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Alameda County

COMMENTARY: We Must Act Now to Avoid an Eviction Crisis

In August 2020, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors extended the COVID-19 eviction moratorium to allow residents to shelter-in-place, regardless of income status, during the crisis. The ordinance prohibits almost all evictions in the County and allows tenants 12 months to repay back rent. This moratorium was intended to limit the impacts on low-income renters and prevent thousands of residents from falling into homelessness.

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Nate Miley, Alameda County Supervisor
Nate Miley, Alameda County Supervisor

By Nate Miley

Mask mandates have been lifted, in-person events have begun to return, and national unemployment has rebounded significantly. No one can predict the future. But we can see that Gov. Gavin Newsom and local health officials are beginning to plan for the next stage of living with COVID-19.

Here in Alameda County, we are confronted by the daily reality that in addition to the COVID-19 crisis, we are also amid a housing crisis— and facing a daunting cliff.

In August 2020, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors extended the COVID-19 eviction moratorium to allow residents to shelter-in-place, regardless of income status, during the crisis.

From the very beginning, I abstained from supporting this ordinance in favor of a voucher system which I felt would prevent situations where tenants and landlords are now pitted against each other. The ordinance prohibits almost all evictions in the County and allows tenants 12 months to repay back rent.

This moratorium was intended to limit the impacts on low-income renters and prevent thousands of residents from falling into homelessness.

This ordinance is tied to the local health emergency. When the Alameda County Health Care state of emergency is lifted it will trigger the expiration of the moratorium on evictions in 60 days. Whether that time comes sooner or later, we need to be ready. The question we must ask is what do we do next?

Now we must act to avoid a wave of evictions of low-income tenants when the moratorium comes to an end. We also know that property owners have struggled to meet mortgage and property tax demands on rental properties and wrestled against foreclosing institutions.

We need to act now to help people remain housed and keep rental properties in Alameda County.

I call on my fellow Supervisors to join me in pursuing these main approaches.

First, is to urge the Federal government to provide additional resources to support renters and property owners. The pandemic isn’t over and the need in Alameda County remains great.

Alameda County’s rental assistance fund has received over 12,000 applications requesting over $200 million in aid. We should identify new ways, including a voucher system, to ensure that the funds flow directly to those who need the help most.

Second, is to prepare our local courts to be flooded with cases. We must seek additional funding from the State to allow for eviction proceedings to move forward when needed.

Cases have been brought to my office’s attention where seniors rent out a room in their homes and now fear for their health and safety at the hands of their tenant— or small property owners who face financial ruin. Currently, the courts have no capacity to hear these urgent requests.

My office has received numerous complaints from property owners renting to individuals fully capable of paying rent, who have refused to do so. This gives tenants a bad name. Pandemic protections were enacted to support the most vulnerable residents in our community who were struggling. Tenants who CAN pay rent and are withholding it are taking advantage of — and putting — at risk these very protections.

I think it is essential for all stakeholders to work on these solutions and seek additional ones. I am more than willing to facilitate those discussions.

Together, we can ensure that those who can pay rent, pay their rent. And those who can’t, especially the extremely low-income, get the help they need to avoid an eviction crisis.

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Activism

Who are the Alameda County District 4 Supervisor Candidates’ Top Campaign Contributors?

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

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Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).
Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).

By Zack Haber

Nate Miley, who has served on Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors since 2000, is running for reelection to the District 4 supervisor seat.

Jennifer Esteen, a nurse and activist, is seeking to unseat him and become one of the five members of the powerful board that sets the county’s budget, governs its unincorporated areas, and oversees the sheriff, Alameda Health System, and mental health system.

District 4 includes most of East Oakland’s hills and flatlands beyond Fruitvale, part of Pleasanton and unincorporated areas south of San Leandro like Ashland and Castro Valley.

Voting is open and will remain open until March 5.

In California, campaign donations of $100 or more are public record. The records show that Miley has received about $550,000 in total campaign donations since he won the previous District 4 election in March 2020. Esteen has raised about $255,000 in total campaign donations since she started collecting them last July. All figures are accurate through Feb. 20.

While Miley has raised more money, Esteen has received donations from more sources. Miley received donations of $100 or more from 439 different sources. Esteen received such donations from 507 different sources.

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

Nate Miley’s top campaign contributors:

The California Apartment Association, a trade group representing landlords and investors in California’s rental housing business, has spent about $129,500 supporting Miley’s election bid through about $59,500 in ads against Esteen$55,000 in ads supporting Miley, and $15,000 in campaign donations.

The independent expenditure committee Preserve Agriculture in Alameda County has spent about $46,025 supporting Miley through about $27,200 in their own ads, and $18,825 in donations to his campaign. Preserve Agriculture has supported reelection efforts for former Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley, and Sheriff Greg Ahern, a republican. It’s received funding from ChevronPG&E, and a the California Apartment Association.

Organizations associated with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, or LiUNA, have donated about $35,000 in total. Construction and General Laborers Local 304, a local chapter of the union representing which represents over 4,000 workers, donated $20,000.

Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition, which represents 70,000 LiUNA members in Arizona, California, Hawaii and New Mexico, donated $15,000.

William ‘Bill’ Crotinger and the East Oakland-based company Argent Materials have donated $26,000. Crotinger is the president and founder of Argent, a concrete and asphalt recycling yard. Argent’s website says it is an eco-friendly company that diverts materials from landfills. In 2018, Argent paid the EPA $27,000 under a settlement for committing Clean Water Act violations.

Michael Morgan of Hayward, owner of We Are Hemp, a marijuana dispensary in Ashland, has donated $21,500.

Alameda County District 1 Supervisor David Haubert has donated $21,250 from his 2024 reelection campaign. He’s running unopposed for the District 1 seat.

