Nov 2022: Alameda County Measures, Judges, & Elected Officials

Here are my recommendations on measures, judges, and elected officials I vote on in Alameda County (plus one I don't).

Alameda County Measure

Measure D: Yes for Regulation of Ag Land near Livermore

Judges: Just say Yes!

Alameda County Elected Officials 

District Attorney: Pamela Price

Special Districts 

AC Transit At-Large: Alfred Twu

AC Transit Ward 3: Sarah Syed

Elected Officials

AC Transit At-Large: Alfred Twu

AC Transit Ward 3: Sarah Syed

Plus (for all of you who ask me about Oakland every year), see Edie's recommendations. 

For details, read on ...

Nov 2020: Alameda County Measures, Judges, + Elected Officials (Federal-State-Special Districts)

Here are my recommendations on Alameda County’s measures plus elected officials from the federal down to county/district level.

Alameda County 

Measure V: Yes for Utility Users Tax Unincorporated areas

Measure W: YES YES YES for Housing and Services for People Suffering from Homelessness

Federal + State offices
President: Biden-Harris
U.S. Representative, 13th Congressional District: Barbara Lee
CA State Senator, 9th Senate District: Nancy Skinner
CA State Assembly, 15th Assembly District: Buffy Wicks
CA State Assembly, 18th Assembly District: Rob Bonta

Special Districts:

AC Transit At-Large: Chris Peeples

AC Transit Ward 1: Wallace

AC Transit Ward 2: Jean Walsh

BART District 1: Jamie Salcido

BART District 3: Rebecca Saltzman

BART District 7: Lateefah Simon

East Bay Regional Parks Ward 1: Elizabeth Echols

Plus (for all of you who ask me about Oakland every year), see below for a friend's recommendations. 

For details, read on ...

March 2020 Elected Officials

Here's how I'm voting for all the elected offices on this primary ballot. I make NO recommendation in the big race -- for President -- 'cuz I don't know who I'll vote for on March 3. But I do make rec's in races you don't hear about every day on TV. 

Here's the summary -- details are after the jump:

President: I'm still figuring it out
Alameda County Central Committee, 15th Assembly District: for sure Echols, Waters, Lopez, Neal, Barnett, Tregub, and probably Rosales + Laverde
Congress, 9th District: Barbara Lee
CA Senate, 9th District: Nancy Skinner
CA Assembly, 15th District: Buffy Wicks
Superior Court Office #2: Elena Condes
Alameda County Supervisor, 5th District: Keith Carson

And now for the detailed writeups ...

Nov 2018 Statewide Offices

How I'm voting on Statewide Offices, Nov 2018

With California's open primary, a few of these statewide offices provide a tough choice between two strong candidates (marked in red). Here's a summary of my votes for all the candidates listed before the state propositions (for others, see my "Berkeley + Local Offices" post). Details are below the jump.

State+Federal races

Governor: Gavin Newsom
Lieutenant Governor: Hernandez
Secretary of State: Padilla
Controller: Yee
Treasurer: Ma
Attorney General: Becerra
Insurance Commissioner: Ricardo Lara
State Board of Equalization, 2nd District: Cohen
US Senator: Kevin de Leon
US Congress, 13th District: Barbara Lee still speaks for me
CA Assembly District 15: Buffy Wicks
CA State Superintendent of Schools: Tony Thurmond

Judges

Vote YES on Judges Corrigan, Kruger, Humes, Margulies, Richman, Miller, Siggins, Tucher, Streeter, Jones

Alameda County

Alameda County Assessor: Phong La

June 2018 Local Races

How I'm voting on Local Races, June 2018

As with the statewide races, remember that California’s “top two” primary system means that in many races, the top two vote-getters will be on the ballot again in November. So if you’re torn between two obvious front-runners, don’t stress too much -- you’ll get to decide again in November.

Here are my choices in these races; details are below the jump.

Local Districts, Federal + State Offices

U.S. Congress, 13th District: Barbara Lee
CA State Assembly, 15th District: Beckles over Pardue Okimoto + Wicks

Alameda County

Superior Court Judge, Office #1: Tara Flanagan
Assessor: Phong La
Auditor-Controller/Clerk-Recorder: Blackwood
District Attorney: Pamela Price (Heart) over Nancy O’Malley (Head)

November 2016 Summary

Here's a summary of all my recommendations -- the local measures, candidates at all levels, plus the state propositions I already posted. Click the underlined links for details.

