightly edited for grammar/clarity.).

The Alameda County Democratic Central Committee Starts A New Term with Few Changes

The Alameda County Democratic Central Committee Starts A New Term with Few Changes ACDCC 2 Responses »

Jan 052017

ACDCC Passes Strong Resolution Urging No Collaboration between Local Law Enforcement and Trump Administration

Last night, the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee (ACDCC) swore in (ceremoniously, as it turned out) its new membership. It wasn’t very different than its old one. Six of our 33 elected members are new, but three of them had previously been alternate members. In Assembly District 18, where we actually elected three new members, the three defeated incumbents will now be alternates. The Committee’s Chair remains the same, as do the two secretaries. The Vice Chair is now the Treasurer and the Treasurer has now been hired to be the professional accountant/treasurer. We do have a new Vice Chair, who was elected after the outgoing Vice Chair made a surprise announcement at the meeting that he would not seek re-election. Before members had a moment to digest these news, nominations for his position were closed and a vote had been called for the sole candidate. Business as usual at the Democratic Party.

There were a few changes with respect to Assembly District Vice-Chairs. The ACDCC is divided into five caucuses, one for each Assembly District that falls within Alameda County. The vice chairs for AD 15, 20 and 25 remained the same, but AD 16 decided to replace the incumbent vice-chair, who had rarely been seen in the last three years, with her closest acolyte. Neither were present at the meeting. In AD 18, after a lot of behind-the-scenes drama and machinations, the incumbent Vice Chair was forced out, two activist members were sidelined and Assemblymember Rob Bonta‘s paid staffer and alternate member, was put in. Once again, business as usual.

Less business as usual was the resolution we passed, unanimously, that urges local City Councils and the Board of Supervisors to declare “themselves to be Sanctuary Cities and refuse to honor any request by the Trump Administration to use any of their resources, including Police and Sheriff’s Deputies to participate in any arrests or internments mandated by the Trump Administration.” This is a move that I wished we had done a long time before, given the Obama administration widespread use of local police power to make immigration-related arrests. But I am thrilled that we passed this now. Now, we need to work to make sure City Councils in Alameda County implement this resolution.

And while minor, there have been changes. Two of the new elected members, Guillermo Elenes and Pamela Price, are avowed civil rights activists that come to the Committee planning to push an agenda of progressive reform. Newly elected Congressman Ro Khanna has named as his alternate former Marine and Bernie Sanders delegate Cullen Tiernan, who along with a few other alternates and associates are bringing the energy of the Bernie Sanders movement to the Committee. Cheryl Cook-Kallio, who unsuccessfully ran for Assembly against the Republican incumbent in AD 16, has joined as an ex-officio member and her experience as an award winning Government teacher already proved useful in helping us shape the resolution described above.

Ultimately, it’s anyone’s guess whether the forces of change will defeat those of stagnation, a happy medium will be reached, or the whole thing will blow up. I’m betting on the first.

Alameda County Progressive Voter Guide to the November 2016 Election: The Candidates

Alameda County Progressive Voter Guide to the November 2016 Election: The Candidates Politics 4 Responses »

Oct 292016

Every election, I publish a Voter Guide trying to identify the most progressive candidates running for office in Alameda County. I do as much research as I can on the candidates, send out questionnaires and meet with them when possible. And yet, often times I get it wrong. I recommend a candidate who then turns out to be less than progressive while in office.

This time, I’m being more cautious. I’m only recommending candidates who are bona fide progressives, who supported Bernie Sanders in the primary, and have a record of standing up for social justice and civil liberties. In cases where there are no such candidates in a race, or where I’m not exactly sure of just how progressive they are, I’ll tell you how I will or would vote, but I won’t make a formal recommendation (unless it’s to avoid voting for a particularly conservative choice).

Please leave comments and questions below and check out my Progressive Voter Guide to State Propositions & Local Measures.

National & State Races

PRESIDENT: No Recommendation

As a member of the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee, I cannot advocate that anyone not vote for the Democratic Party’s nominee or that they vote for someone else. I am therefore not doing either. However, when I ran I made it clear that I could never support Hillary Clinton and I stand by my word.

Progressives have three solid choices in California. They can vote for Peace and Freedom Party candidate Gloria La Riva, Green Party candidate Jill Stein or write-in Bernie Sanders. While a vote for La Riva or a write-in vote for Sanders are basically protest votes, voting for Stein will help her get the 5% of the vote the Green Party needs for it to receive public campaign financing in 2020, and thus potentially help push the Democratic Party to the left. I’m voting my conscience and I hope you do too.

