Are you eager to learn who will be running for office in the November election... in Alameda?
Alameda's City Clerk emailed out the following update today:
Starting July 15, 2024, the official nomination process begins for candidates running for City offices that are on the November 5, 2024 ballot (2 Councilmembers, Auditor and Treasurer).
If you're curious to see who pulls papers to run, the City Clerk adds:
A new email subscription, similar to other City email subscriptions, has been created where you can sign up to receive email updates on potential candidates. [...] If you would like to receive updates about 2024 candidates, please subscribe here
Electing two councilmembers to engage with change
When I started this blog in December of 2022, I wrote:
Most local-level decisions in Alameda are decided by the City Council of five members. Two seats will be open in the next election in 2024. One of those seats is currently held by a Councilmember who's very much engaged with a wide range of constituents and changes [Councilmember Malia Vella, who will be termed out]; the other is held by a reactionary who uses disorder and insults to preserve the status quo on behalf of her prefer constituents. Let's aim to fill both of those seats with skilled and responsible councilmembers who aren't afraid to engage with change in 2024.
To be upfront, I have occasionally thought about running for City Council myself, but what I also wrote in December 2022 still applies:
Nope, this isn't a campaign announcement! I look forward to helping to support two well-qualified candidates with more experience than this fellow who's still learning his way around Alameda.
When this summer's nomination process is complete, let's ideally see two solid candidates running for Alameda City Council on the November ballot.
They don't necessarily have to both identify as "progressive" nor do they necessarily need to be at the same exact point along some hypothetical "labor interests" spectrum or a hypothetical "business interests" spectrum or whatever other hypothetical spectrum exist in the minds of hypothetical movers and shakers in hypothetical smoke-filled rooms...
But ideally they will share a common interest in engaging with change — change that seeks housing for all, public services for all, transportation safety for all, modern and accessible infrastructure for all — and change that engages with tough topics like policing and public safety — and change that supports Alameda's full range of local businesses and employers, provides prudent stewardship to city finances and pension obligations, and efficiently develops or sells fallow city-owned lands — and change that recognizes we're at a critical moment to reduce our carbon emissions for ourselves and future generations — and change that's ready to engage in good faith with colleagues on City Council and with city staff for whatever random new topic must be handled on that week's agenda, from golf course contracting to whatnot.
And in sharing these common interests, even if their particular positions and interpretations may differ, two such candidates can also bring together voters who would like to see a related change: replacing Councilmember Trish Herrera Spencer and the mean-spirited and oppositional chaos she brings as an elected official with a new City Council that's more collaborative, caring, and effective for all of its constituents.