Federal, State, and Judge candidates

• U.S. President and Vice President: Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine
• U.S. Senator: Kamala Harris
• U.S. Congress, 11th District: Mark Desaulnier
• U.S. Congress, 13th District: Barbara Lee
• CA State Senator, 9th District: Sandre Swanson
• CA State Assembly, 15th District: Tony Thurmond
• Alameda County Superior Court Judge, Office #1: Jackson

BART, AC Transit, and Alameda County measures + candidates

• AC Transit Measure C1: YES YES to support bus service (AC Transit)
• AC Transit At-Large: Chris Peeples
• BART Measure RR: YES YES to keep BART safe and reliable
• BART District 3: Rebecca Saltzman
• BART District 7: Lateefah Simon
• BART Districts 1, 5, and 9: Contact me if you want my opinion
• Alameda County Measure A1: YES YES to build more affordable housing
• Contra Costa Measure X: Contact me about this transportation sales tax

Berkeley School and City Measures

• E1: YES YES for Berkeley’s schools
• T1: YES to fix city infrastructure
• U1: YES YES to fund affordable housing with a tax on landlord’s rent receipts
• DD: NO NO to reject large landlords’ deceptive smoke screen that has worse policy
• V1: YES to let the city spend money it has raised in taxes
• W1: YES to use citizen redistricting commission set city council districts
• X1: YES to give matching funds to Mayoral/Council candidates
• Y1: YES to allow 16&17 year-olds to vote in school board elections
• Z1: YES to allow city to build homes for low-income families
• AA: YES to clean up rent control provisions
• BB & CC: NO, because Berkeley City Council reached a good compromise on minimum wage

Berkeley Candidates for Mayor, Council, School Board, and Rent Board

• Berkeley School Board: Beatriz Appel Leyva-Cutler & Judy Appel
• Berkeley Mayor: Capitelli #1
• Berkeley Council District 2: Darryl Moore #1, Nanci Armstrong-Temple #2
• Berkeley Council District 3: Ben Bartlett #1
• Berkeley Council District 5: Stephen Murphy #1
• Berkeley Rent Board: Judy Hunt, Leah Simon-Weisberg, Alejandro Soto-Vigil, & Igor Tregub

And if you missed it from earlier, here are my positions on state propositions:

Nov 2016 State Propositions

• 51: YES for K-12 & Community College facilities
• 52: Leaning YES to Use Hospital Fees to get Federal Funds for Medi-Cal -- Comments welcome!
• 53: NO NO to Statewide votes on local projects
• 54: NO to Over-Complicated Prescription of Legislative Operations
• 55: YES YES to have the 1.5% pay for for Schools & Healthcare
• 56: YES YES for Cigarette Tax to Fund Healthcare and Tobacco Use Prevention.
• 57: YES YES for Criminal Justice Reform
• 58: YES YES to Allow Bilingual Education
• 59: YES to Clarify that Corporations are not Human Beings
• 60: NO to a Badly-written measure about condoms in porn films
• 61: Leaning YES to Reduce Costs of Drugs - Comments Welcome
• 62: YES YES, a million times YES to Repeal the Death Penalty
• 63: YES to prohibit possession of large capacity ammunition magazines
• 64: YES on Marijuana Legalization
• 65: Leaning NO on Deceptive Plastic Bags Measure
• 66: NO NO NO - Don’t make it easier to impose death sentences
• 67: YES to Confirm Legislature’s Ban on Single-use Bags

Federal, State, and Judge candidates

These are (mostly) easy. The competitive races are in bold: 

• U.S. President and Vice President: Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine
• U.S. Senator: Kamala Harris
• U.S. Congress, 11th District: Mark Desaulnier
• U.S. Congress, 13th District: Barbara Lee
• CA State Senator, 9th District: Sandre Swanson
• CA State Assembly, 15th District: Tony Thurmond
• Alameda County Superior Court Judge, Office #1: Jackson

Summary of Jeff's November 2010 Recommendations

State Propositions: see writeup for details
19: Leaning Yes
20: Leaning No
21: Yes
22: No
23: NO NO NO
24: Leaning Yes
25: Yes
26: NO NO NO
27: NO

State Elected Officials: see writeup for details on some
Governor: Jerry Brown
Lieutenant Governor: Gavin Newsom
Secretary of State: Debra Bowen
Controller: John Chiang
Treasurer: Bill Lockyer
Attorney General: Kamala Harris
Insurance Commissioner: Dave Jones

U.S. Senator: Barbara Boxer
U.S. Congress, 9th Congressional District: Barbara Lee
Member, State Board of Equalization, 1st District: Betty Yee

Special Districts & Superior Court (writeup has details on all)
** BART, District 4: Robert Raburn **
AC Transit, At-Large: Joel Young
AC Transit, Ward 3: Elsa Ortiz
EBMUD Director, Ward 4: Andy Katz
Superior Court Judge Office #9: Victoria Kolakowski

Alameda County & Berkeley Measures: see writeup for details on all
Alameda County
F: Yes for transportation improvements
Berkeley
H: Yes for Schools
I: Yes for Schools
R: YES YES YES for a better downtown
S: Yes
T: Yes

Berkeley City Council
District 1: Linda Maio
District 4: Jim Novosel (1st), Eric Panzer (2nd)
District 7: Ces Rosales
District 8: write in your neighbor

Berkeley School Board
Josh Daniels, Karen Hemphill, Leah Wilson

Oakland Mayor & City Council
Mayor: Rebecca Kaplan (1st), Don Perata (2nd), Jean Quan (3rd)
Council District 4: Libby Schaaf
Council District 2: Jennifer Pae

... and if you live elsewhere in the East Bay, you might be interested in other people's East Bay (and statewide) endorsements.

