Changing of the guard continues in Alameda County

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For more than 20 years, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors meant stability.

Supervisors Nate Miley, Keith Carson and Scott Haggerty all were there more than 20 years, while Wilma Chan and Richard Vaile had more than a decade of experience.

Come next year’s elections, only Miley will be sitting on the dais. Haggerty retired after 24 years and was replaced by David Haubert, while both Chan (an auto accident) and Vaile (illness) died in office and have been replaced. The latest to step aside is the longest serving supervisor, Carson, who was elected in 1992. He represents a district covering most of the north county and announced his retirement on the last day to file—a surprise since nobody had filed to run against him.

The filing period was extended and drew a field of nine candidates making a run-off after the March primary likely.

In the San Ramon Valley, Supervisor Candace Anderson will continue to represent it after nobody filed to run against her. It will be her third unopposed election after she won the seat in 2012.

Incidentally, plaudits to Haubert who seemed to light a fire under the county administrator’s office and his fellow supervisors. Responding to an inquiry from San Francisco Chronicle sports columnist Scott Ostler Haubert said the county needed to be collecting the earlier payments from the Oakland A’s on their contract to buy the county’s share of the Coliseum site. The A’s had suspended negotiations with the city over the Howard site for a waterfront stadium and announced a deal to move to Las Vegas.

Haubert correctly said that triggered the payment clause. The county sent a letter and the A’s responded that they will pay it as called for.

Now, if the city could only figure out how to get that half so they control the site instead of the A’s having what amounts to a veto.

The year-end also marks the end of Joe Cristiano’s leader of the Northern California Mentoring Group. After retiring as CEO of Kelly Moore paints in 2002, Christiano was asking what comes next after the New Year dawned and he no longer needed to get up before sunrise to commute from Pleasanton to the Peninsula.

What started modestly as an adult school class through the Pleasanton school district has flourished. A December gathering celebrated its 20th anniversary and the formal stepping aside of Cristiano as its leader. Through the group, hundreds of lives have been touched as members were mentored to grow and improve, both personally and professionally.

Stepping in to lead the monthly gatherings and the group overall are Service Champions CEO Kevin Commerford and Pete Sweetnam, the general manager of Logoboss. Both companies are based in Pleasanton.

The other passing of the torch this holiday season took place at CityServe’s Thanksgiving Week prayer breakfast. Founding chair and former lead pastor at Valley Christian Center (now Brave Church) Roger Valci finished his service and handed over leadership to Tim Sbranti. Sbranti is a familiar face and voice at the event, serving as emcee for many years.

Congrats and thanks to Joe and Roger for their exceptional leadership over the years.