Latest news with #AlamedaCountyBoardofSupervisors
San Francisco Chronicle
08-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Mayor-elect Barbara Lee selects Oakland native and progressive politico as chief of staff
Oakland Mayor-elect Barbara Lee has chosen a local progressive leader with experience in the Obama administration as her chief of staff, the first official hire in her office that signals how Lee will run the city. Lee said Thursday that Miya Saika Chen would be her chief of staff when she takes office later this month. Saika Chen was chief of staff to Nikki Fortunato Bas, a progressive stalwart who was the City Council president before voters elected her to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in November. 'Miya understands how to work across city departments to get things done,' Lee said in a statement. 'Her extensive community network and relationships within Oakland's strong base of nonprofits, small business and community stakeholders will help ensure a broad cross section of the community joining us for the hard work ahead.' Saika Chen is the highest-ranking staff member Lee has hired to her office, and the move comes as Lee prepares to fulfill her promise to bring the city together to tackle its biggest challenges. The city is facing a nearly $270 million budget deficit over the next two years in its general purpose fund, which pays for fire, police and other services. Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins has proposed addressing the deficit by eliminating about 400 city positions and introducing a parcel tax for the June 2026 state primary ballot to generate more revenue for the city. Lee called Jenkins' proposal a step in the right direction. She has said she intends to examine the impact of browning out two fire engine companies. 'I'm excited to support our Mayor-elect's vision of unifying our community as One Oakland across our diverse constituencies, neighborhoods, labor and business to secure the results Oaklanders deserve,' Saika Chen said in a statement. Last week, Lee announced a roster of politicians, business leaders, philanthropists, attorneys and nonprofit heads to advise her on public safety, homelessness and other issues. The group of leaders will help Lee implement her 10-point plan that focuses on developing public safety strategies, streamlining building permits and cleaning up trash, among other goals within her first 100 days in office. As chief of staff to Bas, Saika Chen, an attorney, worked on expanding Ceasefire, the city's violence prevention strategy, and prioritizing affordable housing and community land trusts. During her tenure as Bas' chief of staff, the team successfully advocated for a 100% affordable housing project on city-owned land near Lake Merritt. Lee will be sworn into office on May 20.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Alameda Board of Supervisors offer rent to former racetrack employees
The Brief The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesay to pay rent for families with children living at the RV Park at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. Many residents are former employees of the racetrack, which ceased operations earlier this year. The rent will only last through the rest of the school year. ALAMEDA, Calif. - The Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to pay the rents of multiple families with children living at the RV Park at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. Those families had until recently lived on subsidized rent due to their work with the stables and horses that participated in the races at the fairgrounds. However, the Fair Board of Directors voted at a closed session on Jan. 20 to end horse racing at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, and asked for the removal of the horses by March 25. With the horses now gone, the families who had previously relied on the races for their income were left with few options. Many have children enrolled in Pleasanton Schools. By the numbers The exact amount the board will provide is currently unclear, but the county will be working with Centro Legal de la Raza to utilize emergency financial assistance funding through Housing and Community Development's Alameda County Housing Secure program to pay negotiated rents for families with children. The goal is to provide funding for three months of rents, to get the recipients through the end of the school year, but the funding may come through one month at a time. "We've been monitoring this situation for some time. We were happy the board made the decision to subsidize these rents so no one will be displaced and people can go on living their lives knowing they won't have to worry about rent for a couple months," Shawn Wilson, chief of staff for Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert, said. The backstory The Alameda County racetrack was the oldest one-mile track in the United States before it closed earlier this year. The fairgrounds' stables and horse training facility closed on March 25. The County Fair Board reportedly wanted to revive the horse racing that had been hosted on the property for at least five generations, but money and regulatory issues prevented that from happening. An assistant trainer at the time told KTVU that "at least 500 people" had lost their jobs as a result of the closure. The Source Shawn Wilson, Chief of Staff, Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
California board approves $2M to protect, provide legal services to illegal immigrants amid Trump crackdown
A California board voted unanimously to allocate millions of dollars for services aimed at protecting illegal immigrants and refugees in the community. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors in Oakland decided at Tuesday's regular meeting to set aside around $2.2 million for communities in their area in response to President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration, at the request of the board's ad hoc Alameda County Together for All Committee. "I'm committed, and I believe Supervisor [Elisa] Marquez is also committed, to making sure the board, the public, has more information and that this work is truly effective in reaching every single person in this community that is potentially at risk," Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas, chairwoman of the committee, said at the meeting. California Exploiting Medicaid 'Loophole' To Pay Billions For Illegal Immigrants' Healthcare, Study Says Minutes from the meeting show that the board approved the use of $50,000 to the Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach to "provide legal services and advocacy to marginalized immigrant communities." The money is being pulled from the District 