US SENATE: Loretta Sanchez

Loretta Sanchez has accused Muslims of wanting to install a Caliphate and has insulted Native Americans. but she voted against the Patriot Act and against the war in Iraq and has a fairly liberal voting record in Congress. While she eventually endorsed Clinton, she held a fundraiser for Bernie Sanders and she has called on Obama to put a stop to the North Dakota Pipeline. Kamala Harris is pro-mass surveillance, seems to have strong neo-con tendencies and wants the US to kneel before Israel. As Attorney General she has failed to address the epidemic of police brutality against mostly people of color and has refused to investigate the police victimization of Celeste Guap. She is a big Clinton supporter. I’m voting for Sanchez.

US CONGRESS

CD 13: Barbara Lee

Barbara is one of the most liberal members of Congress, a strong voice against war and for civil liberties. While she didn’t endorse Bernie Sanders, she also did not endorse Clinton until Bernie was ready to do the same. I’m voting for Barbara Lee.

CD 15: No Recommendation

Incumbent Democrat Eric Swalwell faces a weak Republican that is not campaigning and will easily win re-election. Swalwell is a corporate Democrat, a former prosecutor, that has shown concern about student debt and yet endorsed Hillary Clinton. He has shown little interest in protecting civil liberties. If I lived in this district, I’d write in Pete Stark.

CD 17: Ro Khanna

I first endorsed Ro Khanna when he ran in 2014 and continue to support him. I’m impressed by his expressed commitment to a non-imperialistic foreign policy and to human rights. Alone among all candidates to Congress, he was endorsed by former President Jimmy Carter. Mike Honda was a nice man, but he seems to have lost his mental faculties, is in the midst of a Congressional ethics investigation and is running a disgustingly racist campaign. I’d vote for Ro Khanna.

STATE SENATE

SD 9: No Recommendation

I endorsed Nancy Skinner when she ran on the primary and voted to give her the Democratic endorsement (ultimately, neither candidate received it), but I’m concerned about some of her actions that were directed towards harming the Progressive Revolution that Bernie Sanders has started. I was happy to see Sandre Swanson attend the recent Bernie Sanders rally in San Francisco. They are both strong progressives, though Skinner is a far more effective one. At this point, I haven’t decided whom I will vote for. I’m still undecided.

STATE ASSEMBLY

AD 15: No Recommendation

Democratic Incumbent Tony Thurmond is a pretty strong liberal, but he supported Hillary Clinton which gives me pause. However, he’s doing a good job in Sacramento. I’d vote for Tony Thurmond.

AD 16: No Recommendation

Incumbent Catharine Baker is a moderate Republican, but some of her votes are inexcusable. For example, she voted to deny farm workers overtime pay! Democratic challenger Cheryl Cook-Kallio is more conservative than I, but she’ll be an improvement over Baker. I’d vote for Cook-Kallio.

AD 18: No Recommendation

Incumbent Rob Bonta will easily win this race against an invisible Republican opponent. Bonta is a transactional politician, he is good on Labor issues- because he relies on labor to fill his campaign coffers – but not on civil liberties or other matters without big pocketed donors. I’ll write in Lou Filipovich.

AD 20: No Recommendation

Incumbent Democrat Bill Quirk has a mixed record. He voted against the farm workers overtime bill the first time around, but redeemed himself when it came for re-vote. He’s good on surveillance and privacy issues, however. I’d vote for Bill Quirk.

AD 25: No Recommendation

I haven’t paid any attention to what Kansen Chu is doing, so I can’t say anything about him. I’d do my research.

JUDICIAL

Superior Court Judge Office #1: No Recommendation

I have reservation about both candidates and I don’t actually support electing judges. Therefore I’m going to seat this race out.

Regional Boards

AC TRANSIT BOARD

At Large: No recommendation

Long term incumbent Chris Peeples faces retired bus driver Dollene Jones. Peeples is a strong progressive, but he has been criticized for supporting the purchase of expensive Belgium made buses and has lost the confidence of some public transit advocates. Jones, meanwhile, didn’t answer my questionnaire because she was afraid someone would steal her ideas. I’ll vote for Peeples.

Ward 2: No recommendations

Neither incumbent Greg Harper nor challenger Russ Tillerman responded to my questionnaire or offer to speak. Harper has the endorsement of both the Democratic and Green parties. I’d vote for Harper.

BART BOARD

District 3: No recommendation

Updated: Incumbent Rebecca Saltzman represents my district and she has been extremely responsive whenever we’ve contacted her with any concerns. She has been particularly good on issues concerning surveillance and police brutality, and she voted to not press charges against the BART protesters. She supported Hillary in the primary so I’m not officially recommending her, but I’ll happily vote for Saltzman.

District 5: No recommendation

Incumbent John McPartland supported prosecuting the BART protesters and would support similar prosecutions in the future, so I cannot recommend him. His challenger, however, is former Pleasanton Mayor Jennifer Hosterman, who did not provide specific answers to my questionnaire. In other interviews, she expressed opposition to Measure RR (the BART bond that will allow for the modernization of the system), while acknowledging that the system does need to be modernized. She seems to be running in an anti-labor platform, and I see no compelling reason to support her. I‘d probably just not vote on this race.

