News
New Bills Aim to Police the Police, Possibly Give State Its First Black Sheriff
In California’s long history, there has never been a Black person elected to the office of the county sheriff. Both Wiener and Cordell believe that SB 271 could change that.
To serve and protect California’s many communities is a daunting responsibility – from entry level jobs to the highest elected positions in public safety. Therefore, qualifications to hold these positions are important considerations as those criteria could mean the difference between life and death.
In the California Legislature, there are a few bills being proposed that aim to specify qualifications for those who take the oath to maintain public safety.
One proposed law, Senate Bill (SB) 271, also known as the Sheriff Democracy and Diversity Act, is authored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) and Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley). It would allow any registered voter to be eligible to be voted county sheriff in California.
“We want to reimagine a sheriff’s department that is accountable to the community they are supposed to serve, and the only way that happens is if we the people have the ability to run a diverse group of candidates, candidates that are concerned with taking care of our communities and not dominating, incarcerating and dehumanizing them,” said Cat Brooks, executive director of the Justice Teams Network, an organization committed to eliminating “state violence.”
Currently, only individuals who possess Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certificates can run for the office in the state.
This requirement went into effect in 1989, making Michael Hennessey, the longest serving sheriff of San Francisco, the last civilian who was elected in California in 1980.
“Since 1988, California voters have come to accept that only individuals with a law enforcement background can competently perform the job of a sheriff. SB 271 puts an end to that myth,” said Judge LaDoris Cordell, former Independent Police Auditor for the city of San Jose.
Cordell went on to explain why she takes this position.
“In 2015, I chaired a Blue-Ribbon commission that was convened to evaluate the county’s jails in the aftermath of the beating death of Michael Tyree, a mentally ill inmate who was beaten to death by three guards,” she said.
“What our commission found was a jail system that was horribly mismanaged. We also encountered tremendous resistance from the sheriff and her command staff to providing transparency into the jail operation … so much for law enforcement experience,” she said.
In California’s long history, there has never been a Black person elected to the office of the county sheriff. Both Wiener and Cordell believe that SB 271 could change that.
“SB 271 returns our state to pre-1988 standards while also bringing us into the 21st Century with a populace that is exhausted with the status quo and want a voice and choice in who sits in one of the most powerful positions in our county,” Cordell said.
According to the text of the bill, “Many current Sheriffs lack mental health or de-escalation training. As recent COVID-19 outbreaks in our jails demonstrates, the skills Sheriffs need to protect public safety include strong management, leadership, and the ability to move quickly and make difficult decisions, rather than the ability to fire a weapon.”
SB 271 has passed the Senate’s Public Safety Committee with a 4-1 vote. It is now being reviewed by the Governance and Finance Committee. A hearing was set for mid-March.
In addition, Assemblymember Jim Cooper (D-Sacramento) is proposing Assembly Bill (AB) 60, which would disqualify individuals who have been subjected to a military tribunal for any offense that would have been a felony in California from becoming peace officers in the state.
“The bill would also disqualify any person who has been certified as a peace officer by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training and has had that certification revoked by the commission,” the bill’s text reads.
On March 17, AB 60 was referred to the Assembly committee on Public Safety.
In the same vein, Assembly Bill (AB) 17, also introduced by Cooper, would disqualify an individual from serving as a peace officer who has been discharged from the military for an offense that would have been a felony in California.
Currently, these conditions would not bar a person from being hired at a law enforcement agency.
“Existing law makes the personnel records of peace officers and custodial officers and specified other records confidential and limits the disclosure of those records except in (certain) investigations or,” the bill’s text reads.
Assembly Bill (AB) 89, introduced by Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer (D-Los Angeles), would increase the qualification standards to become a peace officer.
The Assembly Public Safety committee is currently reviewing AB 17.
AB 89 would raise the minimum age to become a peace officer from 18 to 25, with the exception of individuals under 25 with advanced degrees.
“The bill would specify that these requirements do not apply to individuals 18 to 24 years of age who are already employed as a peace officer as of the effective date of this act,” the bill’s text reads.
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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.
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 Chevron, PG&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 1021, which 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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