After a brief vacation, I'm back with an extended edition of Steve Tavares Is Angry. With the Alameda County Democratic Central Committee set to bestow its backing for a large number of East Bay candidates on Sept. 15, I take a look at some of the possible storylines that may arise from over the weekend.
Later I take you on voyage back to 2012 to remind you of the worst person in East Bay politics--AC Transit at-large board member Joel Young.
In the hot seat, I welcome Oakland mayoral candidate Pamela Price to the podcast. You will find her take on how the central committee does its business quite fascinating.
In The Breakdown, I take another look at the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council. What exactly is going on over there? All seven members are hand-picked by Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley. All seven are contributors to his political campaigns. The end result appears not to be a true citizens advisory council, but one dedicated to benefit special interests. In the Hot Seat, I chat with Hayward Councilmember Sara Lamnin, who is running for re-election in what will likely be a tough campaign among three strong candidates for two at-large seats on the council.
Watergate in Hayward? A robber broke into council candidate Aisha Wahab's car and stole campaign materials, but left a cigarillo in the car. Meanwhile, every smoker in Hayward politics appears to be a suspect. In The Breakdown, I take a look at the Oakland District 6 council race and how all of Desley Brooks' challengers appear to be scared to actually challenge her. Then, in the Hot Seat, I chat with Union City council candidate Harris Mojadedi.
A Berkeley councilmember was pulled over for running a light and suggested for the police officer to let him off scot-free, telling her he had just voted for a big raise for her union. It's the kind of thing that bolsters the sentiment of people who despise government and public officials.
In The Breakdown, I take a look at the first debate of the Oakland mayoral campaign season with a focus on the difficulty Mayor Libby Schaaf faces in rebutting her challengers' argument that she has not done enough to keep the city's homelessness problem from exploding into a full-blown crisis.
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It's the most disconcerting, yet wacky Steve Tavares Is Angry podcast yet. As more allegations against the Alameda County Sheriff's Office pile up in just the last few days, why does Sheriff Ahern continually escape scrutiny?
In The Breakdown, the strange case of an once-prospective Alameda City Council candidate takes another turn. I take a look at what really might be behind the renewed effort. And who knows? Maybe there's karaoke.
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All that work building a support system to run for local office and you forget to do the one thing that actually gets you on the ballot. A colossal mistake in Alameda gets lampooned on the podcast.
In The Breakdown. Rep. Eric Swalwell is really thinking about running for president. How might it go down? Or will it, based on past experience?
Also, politicians talk smack to me.
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A Hayward councilmember running for mayor posts an odd photo of himself on Twitter; Pamela Price kicks off her own run for Oakland mayor with an impressive campaign video, and the debate season starts in Alameda on Wednesday night.
In The Breakdown, I take a look at the unelected Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council, which serves at the pleasure of Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley. The CV MAC is essentially unincorporated Castro Valley's de facto city council. But while the council doesn't really have any power, its chair, a developer named Marc Crawford, went to great lengths to secure the position on Monday night. What happened will make you chuckle, then shock you in its brazen abuse of power.
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Hayward City Council candidate Aisha Wahab turned heads two weeks ago by reporting a haul of campaign contributions that was more than double the combined amount by her two incumbent opponents. Aisha Wahab joins the Hot Seat for an interview about her vision for Hayward.
In The Breakdown, I take a look at Hayward's mayoral and city council races this fall. Can Mayor Barbara Halliday stave off Councilmember Mark Salinas for a second time? Will the lack of media coverage in Hayward affect the races for mayor and council?
I also give some unsolicited advice for Union City's police chief.
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People often ask me, "Why do you hate Eric Swalwell?" I don't hate him, but on Thursday's Steve Is Angry Podcast, I'll tell you about what he did to me and why I'll never give him a participation trophy. Never!
Also, in The Breakdown, one good thing about Swalwell is he took his destiny into his own hands and challenged an unopposed congressman. With the filing deadline coming Friday, 5 p.m., I'll detail the East Bay races that are, in fact, not yet races because nobody has bothered to challenge incumbents.
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Premiere Week continues with the realization that Oakland Councilmember Desley Brooks insists that reporters meet her at Eastmont Mall and jumped into her aging Lexus for interviews.
Plus, in The Breakdown, Steve looks at the 15th Assembly District race and how each candidates performed at the recent Alameda County Democratic Central Committee post-primary endorsement meeting last week.