5 Prior Year Savings fund and the Discretionary Services and Supplies funds. The board also approved up to $700,000 to be used by Centro Legal de La Raza to establish a Rapid Response Hotline, Know Your Rights training sessions, pre-emptive legal services and community volunteer network response coordination. Read On The Fox News App The organization describes itself as a "legal services agency protecting and advancing the rights of low-income, immigrant, Black, and Latinx communities through bilingual legal representation, education, and advocacy." Trabajadores Unidos Workers United was also approved for up to $500,000 to be used on "resources and preparation to immigrant and refugee communities, including training, mutual aid, and neighborhood resources." "TUWU believes in upholding the power of working-class immigrants through forging class consciousness and growing the leadership of low-wage immigrant workers," the organization says on its website. "TUWU seeks to abolish workplace exploitation through organizing, political education, and direct action that shifts power to the hands of the working class." Trump Signs Executive Order Ending Use Of Taxpayer Money To 'Incentivize Or Support' Illegal Immigration The California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice was also given up to $1 million for legal services. According to its website, the CCIJ's mission is to "utilize coordination, advocacy, and legal services to fight for the liberation of immigrants in detention in California." "For the community work, the proposal is that the county would fund half of one year's budget and there's private fundraising happening to fund the other half," Fortunato Bas said, in part. Supervisor David Haubert said the funding is "a community effort" and is being made possible through a "public/private partnership," emphasizing the financial burden is not solely on the county. Fortunato Bas said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that one-third of Alameda County residents are immigrants and "half of our children grow up in a household with at least one immigrant parent." "We are a diverse county, and our community needs protection. The policies of the federal administration are causing fear among our residents," she wrote, in part. "The unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors demonstrates our county's commitment to our immigrant and refugee communities, who will have more access to critical information, services, and legal support." The money approved on Tuesday comes after the board authorized $1.3 million in February for the Alameda County Public Defender Office's Immigration Unit, which provides deportation defense and legal services to illegal immigrants facing deportation, according to NBC Bay article source: California board approves $2M to protect, provide legal services to illegal immigrants amid Trump crackdown
Fox News
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
California board approves $2M to protect, provide legal services to illegal immigrants amid Trump crackdown
A California board voted unanimously to allocate millions of dollars for services aimed at protecting illegal immigrants and refugees in the community. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors in Oakland decided at Tuesday's regular meeting to set aside around $2.2 million for communities in their area in response to President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration, at the request of the board's ad hoc Alameda County Together for All Committee. "I'm committed, and I believe Supervisor [Elisa] Marquez is also committed, to making sure the board, the public, has more information and that this work is truly effective in reaching every single person in this community that is potentially at risk," Supervisor Nikki Fortunato Bas, chairwoman of the committee, said at the meeting. Minutes from the meeting show that the board approved the use of $50,000 to the Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach to "provide legal services and advocacy to marginalized immigrant communities." The money is being pulled from the District 5 Prior Year Savings fund and the Discretionary Services and Supplies funds. The board also approved up to $700,000 to be used by Centro Legal de La Raza to establish a Rapid Response Hotline, Know Your Rights training sessions, pre-emptive legal services and community volunteer network response coordination. The organization describes itself as a "legal services agency protecting and advancing the rights of low-income, immigrant, Black, and Latinx communities through bilingual legal representation, education, and advocacy." Trabajadores Unidos Workers United was also approved for up to $500,000 to be used on "resources and preparation to immigrant and refugee communities, including training, mutual aid, and neighborhood resources." "TUWU believes in upholding the power of working-class immigrants through forging class consciousness and growing the leadership of low-wage immigrant workers," the organization says on its website. "TUWU seeks to abolish workplace exploitation through organizing, political education, and direct action that shifts power to the hands of the working class." The California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice was also given up to $1 million for legal services. According to its website, the CCIJ's mission is to "utilize coordination, advocacy, and legal services to fight for the liberation of immigrants in detention in California." "For the community work, the proposal is that the county would fund half of one year's budget and there's private fundraising happening to fund the other half," Fortunato Bas said, in part. Supervisor David Haubert said the funding is "a community effort" and is being made possible through a "public/private partnership," emphasizing the financial burden is not solely on the county. Fortunato Bas said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that one-third of Alameda County residents are immigrants and "half of our children grow up in a household with at least one immigrant parent." "We are a diverse county, and our community needs protection. The policies of the federal administration are causing fear among our residents," she wrote, in part. "The unanimous vote of the Board of Supervisors demonstrates our county's commitment to our immigrant and refugee communities, who will have more access to critical information, services, and legal support." The money approved on Tuesday comes after the board authorized $1.3 million in February for the Alameda County Public Defender Office's Immigration Unit, which provides deportation defense and legal services to illegal immigrants facing deportation, according to NBC Bay Area.
