City Government

Supervisor Wilma Chan: County Adopts Tobacco Retail License Ordinance

Published

6 years ago

January 23, 2020

Supervisor Wilma Chan announced the adoption of an ordinance that bans certain tobacco products that encourage youth consumption in the County’s unincorporated areas and requires all tobacco retailers in these areas to obtain a license to sell tobacco products.

The new law, which was passed 4-0 with one abstention by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, represents one of the strongest and most comprehensive tobacco retail licensing ordinances in both California and the entire nation.

The ordinance bans the sale of all flavored tobacco products – including menthol cigarettes – as well as the redemption of all tobacco-related coupons in the unincorporated communities of Ashland, Castro Valley, Cherryland, Fairview, Hayward Acres, San Lorenzo and Sunol. Retailers of tobacco products and paraphernalia must obtain a nontransferable license that requires an annual licensing fee and mandates checking IDs for customers who appear under the age of 27.

Following the Jan.14 adoption, the ordinance will go into effect in 90 days on April 13, 2020, with the flavored tobacco ban becoming effective in 180 days on July 5, 2020. Retailers should expect to receive written notification from Alameda County on the ordinance’s requirements in March, which will be followed later in the month by visits from County staff to retail stores as well as informational sessions for retailers in the unincorporated area.

Overwhelming evidence indicates that the tobacco industry continues to target young adults through the sale and marketing of flavored and mentholated tobacco, which are considered “starter” products that can lead to lifelong addiction and serious health risks.

The law prohibits new retail licenses within 1,000 feet of schools and youth-populated areas, within 500 feet of existing tobacco retailers, and to businesses that contain a pharmacy. The law also establishes a minimum sale price of $8.00 per cigar, pack of cigarettes, or pack of little cigars, while requiring a package size of at least 20 little cigars. A September study in the unincorporated area found that 83% of surveyed stores that sell little cigars offer them in pack sizes as small as one or two, with the lowest price for a single flavored product being $0.49.

Retailers in violation will be suspended from selling all tobacco products for 30 days for a first offense, 90 days for a second offense and one year for a third violation. A fourth infraction will result in license revocation, and all violations will remain on a retailer’s record for a five-year period. Enforcement of the licensing program will be conducted by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.

Tobacco retail licensing programs have also been adopted by Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Dublin, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Oakland, San Leandro, and Union City.

Erika Brink, Wilma Chan’s Office

Posts by Erika Brink, Wilma Chan’s Office

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of July 1 – 7, 2026

Published

5 days ago

July 5, 2026

Oakland Post

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Oakland Post

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Inaugural Juneteenth Awards Ceremony Celebrates the Fillmore’s Black History, Leadership and Resilience

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

Published

2 weeks ago

June 26, 2026

Oakland Post

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown, Pastor Emeritus of Third Baptist Church, SF Mayor Daniel Lurie. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

By Linda Parker Pennington

The Fillmore Community Ambassadors held its first annual Juneteenth Wesley Johnson White Horse Awards ceremony on June 19 inside the newly reopened Fillmore Heritage Center.

The event featured awards for former San Francisco mayors London Breed and Willie Brown, along with Third Baptist Church Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Dr. Amos Brown.

The Koret Heritage lobby at the newly reopened center at 1330 Fillmore St. held a standing-room-only, culturally diverse and multi-generational audience while the art gallery featured photos of Fillmore community members in action, red Japanese lanterns, art and calligraphy, and Chinese artwork, giving the space a multicultural feel.

Addressing more than 100 Black and Asian attendees, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stated “San Francisco is reliant on the Black community, and we must invest in this community.”

District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood acknowledged that “the Fillmore community has had a difficult history. Thanks to Rev. Amos Brown’s continuous focus on accountability and resistance, you hold us accountable and continue to inspire us.”

Mahmoud is referring to the Fillmore’s Japanese residents who were forced from their homes and sent to concentration camps during World War II. Black people occupied those homes until the return of their Japanese neighbors and then gave them back, while homes that had been unoccupied were lost. The presence of the Asian community on Juneteenth is a testament to that shared history.

In receiving his honor, Amos Brown elicited a powerful spontaneous call-and-response, where members of San Francisco’s many Black churches proudly shouted out the names: “Bethel AME! Providence Baptist! Jones Memorial! Glide!”

Awards program Master of Ceremonies Shawn Richards of Brothers Against Guns warmly introduced Breed, highlighting her many accomplishments, particularly on “March 16, 2020, when she became the first mayor to shut down a major U.S. city due to COVID-19, saving thousands of lives.”

The audience was captivated by Breed’s emotional speech touching on past traumas, present conditions, and future hopes for the neighborhood where she grew up.

She recalled another trauma of the neighborhood during the City’s redevelopment era in the 1960s, where Black residents were forced to move with a promise of being able to return that was largely unfulfilled.

“We remember when this land was just a field because they bulldozed hundreds of Victorian homes that Black people owned. They built the Fillmore Center, where most Black people can’t afford to live or start their own business. But we are still here.”