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The world premiere of the Steve Tavares Is Angry Podcast ponders the possibility of Steve's neighborhood being gentrified and the future loss of his Orange Julius-sized apartment in Alameda. Plus, in The Breakdown, he looks at the pro-Trump barrage of anti-immigrant tweets sent recently by the chair of a San Leandro school district $104 million bond measure oversight committee and how San Leandro officials were too afraid to speak out against her.
Steve Tavares is angry and you should be, too.
Fremont needs to appoint a new council member following the surprising election of Lily Mei as mayor. One candidate for the appointment is Roman Reed, a Fremont planning commissioner with one of the most interesting back stories you will ever hear.
Reed sat down with me to discuss her plans for Fremont, along with his passion for finding cures for cancer, paralysis and other ailments that might one day be found using stem cells. He subsequently found the Roman Reed Foundation.
In 1994, Reed was paralyzed while playing football for Chabot College. As the school newspaper's sports editor, I witnessed Reed's injury and covered that fateful game.
Election Day is upon us. Or, shall we say the last throes of democracy in America is near?
Nevertheless, Bay Area News Group political reporter Matthew Artz joins the podcast for a special Election Day in the East Bay preview.
We touch on the presidential election, California's U.S. Senate race and the suburban battle in the 16th Assembly District.
All bases are covered in the East Bay, from Fremont's mayoral race to Hayward's war among public officials, to the titanic tilt in the 17th Congressional District between Rep. Mike Honda and Ro Khanna. And who can forget Oakland's forgettable council races?
We also give our prediction, too!
In his first interview since registering the biggest upset of the June primary season, 17th Congressional District candidate Ro Khanna returns to the East Bay Citizen Podcast.
Khanna candidly says he didn't anticipate beating Rep. Mike Honda in the primary earlier this month. The nearly two point margin puts Khanna in an advantageous position for the November rematch.
Later, Khanna lays out his progressive vision for the district that includes Fremont and portions of Santa Clara County all the way to San Jose, in addition, to his stances on marijuana legalization, affordable housing and rent control.
The 17th Congressional District primary race featuring Rep. Mike Honda and Ro Khanna is one of the most highly-anticipated House race in the country.
With six candidates hoping to grab a spot in the Top Two primary, supporters for Honda and Khanna duel it out in the East Bay Citizen Podcast's first-time-ever three person show.
In the spirited podcast, Daily Kos citizen blogger Glen "The Plumber" Shaffer and former Tri City Democratic Forum chair Yogi Chugh debate some of the issues in the hyped House race. And it is, indeed, spirited.
In addition, don't forget to vote on June 7!
Primary Day is less than two weeks away and state Senate candidate Nancy Skinner sits down to chat about her campaign in the Ninth District.
Skinner, as a former East bay assemblymember, once represented half of the much larger state Senate. The other half was previously represented by her rival this June (and likely next November) former assemblymember Sandre Swanson. The top two advance to the November General Election.
In the meantime, Skinner gives her thoughts on the June primary race, her experience in Sacramento and offers her views on governance, while touting her clear progressives credentials.
By the way, don't miss the end of the program! Listen to the reggae jam Skinner recorded back in 1981!
In most years, the California Republican State Convention is a sleepy affair, but certainly not this year. Republican presidential contenders Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich are coming to Burlingame this weekend to begin the final stretch toward the big June 7 California primary.
To kickoff coverage of the GOP state convention, former Alameda County Republican Party chair and 13th Congressional District candidate Sue Caro joins the program this week to talk about the local search by presidential hopefuls for locating loyal delegates to the national convention in Cleveland this summer.
Caro also lays out her vision for the congressional district long dominated by Rep. Barbara Lee, one of the most progressive members of Congress. In the interview, Caro describes Lee as ineffective for the district and merely a "symbol of a certain kind of thought process."
I've seen and heard much on the campaign trails across the East Bay over the past few months. Races at the state, county and city level, not to mention the nationally-watched Rep. Mike Honda-Ro Khanna rematch dominate the June Primary ballot. (By the way, if you're not registered to vote, do so now or forever hold your peace).
On this week's episode, I'll break down the candidates and issues in the big five races in the East Bay: State Senate Ninth District races; Assembly races in the 14th and 16th Districts; Hayward's 10-candidate City Council race; the aforementioned 17th Congressional District; and Alameda County's Board of Supervisor District Four winner-take-all race featuring Supervisor Nate Miley and Bryan Parker.
Tojo Thomas, Miley's opponent from four years ago, drops in to talk about his success during the last election cycle in baiting Miley into repeatedly losing his cool and setting up the long-time incumbent to make statements that could be used against him during this June Primary season.