District 7: Don’t vote for incumbent Zakhari Mallett

Mallet was elected on contractor money, and has shown no interest in being accessible to the community. He did not answer either my questionnaire or the Green Party’s. Mallet, moreover, strongly sided against labor in past disputes. Both the Democratic and Green parties have endorsed Lateefah Simon, but she has not answered my questionnaire, so I don’t know anything about her views on freedom speech, surveillance and policing in BART. Will Roscoe did not answer my questionnaire and Roland Emerson is too pro-surveillance and anti-protest to get my vote (if I was voting in that district). I‘d probably vote for Simon as she’s the most viable candidate against Mallet.

EAST BAY PARKS BOARD

WARD 2: Dionisio “Dee” Rosario

I hesitate a little in making this recommendation because I don’t know Rosario that well. Still, his answers to my questionnaire were good and he showed a lot of knowledge and, most imporantly, passion for parks during the Democratic endorsement interview. He is in favor of returning the armored vehicle that EBRP police has. Rosario has gotten the endorsement of both the Democratic and Green parties and he supported Bernie in the primary! I’d vote for Dee Rosario

WARD 4: No recommendation

Ellen Corbett is my former State Senator. She’s a moderate liberal, with a strong record on consumer rights. She will surely be a competent board member, and her extensive government experience will surely be useful for the park district, but I don’t fully know how much baggage she will also be bringing into this role. She did, of course, get the Democratic endorsement. Daniel Chesmore is a very young, enthusiastic politician-in-the-making. He seems quite progressive, but he works (or worked) for a charter school organization, which gives me a little bit of pause. I’m also a bit concerned that he’s looking to run for something, rather than have a specific interest in parks. Still, he lives in East Oakland and will represent a constituency – that of low income urban park users – that is not otherwise represented. The issues he spoke about in his questionnaire have not been raised by other candidates and I think there is much to be said for having a diverse board in terms of age. Otis Lee Sanders, meanwhile, did not respond to my e-mails. I’ll be voting for Dan Chesmore.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARDS

Chabot, District 7: No Recommendation

William Macedo’s answers to my questionnaire were fine. He received the Democratic endorsement and the Green Party did not endorse in this race (the Green Party usually only endorses in the northwestern part of Alameda County). His opponent, Edralin Maduli, is a Republican and did not answer my questionnaire. I’d vote for Macedo.

Peralta, District 6: No recommendation

Updated: I heard both Nick Resnick and Karen Weinstein speak at the Democratic Party interview. Neither seemed to have a deep knowledge of the financial issues concerning the district, but beyond that I couldn’t decide what made a candidate better than the other. I had a long talk with Karen Weinstein, and I’m now confident that I would vote for her if I was in the district. Karen is a psychologist and a counselor, and I think her skills will be useful in bringing professionalism to the Board. She has very progressive political views, she sees community colleges as a fundamental tool for taking students out of poverty, she understands education as a tool for social change and she shares my distrust of police forces. Basically, she is a bleeding heart liberal (despite her unwise support of Hillary Clinton). Resnick, with whom I haven’t spoken, has awoken the distrust of organized labor because of his ties with a charter school organization. I’d vote for Weinstein.

WATER AND SANITARY BOARDS

Water and sanitary boards are usually made up of engineers and people with technical knowledge. None of the races this time are in my district, so I’m weary of making recommendations. Plus, incumbents are pretty much always re-elected to these races. So, for these races, I will allow myself to make recommendations that come from my heart, not necessarily careful analysis.

Alameda County Water District Board (choose 3): Aziz Akbari

He’s very young, energetic, has done his homework on water, seems fairly progressive and would bring a different perspective to the board.

Castro Valley Sanitary District Board (choose 3): John Maher

This is pure cronyism. John serves with me at the ACDCC, and he’s a lovely, wonderful, super progressive, retired union worker. I just love him. He may not have the expertise of the incumbent board members, but there is something to be said about having good, decent human beings be in positions of power.

Oro Loma Sanitary District Board (choose 2): Dan Walters

Dan is another decent human being, more conservative than I in many ways, but a good man. He is a chemical engineer who just LOVES water treatment plans and knows everything about everything connected to garbage. He’s also smart and fiscally conservative, so a good person to have in a board. But mostly, I recommend him because he really has a childish enjoyment of water treatment plants that I find so cute. He is the only incumbent I’m recommending.

Oro Loma Sanitary District Board Short Term (choose 2): Chike Udemezue

Chike is a Nigerian immigrant who has written a book about the social implications of Nigerian accounting practices. How cool is that?

Cities & School Districts

City of ALAMEDA

City Council (choose 2): Don’t vote for Malia Vella

No progressives are running on this race and there are just no good or even mildly acceptable choices. None of the candidates responded to my questions or invitation to speak.

