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- The News Brief: January 19th, 2025
The News Brief: January 19th, 2025
Oakland Mayor, California Fires, Indictments, and more.
Victor Flores
January 19, 2025
Happy MLK JR Day Weekend!
The beginning of 2025 started with force. While the nation prepares for a new presidential and legislative transition, California and the Bay Area are facing many challenges and changes as well.
Here are some interesting articles and summaries to help get you up to speed on your Sunday morning.
Bay Area News
In the mainstream media, the airwaves were lighting up with the news of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao being indicted for bribery charges. The former mayor among others was arraigned on Friday and pleaded not guilty.
Less talked about is the ongoing process by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to appoint a replacement District Attorney (DA). The previous DA Pamela Price was recalled in the November 2024 election. The appointed replacement would have to run for election in 2026. Steve Tavares at the East Bay Insiders has the details of that process. We began with 15 applicants and all of their resumes. The Board of Supervisors narrowed that list down and will begin the next phase of the appointment process.
Articles
Oakland Special Election: While many are beginning to move on from the election season, Oakland and the local politicos are preparing for a mad dash to an April 2025 special election. With a recalled Oakland mayor and a vacated city council seat many are watching to see which candidates will win and work on solving Oakland’s large budget deficit.
As of 1/17/25, 10 candidates for Mayor have qualified while six candidates for Oakland City Council District Two have qualified. The top names for Oakland Mayor are former Congressmember Barbara Lee, Former Oakland City Council Member Loren Taylor, and former Chief of Staff for (then) Council Member Sheng Thao, Renia Webb. Loren Taylor narrowly lost against Sheng Thao in the 2022 election and was considered the best positioned to win until Barbara Lee jumped in the race.
Articles
Federal News
The new administration is already undergoing confirmation hearings but most people are likely familiar with the uncertainty of TikTok’s Future. The app was removed from app stores while those opening the app saw messages saying it was no longer available due to the federal ban. This latest saga appears to be the latest victory for Meta against its competitors after spending millions of dollars lobbying, presumably against TikTok, and cozying up to Trump.
In other news, the Secretary of Transportation confirmation hearings took a more civil and bipartisan turn compared to those for Pam Bondi and Pete Hegseth.
Articles
CA Brief
The beginning of the year began with the quick expansion of two fires in Los Angeles County. By Malibu, the Palisades broke out while Eaton near Pasadena followed suit. The hurricane-level winds, lack of rain, and dry vegetation created the perfect storm. Contrary to some of the comments in particular from Republicans, water experts have stated that there are no water systems that are designed to deal with these types of fires, especially in urban areas. Additionally, the high winds forced aerial firefighter assets to stay grounded. The conditions and fires themselves aren’t necessarily unusual due to the Santa Ana winds, increasing lack of regular rain, and vegetation that dries quickly. Land use and housing development itself is a driver of these fires as more housing and people move into the wildlife-urban interface. While elected officials, developers, banks, and insurance companies have facilitated this housing construction, the Guardian article below leaves out the impact of NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard) in established communities. NIMBY sentiment and the legislation that was born to halt change and preserve property values have led to the State’s current housing shortage.
Last week the California Governor released his proposed budget of $322 billion. Rather than having a $46 billion shortfall, the state is currently projecting about $363 million in surplus. Remember, this is just the budget proposal, the legislature has not approved the budget. In May we will receive a revision based on changes to revenue predictions and actual revenue collection. A lot can happen in four months but the current surplus is created by moving $12 billion from the state’s rainy day fund to the general fund over two years. This budget also depends on making cuts to state prisons, California State Universities, eliminating vacancies, and other actions. K-14 remains fully funded and the Governor seeks to expand firefighter positions.
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