Just months before the grueling 2014 congressional election in the 17th Congressional District between Democrats Rep. Mike Honda and Ro Khanna was nearing its climax, a former Honda congressional staffer was blowing the whistle on Honda's alleged commingling of officials and campaign duties.
Ruchit Agrawal, the then-Honda staffer, provided internal emails to the Office of Congressional Ethics showing the alleged improper actions, including one that could potentially lead to the end of Honda's 16-year political career this November, if found true.
On this week's East Bay Citizen Podcast, Agrawal, however, has surprisingly kind words for Honda and says the incumbent congressman is not unethical as his challenger Khanna suggests.
Agrawal also refutes other aspects of the allegations routinely used against Honda in the media, including the allegation that a list of campaign donors was crosschecked with the congressional office to offer additional and improper personal benefits to the contributor.
San Leandro is on the rise, if you can believe it. The momentum has been building for years and finally many in the tech world and potential home buyers are beginning to notice Oakland's neighbor to the south.
San Leandro Mayor Pauline Cutter joins the East Bay Citizen Podcast to discuss her city's newly found perch as a place other East Bay cities look to for leadership. Later, she talks about development of the San Leandro Marina, its downtown fiber optics loop sought after by industry, and the possibility one day of citywide free WiFi.
The city's first-ever medical marijuana dispensary is due to open later this year and another is already out to bid. Things are changing in The 'Dro, that's for sure.
The big 17th Congressional District primary race is much more than its Democratic headliners, Rep. Mike Honda and Ro Khanna. This week the show goes red with Republican candidates Peter Kuo and Ron Cohen.
Kuo has experience succeeding in mudslinging primaries including Democrats when he sneaked into the 2014 general election in the 10th State Senate District between Bob Wieckowski and Mary Hayashi. Will he play a similar role this time around as the designated peacemeaker in the race?
Cohen is a Fremont CPA running in his first political campaign. Although, one early report had him pledging allegiance to the Tea Party-led House Freedom Caucus, his conservative chops are much more diverse and complex. Unsurprisingly as a tax man by day, listen to Cohen's finer points on the nation's need for fiscal reforms.
The East Bay Citizen Podcast heads to one of this year's political hotspots--Berkeley--where Councilmember Jesse Arreguin is running for the city's open mayoral seat.
Like almost every Bay Area city, the lack of affordable housing, is a big problem. Arreguin describes his ideas for filling the gap and his campaign pledge to innovate Berkeley government.
There's also the problem of Berkeley's slow slide from being a nationally known icon of progressive thought. He says he wants to take back the mantle from local cities like Richmond and Oakland, along with other western cities, like Portland and Seattle.
The East Bay Citizen Podcast is back following the holiday break. Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty joins the program for a lively, entertaining discussion. Haggerty had some new insights into the Raiders stadium saga and, of course, revealed some of his gripes.
In the past week, Haggerty laid into some Castro Valley residents during a Alameda County Board of Supervisors meeting. He's unapologetic about calling the group "unappreciative" of the board's leadership in the unincorporated area.
Haggerty also touched upon the county campaign finance ordinance he authored in 2010 and its first real test coming with Supervisor Nate Miley's re-election campaign against a well-financed challenger.
Alameda County District Four Board of Supervisors candidate Bryan Parker travels to my hometown of Castro Valley to lay out his strategy for unseating Nate Miley next June.
Parker, a Port of Oakland commissioner who ran last year for Oakland, is facing an uphill battle against the long-time supervisor who represents cities between East Oakland and Pleasanton, including Castro Valley and other unincorporated areas of Alameda County.
"We're not into putting a scare into anybody," says Parker. "We're here to win."
During the show, I draw parallels between this campaign and another famous East Bay insurgent campaign from four years ago.
Later, Parker's offers his platform for the district, his views on Castro Valley cityhood and his opponent's stance on the future of Oakland's three professional sports team.
The unlikely new epicenter of the East Bay housing crisis is Alameda. On this week's East Bay Citizen Show podcast, Alameda Councilmember Jim Oddie said the move by a South Bay landlord to exploit a section of the city's recently approved 65-day moratorium on rents and eviction was a "slap in the face" to the City Council.
The resulting furor following the issuance of 60-day eviction notices to 33 families at Bay View Apartments in Alameda, said Oddie, could make the offending landlord the new face for a push by tenants to enact a strong rent control policy.
Oddie also works for Assemblymember Rob Bonta and he gives a preview of the lawmaker's potential agenda for the coming legislative year.
In addition, he also describes her less-than-stellar fantasy football team, unfortunately heavy on players from his hometown Chicago Bears.