Wednesday, November 6 will be the day after the election. While we likely won't yet know the results of many election races (🤞), the current members of City Council will nonetheless be scheduled to meet to carry on the public business of Alameda.

The agenda for this Nov. 6 meeting has been published.

The referrals section at the end, which includes "Matters placed on the agenda by Councilmembers" ends with these 3 items:

• "Consider Directing Staff to Establish a City Council Committee with the
  Port of Oakland Commissioners" added by Councilmember Tracy Jensen
• "Consider Directing Staff to Implement Automated Cameras at
  Intersections Where a Right Turn On Red Light is Prohibited, as
  Authorized by California Vehicle Code 21453" added by Councilmember Jensen
• "Consider Adoption of Resolution to Admonish City Councilmember
  Trish Herrera Spencer for Behavior which Violates City Council Code
  of Conduct Section 3(b)" added by Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft and Councilmember Malia Vella

(Note that each referral may only be submitted by a max of two councilmembers.)

In my mind, this set of agenda items demonstrate how much of the business of our entire city is currently shouldered by these three elected leaders. This blog post is a "thank you" to them for their service during this two-year "term" of the Alameda City Council.

Port of Oakland

The Port of Oakland surprised the city and businesses in western Alameda with its project to expand a "turning basin" for large cargo ships in the estuary between Oakland and Alameda. And Bay Farm residents already have a fraught relationship with Port of Oakland's airport (pardon me: "San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport" 😅)

Regarding the airport, the Nov. 6 meeting also has a regular agenda item added by staff that concerns the "Port of Oakland's Final Environmental Impact Report for the Terminal Modification and Development Project at the Oakland Airport." A critical 151 page long letter sent by the City of Alameda regarding this expansion project in 2023 is included in the agenda packet.

Good for Councilmember Jensen for proposing that the City of Alameda seek to build a more ongoing and hopefully collaborative relationship with leaders of the Port of Oakland.

Automated traffic enforcement

Automated means of enforcement needs to be a part of our toolkit to improve traffic safety. This blog may have more to say in the future about red-light cameras. In the meantime, here's a post from a past year regarding pilot testing of speed enforcement via camera that's beginning in a handful of Californian cities. Would be great for Alameda to join future phases of that program.

Thank you to Councilmember Jensen for starting this conversation and a potential planning process.

Councilmember Herrera Spencer

Our elected leaders are people with personal lives, with families, with day jobs or other responsibilities. On this blog, I regularly try to mark how my critiques of elected leaders are about their statements and their decisions in their public capacity. Without criticizing our elected leaders as everyday individuals around town or intruding into their private or professional lives, we can and should hold them to the responsibilities that come with their elected role in a public capacity.

Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft and Councilmember Vella have submitted this referral regarding Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer's conduct while on recent official city business.

Their proposed "resolution to admonish" may not change Councilmember Herrera Spencer's behavior. Only she can decide to change her own behavior. Nor will it remove her from office. Only us collectively as voters can decide whether to re-elected her for another term or to instead vote in 2 newcomers to City Council.

By introducing this "resolution to admonish," Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft and Councilmember Vella are doing something small but also big: They are reminding us all that no one ever needs to silently excuse inappropriate behavior – especially in the context of the privilege of serving in elected office.

Thank you

Councilmember Herrera Spencer's tactics and Vice Mayor Tony Daysog's frequent inability to cast votes may make it often appear at many Council meetings that Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft, Councilmember Vella, and Councilmember Jensen intentionally vote as a bloc of three. Listen to meetings and one will see their somewhat distinct priorities and concerns show through. Listen more closely and one will also sometimes notice the signs of stress and tension as the three are compelled at too many meetings hold it all together to ensure that the city can approve mundane contracts, that staff and consultant teams and public commenters are listened to with respect, and that decisions are made effectively and efficiently — or at least as best as can be done given the circumstances.

(In an ideal world, this next term will increase the count of responsible councilmembers to 4 in total — giving each some more flexibility to speak to their own concerns and priorities, while also producing Council meetings that feel less like turbulent plane flights through storms.)

Thank you to Councilmember Vella, Councilmember Jensen, and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft for their public service.