Malia Vella is probably the worst of the bunch. She is a political operative with endless political ambitions. She has moved around different jobs working for Democratic politicians and unions, and likes to work behind the scenes supporting candidates that can help her political career. She is originally from San Leandro, where she has backed candidates that support mass surveillance and police militarization, while opposing rent control. Labor has poured tens of thousands of dollars into her race and she’s supported by the Firefighters union and the conservative Alamedans United PAC. The Green Party recommends voters do not vote for her, while the Democratic Party had endorsed her.

Incumbent Marilyn Ashcraft has also received the endorsement of the Democratic Party and the anti-endorsement of the Green Party, and is also supported by the Alamedans United PAC. She has an undistinguished record as a Council member. Tony Daysog is a self-described conservative who opposes rent control. Lena Tam voted to militarize the Alameda Police when she previously in the City Council. Jennifer Roloff is the only newcomer and she got the Green Party’s endorsement, but she didn’t reply to my questions. I’d probably just vote for Roloff in this race.

School Board (choose 3): No recommendations

Gray Harris is a former teacher who has been active in Democratic politics. She is very progressive and I’ve heard she’s a great teacher. She was appointed to the Board and apparently she is doing a fairly good job. She isn’t a Berniecrat, however, otherwise I’d recommend her.

Ardella Daily, Matt Hettich and Jennifer Williams did not answer my questionnaires, while Dennis Popalardo did, so he would get my second vote by default. I had a great meeting with Anne McKereghan, and while she’s definitely more conservative than I am, I was impressed by her personal commitment to Alameda schools, where she has been a parent volunteer for many years. I would vote for Gray Harris, Dennis Popalardo and Anne McKereghan.

City Auditor: No recommendation

City Treasurer: No recommendation

These are two very technical positions and I did not research how good a job the incumbents were doing to be able to make a recommendation one way or the other as to whether to vote for them. I’d vote for the incumbents in both races.

ALBANY

City Council (choose 3): No recommendations

The only candidate to answer my questionnaire was Amber Whitson, though Nick Pilch has reached out and I’m trying to schedule an interview. If I was in Albany I’d probably vote for Amber, just to bring a new voice and a very different perspective to the City Council, but she probably lacks the knowledge of City Hall that would make her an effective council member.

Incumbent Michael Barnes refused to answer my questionnaire, claiming he was no longer a Democrat. The Green Party recommends you vote against him given his history of vitriol and personal attacks in public fora. As mentioned, Erik Giesen-Fields and incumbent Peter Maas did not return my questionnaire. I’d probably vote for Whitson and Pilch on this race.

School Board (choose 2): No recommendations

Kim Trutane, Jon Raj Destin and Clementina Duron all seem well qualified, progressive candidates that would do a good job in the Albany School Board. Jacob Clark, a teacher in San Leandro schools no less, did not return my questionnaire or the Green Party’s. I’d probably vote for Trutane and Destin.

BERKELEY

Berkeley has ranked choice voting.

Mayor: Jesse Arreguin

This race is mostly between Council members Jesse Arreguin, who was endorsed by Bernie Sanders himself, and Laurie Capitelli who has refused to call himself a progressive. Write down Kriss Worthington as your second choice. I’d vote for 1) Jesse Arreguin, 2) Kriss Worthington, 3) leave blank

City Council District 2: Cheryl Davila

Darryl Moore did not respond to either my questionnaire or the Green Party’s and he has consistently voted with the regressive forces in the Berkeley City Council.

Cheryl Davila is a strong progressive who has the guts to say she’s voting for Jill Stein – in a year where Stein supporters have been harassed and insulted ad infinitum by establishment types. Then again, so is her opponent Nancy Armstrong-Temple. Both come highly recommended by progressive activists I respect very much. I believe they both will champion social justice and human rights in Berkeley. Davila returned my questionnaire, so I’m more inclined to vote for her first. I’d ranked choice vote 1) Davila and 2) Armstrong-Temple.

City Council District 3: No recommendations

None of the candidates answered my questionnaire and only two answered the Green Party’s. Ben Bartlett’s complete answers are not online (or were not submitted) but he got the nod as the number one choice from the Green Party, as well as the Democratic endorsement. He is also the choice of the progressive politicians in Berkeley. Both Al Murray and Mark Coplan seem run-of-the mill moderate progressives. I’d probably vote for 1) Bartlett, 2) Coplan, 3) Murray

City Council District 5: Sophie Hahn

Sophie Hahn is a strong progressive, with a history of women’s rights and human rights activism, as well as with deep involvement in her own community. She is supported by and will vote with the progressive side of the Council. She has my full endorsement. I’d vote for Sophie Hahn.

