When I used to watch the show Survivor many many moons ago, I also used to visit a message board where rabid fans would “predict” who would get voted off the next episode. They would list out their guesses in a thread where their picks would be based on their brain (who they thought would get voted off), heart (who they wanted to be voted out), and gut (who they instinctively felt would get voted out).
So here is my version of brain, heart, gut for the upcoming Alameda election.
Just a few random bits that have been swimming around in my head.
First up, the Alameda Library Foundation is hosting a benefit for the Library and is rather timely in light of the recent Slow Food event in San Francisco. Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and the Omnivore’s Dilemma will have a conversation with West Coast Live’s Sedge Thomson. The event is on Sunday, October 19 from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. and tickets can be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets online or if you don’t want to pay the service charge you can buy tickets at Daisy’s on Park, Books Inc, Alameda Marketplace, Dewey’s Friends Cafe (in the Library), and Lanvie (on Webster for those that don’t venture to the West side). Tickets include a dinner reception hosted by C’era una volta and Slow Food Alameda. It should be a really great event.
A subject that has been brough up periodically has been the lack of compensation received by our elected officials and thanklessness of the general job that they are expected to do. For simplicity, I’m just going to talk about the City Council rather than the City Council and School Board, not because the School Board does not have an equally thankless job, but it will make it a littl easier to follow.
For those that do not know, Alameda’s form of government is that of a council-manager, which means that we have an elected City Council, but then that City Council turns around and hired a City Manager to run day-to-day operations in the City, in our case they hired Debra Kurita a few years ago. The wikipedia article likens this form of government to one that would be commonly seen in the corporate world, the Council as the Board of Directors and the City Manager as the Chief Executive Officer of a little business called Alameda.
Tracy Jensen is running for City Council, here is some information that I have compiled about her from various internet searches to help you in making your decision.
Here is Tracy Jensen’s official campaign website. There is already a list of supporters on her website. Currently Tracy Jensen sits on the Alameda Board of Education. Here is her League of Women Voter’s profile from the 2006 election.
Here is a recent Alameda Sun article about the School Board and City Council races, about Tracy Jensen it says:
Quick note before turning the Justin Harrison profile, I have created the 2008 version of the “Who Went Where When” post which details which candidates attended which candidate forums, it is under the Election 2008 Roundup page.
Justin Harrison is running for City Council, here is some information that I have compiled about him from various internet searches to help you in making your decision.
Here is his campaign website, which has undergone some major content tweaks since it was first released, and his blog and a link to his Myspace page and his Myspace page en Espanol! (For some reason, the English Myspace page is coming up en espanol as well, at least the headings are but not the content)
Then of course, my blog post about Justin Harrison’s issues, most of which have been since removed.
Marie Gilmore is running for City Council, here is some information that I have compiled about her from various internet searches to help you in making your decision.
An article on Marie Gilmore after she was first appointed to the City Council to fill the seat vacated by Al Dewitt. Her educational and community service background:
…Gilmore comes to the council with a Stanford education and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law.
In addition to her eight years on the Planning Board, she also served on the Alameda Recreation and Parks Commission and on the Northern Waterfront Specific Plan Committee…
Updated 9/24/08
Doug De Haan is running for City Council, here is some information that I have compiled about him from various internet searches to help you in making your decision.
This blog’s previous profile on Doug deHaan compiled when he ran against Beverly Johnson for Mayor and lost. I am trying to stay away from adjectives to describe by how much he lost by, let’s just say, “a lot.”
Here was what Doug deHaan filed with the League of Women Voters when he ran for Mayor in 2006. Here were his answers to Alamedans for Climate Protection from the 2006 race.
Tonight the City Council meets and while the agenda is a little light, there are a few things that (hopefully) folks will find of interest.
First is a report back to the Council on how the City is progressing with the Local Action Plan for Climate Protection. According to the staff report, and it probably just slipped my mind, but the ban on styrofoam in Alameda went to effect sometime this Summer? I must have missed the memo, I did notice that Burgermeister was using the paper take out containers, but figured that was because most of their other stores are in San Francisco and they get a bulk discount on non-styrofoam products. But here’s a suggestion for “greening” up our city a bit, perhaps the major retail corridors like Park and Webster should consider, in addition to having garbage bins, recycling bins on the street too. When I peeked inside one of the trash cans off of Park Street it was full to the brim of recyclable waste, not just any old recyclable waste, but bottles and cans that have resale value. So maybe whoever picks up the garbage on Park Street already sorts through the trash for these treasures, but if they don’t it’s really quite wasteful.
So, it’s official, there are only four candidates running for City Council this election. It’s interesting because generally because of the high turnout that results from Presidential elections, this should have been a jam packed year full of candidates testing the waters. But now, there are only four. Two incumbents and two challengers.
For those who have been underground for the past week or so, they candidates are, in alphabetical order:
I can’t imagine that a lot of people reading this site actually reads “The Poop” which is the SF Chronicle’s Baby Blog, but there was an interesting post yesterday from Peter Hartlaub, who is the “pop culture critic” at the Chronicle. He writes about the guilt he feels as an East Oakland parent because he does not intend to send his kids to the local Oakland schools, highlights:
…my wife and I have been talking more about elementary school options for our older son. Our most likely choice involves driving him from our East Oakland home to Alameda every day, where he can attend public schools because my wife is a teacher in that district. We’ll also apply to one of the better Oakland schools in a less “transitional” neighborhood, or possibly consider a local Catholic school…
Blogging Bayport Alameda 