East Bay Endorsements

Jesse Arreguin for Berkeley Mayor. Yes on Oakland JJ and Richmond L for rent control. Our (selected) endorsements in the East Bay

Jesse Arreguin calls himself "Berkeley's kind of mayor." We agree

We don’t have the bandwidth to do for our friends across the Bay the detailed work we did in San Francisco, so we aren’t going to weigh in on every single race and every single ballot measure. That wouldn’t be fair to anyone.

But we want to make a few key endorsements – and they reflect our longstanding efforts to help the progressive movement on both sides of the Bay (and in this case, we want to do all we can to help some candidates who are under attack for standing in favor of police accountability).

If you want detailed explanations and endorsements that you can take to the polls, check out the East Bay Express, which has done a fantastic job. Except for a couple of modest quibbles, we are in agreement with the Express on everything.

Our (selected) recommendations follow.

Alameda County Measure A1

YES

This $580 million affordable housing bond is critical to the East Bay’s ability to build housing (and deal with a regional crisis that has been caused in part by San Francisco and Peninsula cities attracting big tech companies without building enough housing to handle the new workers). It needs a two-thirds vote, and that will be tough in the conservative parts of the county, so every vote in the more progressive areas is critical.

Jesse Arreguin calls himself "Berkeley's kind of mayor." We agree
Jesse Arreguin calls himself “Berkeley’s kind of mayor.” We agree

 

Berkeley Mayor

  1. Jesse Arreguin
  2. Kriss Worthington

These two longtime progressive councilmembers are running a strategic ranked-choice voting campaign with the aim of putting a real activist back in charge of the city. We will quote the Express: “The truth is, for too long, Berkeley has been run by cautious moderates.”

Arreguin has the experience and the political drive to put the city back where it ought to be – in the forefront of progressive change. Once upon a time, Berkeley led the state on issues like rent control and tenant protection, social and economic justice, and police accountability. Arreguin is the best candidate to restore that vision. He’s been solid on tenant and affordable housing issues, understands that the solution of every problem is not more developer giveways, and has long been a supporter of higher minimum wages. He’s endorsed by Bernie Sanders. Worthington has been the voice of the left on the council for many years, and we’ve always endorsed him in the past. At this point, Arreguin is the strongest candidate with the most hope of winning. Vote Arreguin 1 and Worthington  2.

 

Berkeley Rent Board

Christina Murphy, Alejandro Soto-Vigil, Leah Simon-Weisberg, Igor Tregub

This is the pro-tenant slate. Every renter group and rent-control advocate is with these four. So are we.

 

Measure U1 YES

Measure DD NO

 

Berkeley landlords are generally doing just fine, and the big landlords are doing even better. Measure U1 is a modest per-unit tax on property owners with more than five units, and it will bring in $3.5 million a year for affordable housing. Measure DD is a landlord trick designed to counter U1.

 

 

Oakland City Council, District 1

Dan Kalb

Kalb, who represents this North Oakland district, has been a progressive and a voice of reason on the council – and now he’s under attack by the Oakland police union. Kalb and Council Member Noel Gallo authored a measure (LL) that would create an independent Police Commission; the cops don’t like it, and have just dropped more than $12,000 into an independent expenditure committee attacking him. Kalb deserves re-election – and we don’t like this kind of payback.

Oakland City Council District 3

Noni Session

The incumbent in this district simply has to go. As the Express notes,

Lynette Gibson McElhaney isn’t just “ethically challenged,” as the East Bay Times wrote in its endorsement. She has demonstrated repeatedly that she’s willing to use both her public office and also position as a nonprofit operator to benefit herself and her family members.

Sessions is a far better alternative who would bring more progressive (and ethical) politics to the council.

 

Oakland City Council, District 5

Noel Gallo

Gallo was the driving force behind Measure LL, and the cops are now funding his opponent. The mayor is after him. He has been a strong voice on the council, and deserves support for standing up for police accountability.

 

City Council, At-Large

Rebecca Kaplan

Always one of our favorite Bay Area politicians, Kaplan is a solid progressive vote on the council, a regional leader, and full of creative ideas. Her leading opponent, Peggy Moore, works for the mayor and has been engaged in some misleading (to say the least) campaign activities. We’re happy to endorse her for another term.

 

Oakland School Board, District 7

Chris Jackson

Jackson was a solid member of the San Francisco Community College Board, a voice against the state takeover and a friend of labor. He’s since moved to Oakland, and is running for School Board. He’s got a great political future and we’re happy to endorse him for this seat.

 

Oakland Measure JJ

YES

Rent control in Oakland has never been terribly strong, and JJ is an effort to improve it. The measure would add just-cause eviction protections to thousands of units and make it harder for landlords to raise rents about the legal limit.

 

Oakland Measure LL

YES

A first step in bringing real police accountability to Oakland, Measure LL would create a Police Commission and start the process toward establishing a civilian-oversight body that could investigate misconduct. Vote yes

Richmond City Council

Melvin Willis

Ben Choi

Willis and Choi are the candidates of the Richmond Progressive Alliance and have strong labor support. Choi is a member of the Planning Commission; Willis is a community organizer with ACCE. Both support rent control and are great choices.

Richmond Measure L

YES

This is the latest step in a long battle to bring rent control to Richmond, where housing prices have been soaring. An attempt by the City Council to enact a reasonable law was shot down by the California Apartment Association. Now the battle has gone to the ballot. Measure L would not only create a rent control system in the city, but would undo a recent rash of huge rent hikes by setting the base rent as the amount charged in July 2015. It’s a huge deal; vote yes.

BART Board District 7

Lateefa Simon

We already endorsed Simon for this district that spans both San Francisco and the East Bay. As we noted:

This one’s as easy as it gets. The incumbent, Zachary Mallett, has been a disaster. He bungled the BART strike, he showed no respect for the workers, he has shown no evidence that he is capable of continue in office, and he needs to be replaced. Lateefah Simon is about the best candidate for BART Board that we have ever seen, a longtime community activist, former director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Macarthur Genius Award winner, and someone who understands that transit is a social justice issue.

This district covers Southeast San Francisco and much of the near East Bay. She is supported by the BART workers’ unions – and by pretty much everyone else with any sense in San Francisco and the East Bay. We could not be happier to endorse her.

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