City Council District 6: Frederick Denman Dodsworth, III

Frederick Denman Dodsworth, III is a very strong progressive and out of the box thinker. He’s exactly the sort of morally courageous not-quite politician that you want to have make decisions at City Hall. He has my full endorsement. I did not get a questionnaire back form Isabelle Gaston, but I would rank her second simply because she is not incumbent Susan Wengraf, whose lack of respect for human dignity was made apparent by her advocacy of the sit-lie ordinance (which Berkeley voters wisely rejected). Wengraf was endorsed by the Democratic Party and anti-endorsed by the Green Party. I’d vote 1) Fred Dodsworth, 2) Isabelle Gaston

School Board (choose 2): No recommendations

Incumbents Beatriz Leyva-Cutler and Judith Appel are typical Berkeley progressives and seem competent in their positions. I would probably vote for them if I was a Berkeley resident. Challenger Abdur Sikder did not return my questionnaire and his answers to the Green Party’s one were uninspiring. I’d vote for Leyva-Cutler and Appel.

Rent Review Board (choose 4): Alejandro Soto-Vigil, Christina Murphy, Leah Simon-Weisberg, Igor Tregub

This is the progressive, pro-rent control slate. And they’ve actually been endorsed by Bernie Sanders! I’d vote for Soto-Vigil, Murphy, Simon-Weisberg and Tregub.

CASTRO VALLEY

School Board (choose 3): No recommendations

I received answers to my questionnaire from Tojo Thomas and heard Lavender Whitaker and Monica Lee speak at the Democratic endorsements. The three are supported by the teachers’ union. Suresh Gupta and incumbent Jo A.S. Loss did not return my questionnaires. I’d vote for Thomas, Whitaker and Lee.

DUBLIN

Mayor: No recommendation

The Mayor is a Republican while his opponent is a perennial candidate, who has run for an office or the other for the last 28 years. I’d do a funny write-in.

City Council (choose 2): Arun Goel

UPDATED: Arun Goel is a strong smart growth, clean money, Bernie Sanders progressive. He’s served in the Planning Commission and is concern about transparency and dirty money in city politics. I met with him for a couple of hours, and I was very impressed with his integrity and the value he puts on community input and evidence and policy-based decisions (as opposed to lobbyist based). He faces a strong challenge from Melissa Hernandez Strah, Mona Lisa Ballesteros and Republican appointed incumbent Doreen Wehrenberg. Hernandez Strah and Ballesteros both got the endorsement of the Democratic Party, after being put on consent by the Executive Committee. In the Tri-Valley, the Democratic party usually endorses candidates that support developer interests as the Democratic party vice-chair for that district, Angela Ramirez-Holmes, works as a lobbyist for developers. Meanwhile, Alameda Central Labor – which is often interested in backing candidates that will create construction jobs – endorsed Hernandez-Strah and Wehrenberg, despite the latter being a Republican. I’d vote for Goel.

(Note: this section has been updated to give the reasons why I suspect that developers are backing Wehrenberg, Hernandez-Strah and Ballesteros – though it may very well be that they just want to make sure that Goel does not get elected).

School Board (vote for 3): No recommendation

I didn’t get back questionnaires from any of the people running and I haven’t researched the candidates.

School Board, Short Term (vote for 1): No recommendations

Id.

EMERYVILLE

City Council (choose 3): No recommendations yet

Emeryville’s two blogs have done a great job of interviewing candidates, and I’m still not done going through all their answers.

School Board (choose 2): No recommendations

Barbara Inch gave great answers both to my questionnaire and the Green Party’s. She is a Clinton supporter, however. She got both the Democratic and Green party endorsements. Cruz Vargas didn’t answer either questionnaire and Ken Bukowski answered the Green Party’s but not mine. I was not impressed by his answers. Still, Emery School Board President John Affeldt just resigned, so there will be one more vacancy in the district, so it’s likely that whoever doesn’t get elected will get appointed. I’d vote for Barbara Inch.

FREMONT

Mayor: No recommendation

Current Mayor Bill Harrison is a Democrat and active in the party, but he takes copious campaign contributions from developers and votes to do their bidding. He has also voted for mass surveillance and against allowing marijuana cultivation or the delivery of medical marijuana within Fremont. Challenger City Council member Lily Mei shares his anti-civil liberties agenda, but does not take money from developers or is a guaranteed vote for developer interests. She’s running in a slate with Cullen Tiernan and Vinnie Bacon, whom I do support, but as a School Board members he voted to prohibit an AP English teacher from teaching an award winning book because she objected to the subject matter. Neither Harrison nor Mei responded to my questions or request to talk.

Update: Developers and the Police Union have skirted campaign finance laws by contributing sixty thousand dollars to the Democratic Party, which in turn and after taking a cut, has put out mailers for Harrison. This is the type of legal but unethical behavior that makes me ashamed of being a Democrat, for this reason alone I’d wrote for Lily Mei

City Council (choose 2): Cullen Tiernan and Vinnie Bacon

Click on their names to read my full explanation for this recommendation. I’d vote for Tiernan and Bacon.