Special Districts and Superior Court

Summary on Special Districts & Superior Court
** BART, District 4: Robert Raburn (see writeup) **
AC Transit, At-Large: Joel Young (see writeup)
AC Transit, Ward 3: Elsa Ortiz
EBMUD Director, Ward 4: Andy Katz
Superior Court Judge Office #9: Victoria Kolakowski (see writeup)

BART Director, District 4: Robert Raburn
This race is so important to me, I wrote it up separately. Check out http://caelections.blogspot.com/2010/10/robert-raburn-for-bart-district-4.html. And please vote for Robert Raburn for the BART Board!

AC Transit Director, At-Large: Joel Young
Joel was appointed a couple years ago to fill the seat of Rebecca Kaplan, when she won election to the Oakland City Council. From my work on local transportation issues, I hear he's done a good job. His opponent apparently can't be bothered to submit a ballot statement, so I assume he'll win this seat easily.

AC Transit Director, Ward 3: Elsa Ortiz
Elsa Ortiz is the incumbent, first elected four years ago. All reports I've heard are that she has done a good job. She understands the serious financial crisis facing AC Transit, is willing to take a balanced look -- she's got a strong labor background but also knows labor will have to make some concessions to keep the agency afloat. She was endorsements from dozens of electeds (including many I like), the Sierra Club, and many individuals whose analyses I trust. The serious challenger is Nancy Skowbo, a long-time AC Transit employee. She has endorsements from the Greens, one AC Transit union, and four electeds.

EBMUD Director, Ward 4: Andy Katz
I know, I shouldn't spend time writing up an endorsement for someone running unopposed. But I like Andy. He's smart, he's involved, he's political in a good way (he's savvy, tries to figure out how to make change, knows the players but also knows the policy). And his day job is as a public health advocate.

Superior Court Judge, Office #9: Victoria Kolakowski
I like Victoria Kolakowski. I met her at a fundraiser and she seems like a thoughtful legal mind. I like her take on legal matters much more than her opponent, who comes from the prosecution side of the aisle. I see lots of people I trust in her list of endorsements. If you want to learn more, check her out at http://kolakowskiforjudge.com.

June 2010 voting summary

Here's how I'm voting today (on the Democratic Party ballot in 14th AD):

Partisan Offices:

• Governor: Jerry Brown
• Lt. Gov: Gavin Newsom (mostly out of Northern CA bias)
  
• Secretary of State: Debra Bowen
• Controller: John Chiang
• Treasurer: Bill Lockyer
• Attorney General: Kamala Harris
  
• Insurance Commissioner: Dave Jones
• Member, State Board of Equalization, 1st District: Betty Yee
• US Senator, CA: Barbara Boxer
• US Representative, 9th District: Barbara Lee
• CA State Assembly, 14th District: Nancy Skinner
• County Central Committee, 14th Assembly District (vote for 6 of 7): first 5 were Marge Atkinson, Edie Irons, Beverly Greene, Andrew Kelley, & Elizabeth Echols. My 6th vote went to Maggie Gee.

Non-Partisan Offices:

• Superior Court Judge, Office #9: Victoria Kolakowski
• State Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tom Torlakson
  
• County Superintendent of Schools: Sheila Jordan
• Member, Board of Education, 1st Trustee area: Joaquin Rivera
• Since there's no competition on the 5 county non-partisan offices, I didn't pay any attention to them. I'll probably vote for them.

State Propositions: See my lengthier writeup on these. My votes are:

• 13: Yes
• 14: No
• 15: Yes
• 16: NO NO NO
• 17: NO

Berkeley Propositions:

• C: Yes to repair and refurbish our pools
  

Recommendations from Dan Kalb

Check out comprehensive June ballot recommendations from Dan Kalb, who serves with me on the Board of the League of Conservation Voters of the East Bay. I don't agree with him on everything (I think he's more of a straight environmentalist and party Democrat than I am), but I respect his analysis and judgment. I agree with him entirely on the state propositions, and he and I sat on the same board that came up with some of these endorsements for Alameda and Contra Costa County races. I haven't reviewed the state offices in detail yet, but Dan's endorsement will make a difference.

You can find his endorsements on this google doc.

Dennis Hayashi for Superior Court Judge #9

This is a runoff of a June primary.

Dennis Hayashi has the right combination of experience and values to earn my vote. He has 30+ years of professional experience, emphasizing themes of civil rights, social justice, and environmental protection, and he strongly supports an independent judiciary. Here's a sampling of his endorsements (some of whom groups whose opinions I trust): Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, Sierra Club, lots of labor unions, the Democratic Party, the Deputy Sherriffs Association, three bar associations, and many more.

I oppose Phil Daly, who is much more of a straight law-and-order type (endorsements from police associations but not bar associations, for example).