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The race for this 12 months’s solely contested seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors has come down to 2 flawed candidates within the Nov. 8 runoff.
We suggest former Alameda Metropolis Councilwoman Lena Tam however with reservations about each contenders’ previous conduct as elected officers. Of the 2, Tam would finest characterize the residents of District 3, which incorporates Alameda, San Leandro, San Lorenzo and a part of Oakland.
Tam and Oakland Metropolis Council member Rebecca Kaplan acquired probably the most votes within the four-way June election, however neither received the bulk wanted to exchange Supervisor Wilma Chan, who was fatally struck by a automobile in November 2021 whereas strolling her canine.
In a rushed and politically orchestrated course of to exchange Chan after her loss of life, the remaining 4 supervisors appointed her chief of employees, David Brown, to serve the rest of her time period. However due to his restricted time residing within the district, Brown shouldn’t be eligible to run for a full time period. Certainly, his interim appointment is legally questionable and presently the topic of litigation.
Tam has the federal government expertise for the job. She is a civil engineer and supervisor of water sources for the East Bay Municipal Utility District, the place she has labored for 34 years. She has additionally served on the Alameda Metropolis Council from 2006-14 after stints on the Metropolis of Alameda Well being Care District Board and the Alameda County Planning Fee.
In a district the place the voting-age inhabitants is almost one-third of Asian descent in a county the place Asians are the largest racial group, Tam, if elected, would substitute Chan as the one Asian particular person and the one lady on the five-member board.
The job is formidable. The Board of Supervisors units coverage and approves the funds for a county authorities of almost 10,000 staff working in 21 totally different businesses and departments who present well being care, social providers, public safety and different packages.
As she talks about bettering public security within the district, Tam recounts her conversations with Oakland’s Asian retailers who inform her of patrons afraid to enterprise out to buy due to crime. Tam additionally vows to push for extra assist for the homeless and higher psychological well being providers.
In distinction, Kaplan, has been a pacesetter of the Oakland council’s hard-left faction, keen to manufacture income numbers through the funds course of and undermine metropolis labor negotiators to benefit her union supporters, and keen to squeeze police staffing at a time when extra cops are desperately wanted. A relentless self-promoter, Kaplan has run twice unsuccessfully for mayor and is now on the lookout for a unique political promotion.
Tam has had her personal controversy. A 2010 Alameda city-commissioned investigation discovered that, whereas serving on the Metropolis Council, she improperly shared confidential data with a developer and a labor union and intervened within the collection of a bond underwriter. Tam and her legal professional denied wrongdoing, and the district legal professional exonerated her of prison transgressions and declined to current the case to the civil grand jury.