School Board (choose 3): No recommendation

Fremont has four good candidates for School Board, who seem to have similar ideologies and commitment to education. Ann Crosbie has been in the School Board for a while and is active in the Democratic Party. Desrie Campbell, has been there for a term and she brings a diversity perspective that may otherwise be lacking in the Board. Michelle Berke is a special education teacher, specializing in deaf education and Dax Choksi is a techie dad wanting to bring that emphasis into the district. They are all intelligent people, even if not as progressive as I might like (Crosbie, Campbell and Choksi filled out my questionnaire and suggested they were Clinton supporters, Berke and Hiu Ng did not fill it out). I know Ann Crosbie the best, and despite her Hillary-ism, I’d probably vote for her. She is extremely knowledgeable about the schools, she is committed to education and she would not ban important books from being taught in AP classes, as other Board members have before. I also really liked Berke’s energy. Alas, I’m uncomfortable about recommending the two white women who are running, as it makes me wonder whether I’m responding to a hidden bias in myself. So I’d probably just go with my gut on voting day.

HAYWARD

School Board (choose 3): Don’t vote for incumbents John Taylor, Luis Reynoso and Annette Walker.

Updated: The Hayward School Board is a big mess. Incumbent candidate John Taylor actually took advantage of the district’s print shop to get heavily discounted printing done for his business and City Council campaign, and then didn’t even pay for it. He also had the n0w-fired Superintendent act as his Campaign Treasurer, a pretty big conflict of interest. Meanwhile, the Superintendent was giving contracts to former Board members and the Board is in complete disarray, with members fighting and insulting each other. Hayward schools now need a new Superintendent, but nobody will want to work with the existing Board, so it’s time to vote all the incumbents away.

Some community members have gotten together and created a slate with candidates Daniel Goldstein, Robert Carlson and Todd E. Davis. Of the three, only Davis was able to get the endorsement of the Democratic Party. Carlson is a Republican. Wynn Grcich is a Republican and I couldn’t find any information, including contact info, on Joe Ramos. If I was in Hayward, at this point I’d vote for Todd Davis and Daniel Goldstein.

NEW HAVEN SCHOOL BOARD

(choose3): Don’t vote for Michael Ritchie

Jeff Wang was the only candidate to answer my questionnaire, but his answers were intelligent, well thought out and progressive – which is puzzling given that he is a registered Republican. I never was able to figure out a time to meet with Lance Nishihira, but based on his blog, he sounds like an intelligent progressive candidate. I could make no such determination about Sharan Kaur, who gives very little information about her views on her webpage. Meanwhile, incumbent Jonas Dino does not seem to have even bothered with a web page. After 16 years as a School Board member, he may feel like he doesn’t need it. Alas, I couldn’t find much about him beyond the fact that he is an independent and was in the School Board when the district was sued by the ACLU for violating students’ fourth amendment rights (they settled).
Finally, appointed Michael Ritchie actually refused to answer my questions. If I was a voter in Union City, I’d vote for Wang and Nishihira.

OAKLAND

Oakland has ranked choice elections.

City Council, At Large: Matt Hummel

Matt Hummel is a former Occupy Oakland and Bernie Sanders activist, deeply involved with the community. He’s currently the Chair of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission. He supports all the right things and would be perfect to have in the Council. However, he may be too progressive even for Oakland so the ranked choice system was created just for candidates like him: so you can vote for them first, without having to worry that you’ll be splitting the progressive vote and letting a conservative win.

Your second choice vote thus should go to incumbent Rebecca Kaplan. Kaplan is sometimes too much of a politician, and often it takes her too long to throw her weight behind the right issues, but she ultimately does and she’s a strong progressive vote on most issues. Her help defeating the DAC and establishing the police accountability commission was invaluable. Rebecca was a strong Bernie supporter during the primary and spoke at Bernie rallies.

I had a long meeting with Bruce Quan and came out impressed by his intelligence, his vast experience and his willingness to spend his own money to run a campaign he’s unlikely to win because he’s tired of the cat fighting at the City Council and the lack of progressive change in Oakland. He seems very concerned about reforming the police, creating real affordable housing and dealing with issues of gentrification. I’m recommending him third because he wasn’t as prominent a Bernie backer as Kaplan was.

Whatever you do, don’t vote for Peggy Moore or Nancy Sidebotham. Sidebotham seems very conservative, she’s against the police commission, rent control and pretty much everything. Moore, meanwhile, is running to be a vote for Mayor Libby Schaaf in the Council (she’s currently Schaaf’s Senior Advisor), was political director for Hillary Clinton, and she actually shoved a Sanders delegate and the Convention and lied to get his credentials pulled. Moore has been accused of bullying behavior in other instances, and that cannot be tolerated in an elected official. I’d vote for 1) Hummel, 2) Kaplan, 3) Quan.

