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First Black Woman Honored with Lifetime Achievement Award from League of Calif. Cities    

Sedalia Sanders has had a lifetime of firsts, pushing boundaries in local politics. As a past president of the California League of Cities, elected in 1995, she was given the President’s Council’s highest honor at the opening of the organization’s three-day conference last Wednesday, at the Long Beach Convention Center.

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Sedalia Sanders delivered her acceptance speech with a combination of wit and humor. Thanking the audience for coming, she asked those who did not come to see her to “refrain from saying so.”
Sedalia Sanders delivered her acceptance speech with a combination of wit and humor. Thanking the audience for coming, she asked those who did not come to see her to “refrain from saying so.”

Solomon O. Smith | California Black Media

For the first time in history, a Black woman, Sedalia Sanders, was honored by the League of California Cities Past Presidents Council with its 2022 Past Presidents Lifetime Achievement Award.

Sanders has had a lifetime of firsts, pushing boundaries in local politics. As a past president of the California League of Cities, elected in 1995, she was given the President’s Council’s highest honor at the opening of the organization’s three-day conference last Wednesday, at the Long Beach Convention Center.

On stage were some of the past winners — but no African Americans. Cheryl Viegas Walker, also a past president of the league, presented the award.

“Today we recognize a true champion of local government,” Viegas Walker said, voice wavering. “One of my dearest friends and mentors who has been not only a champion of local government but a champion of quality-of-life issues, making our cities better places to live, to work to raise our families.”

Sanders delivered her acceptance speech with a combination of wit and humor. Thanking the audience for coming, she asked those who did not come to see her to “refrain from saying so.” Her speech recalled events of the last 80 years of her life and how they contributed to making her “part of the greatest generation.”

Sanders described her accomplishments as those of a “small town gal” from a “rural community” acknowledging the difficult job of governing, particularly with the recent pandemic. She emphasized the importance of a diverse, fair representation in government.

“So those who look like me, meaning of the same gender, those who may look like me, meaning the same ethnicity, and those who may look like me, because you’re my age or more,” said Sanders, “know that if you live long enough, work hard enough, all things can be accomplished.”

In a moment of reflection backstage, Sanders recalled how her political career began. The mayor of El Centro wanted her on the Board of Trustees of El Centro Community Hospital in 1982 but he warned her that she would need to be appointed to the position.

“This is 20 years after Martin Luther King, Jr. marched on Washington,” said Sanders. “He was killed in ‘63 and people were still worried about whether we (African Americans) have the knowledge, understanding or know-how and education to do this.”

But she persisted. Sanders said she won them over with her willingness to work hard and her tenacity. She went on to win, and defend a seat as a city councilwoman, and later mayor of El Centro, in Southern California from 1984 to 1999.

Leaders that were inspirational to Sanders at the time included former Los Angeles mayor, Tom Bradley. She remembers meeting him and being asked how she was able to do it. She answered. “it wasn’t easy,” to which Bradley responded, “tell me about it.”

Bradley was the first African American to win the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Sanders has achieved a long list of accomplishments and received several awards over 30 years in California politics. She has been mayor of El Centro, the president of the League of California Cities, a two-year member of the Board of Directors of the National League of Cities, a member of the Taskforce on Rural Competitiveness appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson, and the Vice-Chair of the Rural Development Council.

Hard work and faith were what Sanders says got her through some of the most contentious parts of her political career. Now in her eighties, she is not done yet. She has been reappointed by Gov. Newsom to the Executive Committee of the California Commission on Aging, where she has been serving since 2016.

For Sanders, the message is clear — no one should be told they are not as good as someone else. Everyone should be able to participate in the governing process.

“What I’m hopeful for is that the presentation I made today in my acceptance speech will inspire someone so that they can see that they can do this.”

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Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

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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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