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District 4 Supervisor
Incumbent Supervisor Nate Miley is the clearcut best choice for Alameda County Board of Supervisors District 4, which includes Pleasanton and extends through communities to the west into parts of Oakland.
Miley, who is seeking his sixth term on the county board, has demonstrated himself to be a responsible voice on countywide issues that also resonate in Pleasanton — homelessness support, transportation improvements, pensions, prudent budgeting and mental health services.
He voted in favor of Urban Shield, he’s been a leader in the Coliseum sale and he’s spearheaded programs to fight illegal dumping.
Miley has also been responsive to Pleasanton residents and our local issues, such as helping secure Measure A1 housing bond funds for Kottinger Gardens and Sunflower Hill, safety improvements on unincorporated roads like Foothill Road, Castlewood and Happy Valley services, and tracking the fairgrounds strategic plan.
The lone challenger on the ballot, Esther Goolsby, an environmental community organizer from Oakland, did not bother to respond to our request for an interview, had no candidate statement in the voter guide and has only a vague campaign website.
Vote for Miley for Supervisorial District 4.
District 1 Supervisor
This is the more interesting Tri-Valley election for Board of Supervisors.
With longtime Supervisor Scott Haggerty retiring, the race is wide open for the District 1 seat that includes Dublin, Livermore, Fremont and parts of Sunol.
The four candidates are Fremont City Councilman Vinnie Bacon, Dublin Mayor David Haubert, Dublin City Councilwoman Melissa Hernandez and State Sen. Bob Wieckowski, a Fremont resident who is being termed out at the state level.
To win the seat outright on March 3, a candidate would have to earn more than 50% of the vote, so a two-candidate runoff in November is highly likely.
At this stage, we prefer candidates Hernandez and Haubert, and hope to see them facing each other in a runoff election in November.
During the Weekly’s candidate forum in Livermore last month, Hernandez stood out as a poised advocate for priorities relevant in the Tri-Valley and countywide, including championing the Valley Link project and other traffic and transit improvements, aiding homeless people, supporting the agricultural industry and finding housing solutions.
Hernandez, who is nearing the end of her first term on the Dublin City Council, has earned a broad base of support for her supervisor campaign during the primary cycle.
The other strongest candidate is Haubert, a seasoned local elected official with nearly two decades of experience under his belt, between the Dublin mayor’s seat, council and school board. His supporters include each of the other Tri-Valley mayors.
In an interview with the Weekly, Haubert articulated informed views on key topics such as traffic solutions, homelessness, Valley Link, affordable housing, criminal justice and the ag industry.
The two Dublin officials would best represent the Tri-Valley and the rest of District 1 as a whole on the county board.
Wieckowski has obviously amassed an impressive elected service record as well, but we’re concerned about his ability to understand the Tri-Valley and accomplish its unique priorities while sitting in a nonpartisan seat for the first time in a decade.
Bacon has shown he knows Fremont issues, but we wanted to hear more specifics from him on Tri-Valley and countywide priorities during our forum to demonstrate he could overcome the familiarity gap.
With a runoff very likely, we think it’s premature to commit preference to a single candidate in the primary, but we hope to see Hernandez and Haubert on the November ballot.
State, federal legislators
With the State Assembly District 16, State Senate District 7 and 15th Congressional District elections all guaranteed for runoffs in November, we are holding off on final endorsements in those races.
But we’re leaning heavily in favor of the three incumbents at this point — and fully expecting each to advance out of the primary to face one challenger in the general election as the top-two finishers in the primary.
In her first term, Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) has quickly and decidedly proven herself a strong advocate for the Tri-Valley in Sacramento.
Meanwhile, her challenger, Alamo businessman Joseph A. Rubay, appears to be only a token Republican on the ballot, with no elected experience running little-to-no campaign.
Incumbent State Sen. Steve Glazer (D-Orinda) has also proposed legislation and cast votes in strong support of priorities important to residents and community leaders in the Tri-Valley — even if that means occasionally going against his party.
Surely then, it’s no coincidence his fiercest competition is coming from within his party, San Ramon Democrat Marisol Rubio, a scientific researcher and health care provider who has been backed by many labor union and progressive Democratic groups.
We expect Glazer and Rubio to advance to the general election, considering the other challenger, Republican Julie Mobley, has no apparent campaign. And we hope to see interest groups who oppose Glazer start avoiding the type of misleading campaigning that we’ve seen this winter.
Fourth-term Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Livermore) is on the ballot for Congress with six unproven challengers, each of whom have no prior elected service and are running disjointed (or non-existent) campaigns.
We hear the concerns of certain readers critical of Swalwell’s ascending profile in D.C. — the idea that he’s focused on his national image or party standing, with issues like impeachment, rather than discernible accomplishments in and for the Tri-Valley.
Make no mistake: His legislative record is unmatched in this election. None of the challengers appear anywhere close to a viable congressional candidate.
And for what it’s worth, Swalwell was the only candidate whose response to us for last week’s cover story actually mentioned District 15 and local priorities.
We look forward to watching the next eight months of campaigning closely, and solidifying our recommendations in these three races thereafter.
“We hear the concerns of certain readers critical of Swalwell’s ascending profile in D.C. — the idea that he’s focused on his national image or party standing, with issues like impeachment, rather than discernible accomplishments in and for the Tri-Valley. Make no mistake: His legislative record is unmatched in this election.”
And exactly what “record” (and accomplishment) would that be?
“In her first term, Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda) has quickly and decidedly proven herself a strong advocate for the Tri-Valley in Sacramento.”
So she’s an “advocate”? What about quickly and decidedly proving herself as rubber stamp/”yes” vote for the far left of the Democrat party?
No thank you. We don’t need yet another representative telling us government is always the solution – and that the state somehow does not regulate/tax/spend enough.