City Council, District 1: Dan Kalb

Dan Kalb is not always my favorite politician. He often seems to lack initiative and the courage to go against the establishment, but he usually ends up voting the right way and supporting human rights and civil liberties. He also has deep concerns about social justice issues, including affordable housing and homelessness. He can be too political, however. For example, when I ran for re-election for Central Committee, he endorsed all the incumbents plus Peggy Moore, but not me (I didn’t ask him or anyone else for an endorsement either, because I don’t play these type of political games). His opponent, however, showed at the Democratic candidate forum that he had very poor understanding of how the City of Oakland is ran and that he had not even looked at the budget. That may be acceptable in cities with low quality candidates such as San Leandro, but it doesn’t fly in Oakland. Plus, he will be a tool of the Police Union, which is pouring money and support behind him to punish Kalb for supporting the creation of an independent police commission. Kalb got both the Green Party and the Democratic Party endorsement. I’d vote for Kalb.

City Council, District 3: Noni Session

Noni Session is everything you want in a progressive politician. She grew up in West Oakland, and after going to Cornell for her PhD in Anthropology and spending time abroad doing field research, she’s back at home to make a difference in her community. She was recruited by other neighborhood activists to run because they felt that incumbent was not responsive to their needs. Session is a strong progressive, who registered as a Democrat to vote for Bernie Sanders, and she will be a true champion for social justice and human rights in the Council (and right now, there isn’t one). If you heed just one of my recommendations in Oakland this year, vote for Session.

I should say that I do like incumbent Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who I find to be both intelligent and thoughtful. However, she is sometimes slow to move on progressive issues, such as establishing an independent citizens police commission (but at least she moves, which can’t be said for other members of the Council) and, more disturbingly, the Grand Jury this year found that she had violated Oakland ethics and conflict of interest rules, by intervening with City staff about a development near her home. Session is too progressive for our local Demoratic Party, but she got the Green Party and the East Bay Express’ endorsements. I’d vote for Session

City Council, District 5: No recommendation

Noel Gallo is too conservative for me to actually recommend him. He is in favor of youth curfews, for example, and he was a supporter of the Domain Awareness Center for quite a while. However, he proved to be a really ally on the fight for an independent citizens’ police commission. His opponent, Viola Gonzales, opposes the Commission and has received the support of the police union. Gallo got both the Democratic and Green party nod. I would vote for Gallo.

City Council, District 7 (ranked choice): No recommendation

Incumbent Larry Reid has been MIA at the Oakland City Council for years. He often misses Council meetings, he’s inattentive when he does go and is otherwise disengaged from his work in the Council. He does get paid for it, so that probably justifies his running for re-election. Challenger Marcy Hodge failed to impress me at the candidate forum I attended. She ran for Council before, in a different district, prodded by the Don Perata machine and was plagued by scandal when she sat in the Peralta College Board. I was never able to touch base with Nehanda Imara, who is an independent, but I heard wonderful things about her from other candidates that I am recommending. That’s not enough for me to recommend her personally, but if I was in Oakland I’d vote for Imara as my first choice, and leave second choice blank.

School Board, District 1: Don Macleay

Incumbent Jody London is a tool of the charter schools association, she’s supported by them and has done their bidding. Don Macleay, meanwhile, is a solid Bernie Sanders’ progressive. He’s intelligent, thoughtful, is a dad so he has skin on the game, and takes issues of educational policy seriously. He’s been endorsed by the teachers union, Labor, the Green Party and progressive politicians. Update: Since I wrote my recommendation, I found out that Macleay was an internationalist working in Nicaragua in the 80’s. Among other things, he helped build a power plant for a rural community. Since then he has become more convinced that education is the avenue for social change, and he is committed to seeing it happen in Oakland. Check out this documentary about his work in Nicaragua. I’d vote for Macleay.

School Board, District 3: Kharyshi Wiginton

Kharyshi Wiginton is another Bernie progressive that is running to champion Oakland schools and Oakland children. She is an educator and community activist and has been endorsed by everyone, from the Teachers’ Union, to Labor, to the Green and Democratic Parties (and yours truly). I also heard Benjamin Lang speak during the Democratic endorsement and he seems a solid second choice. Whatever you do, don’t vote for charter-school sponsored Jumoke Hinton Hodge. My rank choice vote would be: 1) Wiginton, 2) Lang, 3) Narain

School Board, District 5: Mike Hutchinson

Mike is an extremely knowledgeable and committed education activist, who has become a rallying force behind the anti-charter school forces in Oakland. He knows the school district better than Board Members, has gone to every single School Board meeting and has fought to keep public schools open. Mike is also a strong progressive, who understands how a society can be broken by providing substandard education to the disadvantaged. Incumbent Roseann Torres was an ally of charger school forces, though she has since seen the light. She’s an intelligent, dedicated School Board member, and is a solid second choice. The charter school PAC is backing newcomer Huber Trenado and you should not vote for him. I’d vote for 1) Hutchinson, 2) Torres.