SEIU 1021which represents over 60,000 workers in local governments, non-profit agencies, healthcare programs, and schools in Northern California, has donated $20,000.

UA Local 342, which represents around 4,000 pipe trades industry workers in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, donated $20,000.

The union representing the county’s deputy sheriffs, Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Alameda County, has donated $17,000.

Becton Healthcare Resources and its managers have donated $14,625. Becton’s mission statement says it provides “behavioral health management services to organizations and groups that serve the serious and persistent mentally ill population.”

Jennifer Esteen’s top campaign contributors:

Mary Quinn Delaney of Piedmont, founder of Akonadi Foundation, has donated $20,000. Akonadi Foundation gives grants to nonprofit organizations, especially focusing on racial justice organizing,

Bridget Galli of Castro Valley has donated $7,000. Galli is a yoga instructor and a co-owner of Castro Valley Yoga.

Rachel Gelman of Oakland has donated $5,000. Gelman is an activist who has vowed to redistribute her inherited wealth to working class, Indigenous and Black communities.

California Worker Families Party has donated $5,000. The organization’s website describes itself as a “grassroots party for the multiracial working class.”

David Stern of Albany has donated $5,000. Stern is a retired UC Berkeley Professor of Education.

Oakland Rising Committee—a collaborative of racial, economic, and environmental justice organizations—has donated about $3,050.

Fredeke Von Bothmer-Goodyear, an unemployed resident of San Francisco, has donated $2,600.

Robert Britton of Castro Valley has donated $2,500. Britton is retired and worked in the labor movement for decades.

Progressive Era PAC has donated about $2,400. Its mission statement says it “exists to elect governing majorities of leaders in California committed to building a progressive era for people of color.”

East Bay Stonewall Democrats Club has donated $2,250. The club was founded in 1982 to give voice to the East Bay LGBTQIA+ communities.

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Alameda County

Michael P. Johnson Garners Major Support in Run for Alameda County Superior Court Judge

Michael P. Johnson is running for Alameda County Superior Court Judge, Seat 12, after having been appointed as a temporary judge over the past five years. Hon. Charles Smiley, presiding judge of the Alameda County Superior Court, said he had “personally observed Michael’s professionalism as judge pro tem, and his work as a pro tem judge ranks among the finest in our country.”

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Hon. Michael P. Johnson Ballotpedia photo, Hon. Winifred Y. Smith, (ret.) ADR Services photo, Hon. Charles Smiley GovDelivery photo.
Hon. Michael P. Johnson Ballotpedia photo, Hon. Winifred Y. Smith, (ret.) ADR Services photo, Hon. Charles Smiley GovDelivery photo.

By Post Staff

Michael P. Johnson is running for Alameda County Superior Court Judge, Seat 12, after having been appointed as a temporary judge over the past five years.

Hon. Charles Smiley, presiding judge of the Alameda County Superior Court, said he had “personally observed Michael’s professionalism as judge pro tem, and his work as a pro tem judge ranks among the finest in our country.”

As a resident of Alameda County for over 30 years, Johnson served as assistant vice president and senior counsel for AT&T and Warner Media.

Johnson said, “For decades, I have been an active member of the Alameda County Bar Association (ACBA) as well as the ACBA’s non-profit Volunteer Legal Services Corp. (now, Legal Access Alameda).

“I have been honored to have served as the president of the Board of Directors for both organizations. I am a lifetime member of the Charles Houston Bar Association, a non-profit organization comprised of African American lawyers, judges, and law students throughout Northern California.”

Hon. Winifred Y. Smith (ret.), a past presiding judge for the county said, “The Alameda County Superior Court needs Michael Johnson. He is smart, has great judicial temperament and is a man of the community. I have known Michael for over 15 years and can attest to his qualities and qualifications to serve on the Alameda County Superior Court bench.”

Johnson told the Post that he was also a member of CABL (California Association of Black Lawyers) as well as the National Bar Association (a global network of African American attorneys and judges) and the American Bar Association.

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Alameda County

To Fight Surge in Crime, Gov. Newsom Deploys State Law Enforcement to East Bay

Responding to a surge in crimes in the region, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Feb. 6 that he is temporarily increasing state law enforcement personnel in Oakland and the East Bay. About 120 California Highway Patrol officers are being deployed in the operation – about a 900% increase, according to the Governor’s office.

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District Attorney Pamela Price
District Attorney Pamela Price

Responding to a surge in crimes in the region, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Feb. 6 that he is temporarily increasing state law enforcement personnel in Oakland and the East Bay.

About 120 California Highway Patrol officers are being deployed in the operation – about a 900% increase, according to the Governor’s office.

“As crime rates across California decrease — including right across the Bay in San Francisco — Oakland is seeing the opposite trend,” said Gov. Newsom.

“I’m sending the California Highway Patrol to assist local efforts to restore a sense of safety that the hardworking people of Oakland and the East Bay demand and deserve.”

The CHP officers have been tasked with helping to reduce and prevent auto theft, cargo theft, retail crime, violent crime, and high-visibility traffic enforcement.

“I welcome the support from the Governor in this fight against organized retail crime and the scourge of Fentanyl in our community,” said Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. “I am assigning Alameda County career prosecutor Assistant DA Michael Nieto to represent my office in this collaborative effort.”

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao called the surge in crime “unacceptable.”

“The City of Oakland is hard at work turning the tide — increasing law enforcement investigations, increasing police recruitment, and investing in community and violence intervention efforts,” said Thao. “As we work to improve public safety, I’m grateful for Governor Newsom for providing these critical law enforcement resources that are a game-changer in helping us hold more criminals accountable and make Oakland safer.”

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