School Board, District 7: Chris Jackson

Chris Jackson is a young, African American version of Bernie Sanders. OK, perhaps the comparison doesn’t really carry, but Chris is a young father in the district, with vast political experience – having served as a community college trustee in San Francisco and worked for labor and legislators -, a thorough understanding of current sociological and political currents, and a personal and family commitment to create real social change. As a parent of two kids who will be in the district soon enough, he also has skin in the game. I spent hours talking to Chris, and I left in love. This is a man with a clear vision and political astuteness who can really make a difference.

His opponent, James Harris, is supported by the charter school PAC, does not live in the district (he lives in Sheffield Village, which falls within the San Leandro School District) and sends his kids to Head Royce, the most elite private school in Oakland. I’d vote for Jackson.

PIEDMONT

City Council (choose 2): No recommendations

None of the candidates submitted a questionnaire and I didn’t pursue it further.

School Board (choose 3): Hari Titan

Hari Titan calls himself the “Bernie Sanders” of Piedmont, and his progressive credentials showed up in his questionnaire. Nobody else bothered to answer it. I’d vote for Hari Titan.

PLEASANTON

Mayor: Julie Testa

I’m not sure that a recommendation from a Progressive Voter Guide will help Julie Testa much in Pleasanton, a city that has no Democrats in the City Council. She was also unlikely enough to not be able to get her statement into the Candidates Guide. However, she is a true progressive who has been fighting against unchecked development and to reform the police. For that reason, the regressive elements in the Pleasanton Democratic Party have opposed her. She has my full support. I’d vote for Testa.

City Council (vote for 2): No recommendation

All candidates are Republican. I’d write in Testa.

School Board (vote for 3): Valerie Arkin

I have served with incumbents Valerie Arkin and Jamie Yee Hintzke in the Democratic Central Committee. Both are progressive, caring women, fully committed to making Pleasanton schools the best they can be. They are intelligent, they know the district and I trust their decisions. The only reason I’m not officially recommending Hintzke is that she’s a Clinton supporter and I’m only putting my recommendation behind Berniecrats.

I was never able to get in touch with former principal Steve Maher, but I was impressed with the answers that Kathlyn Ruegsegger provided. Alas, she’s a Republican. I’d vote for Arkin, Hintzke and Ruegsegger.

SAN LEANDRO

City Council District 2: No recommendation

Ed Hernandez‘ answers to my questionnaire show him to be a law-n-order conservative that will bend over backwards to please the police union (who did not even endorse him). And his answer on how to keep people in their home was to build more housing – which completely begs the question. I met with Bryan Azevedo. He’s a sheet metal worker, from a humble background, who understands first hand the importance of having a livable wage and affordable housing. Bryan is extremely green, both new to the practice and concept of politics and policy, but he’s a good guy at heart and he seems willing to learn and listen. I think he was a little afraid of me, which is not a bad thing. As a union guy, Bryan will fill Prola’s shoes as the union vote in the Council, and that’s not a bad thing, so I will vote for Bryan Azevedo.

City Councils District 4 and 6: Write in the ghost of Lou Filipovich

Benny Lee and Pete Ballew are both running unopposed for Districts 4 and 6 respectively. Benny Lee is a corrupt politico, with Mayoral aspirations, whose major non-accomplishments in the last four years were to try to raise the Chinese flag over San Leandro and to lobby the Oakland City Council for them to use a garbage company not located in San Leandro, which would cost San Leandro millions in lost taxes. Needless to say, he then received a nice campaign contribution check from the principals in that company. Pete Ballew is a conservative former police officer. Neither should be in our City Council, but they have no opposition. There are no official write-in candidates, but the Alameda County Registrar of Voters generally counts write-in votes, even if they are not for official candidates. So while nobody will see who you wrote in, you might as well do it and stand in opposition to conservative, unchallenged candidates.

SAN LORENZO School Board

Choose 3: Don’t vote for Helen Foster

Incumbent Helen Foster no longer lives in San Lorenzo. She works in Coalinga and spends her week there – it’s outrageous she’s running for re-election. The school district has had horrible conflicts between the administration and the teachers, and it needs a new board altogether. However, incumbent Penny Peck has not been as bad as other Board members and it seems she has finally realized she needs to support parents and students, not the administration. The teachers are supporting Kyla Sinegal and Marilyn Stewart as are fellow Bernie activists. I haven’t spoken with them, so I can’t recommend them, but I’d vote for Peck, Sinegal and Stewart.

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