Two Alameda council, three school board seats contested Nov. 5

In addition to voting for America’s next president, Alameda islanders are voting in the Nov. 5 election for two open seats on the City Council and three on the school board. Five candidates are running for the council and four for the school board.

One council seat is being vacated by termed-out incumbent Malia Vella and another another is that of Trish Herrera Spencer, who is up for reelection. On the school board, Margie Sherratt, who was appointed to finish the term of Megan Sweet after she resigned, has decided not to run for Sweet’s seat, and the seats of current board members Heather Little and Jennifer Williams (who is also the board’s president) are up for reelection, for which Little and Williams are running. Incumbent candidates for two other Alameda offices, City Auditor Kevin Kearney and City Treasurer Kevin Kennedy, are running unopposed.

Council: Trish Herrera Spencer (votetrish@gmail.com) says she is running for reelection to the City Council because “community members asked me to because of my history of helping them and our city.” Spencer is a former mayor and member of the Alameda Unified School District Governing Board (the city’s school board). Among her accomplishments that Spencer cites are creating Alameda’s Community Assessment Response & Engagement (CARE) Team as a nonpolice response to nonviolent individuals in mental health crises; developing the Jean Sweeney Open Space Park; and putting in bird-safe glass and street lights.

“I am a proven, responsive leader,” she says.

Fellow council candidate Greg Boller (gregboller.com), a fifth-generation Alamedan and current Alameda County deputy district attorney, vows if elected to “keep Alameda a place we can all call home. From housing and city design, tackling transportation challenges, to strengthening public safety efforts, I’m committed to making thoughtful decisions that move our city forward.”

Boller has the endorsement of California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

Another Alameda native running for the City Council is Steve Slauson. A member of the Alameda County Taxpayers Association and licensed electrical contractor, Slauson says he’s still working and still walks the city’s golf course. He said he wants to see more affordable housing in Alameda’s redevelopment areas, “like the old ship yard off Clement (Avenue).”

Slauson is also a law-and-order guy and says he’ll continue to support the Alameda Police Department’s efforts to keep the “riff raff” out of town.

“My van has been broken into eight times over the years, and I caught four of the criminals — with the help of the cops,” Slauson said. “I will continue to support the repeal of Proposition 47 with mandatory incarceration of repeat offenders.”

Candidate Thushan Amarasiriwardena’s background (thushanforalameda.com) is as a multimedia journalist and former Google employee. Currently, he works for the federal government on “technology transformation.” As a federal employee he is subject to the restrictions of the Hatch Act that only let him run in nonpartisan elections.

“Alameda City Council is a nonpartisan race, so I can run,” he said.

Amarasiriwardena said one reason he is running for council is because he’s concerned about the Island’s lack of affordable housing. Also, he says he walked every Alameda street during the COVID-19 pandemic and as a multimedia journalist, of course, blogged about it.

Michele Pryor (michelepryor.com) is a special education teacher in Fremont, where she is also the first vice president of the district’s teacher’s association. On her website she says “as a teacher, I know a thing or two about standing up to bullies, keeping an open mind and creating spaces that are welcoming and inclusive. As a labor organizer, I work every day to create pathways to the middle class.”

School board: Incumbent trustee Little (littleforausd.com) says, “the number-one issue facing our district is fiscal.The cost of running the district increases every day, and each year we struggle to find the funds to pay our teachers and staff a wage that mirrors the respect we have for them. Without new money coming into the district in the next year, we will need to make some sobering decisions to ensure we remain in the black.”

Williams (williamsforalameda.com), the current Alameda Unified School District board president, is also seeking reelection. An administrative law judge for the San Francisco Human Services Agency, Williams says her goal is to be judicious about the budget.

Williams says that if elected she wants to “ensure that full-day kindergarten continues and that our mental health contracts for direct services to students continue. She says she is also proud of data that show recent improvements in literacy rates for African American AUSD students and reduced chronic absenteeism in the district.

Candidate Joyce Boyd (joyce4ausd.com), a parent of two children who attended AUSD campuses, says she wants to see an emphasis on early literacy, especially by the third grade.

“Students learn to read from kindergarten through third grade and then read to learn from fourth grade on,” Boyd noted.

A certified public accountant, Boyd says the AUSD should operate with a balanced budget or operating surplus but opposes closing schools. “I grew up in a Detroit housing project raised by a single mother,” adds Boyd. “It was education that lifted me out of poverty and fires my desire to be a school board member.”

Finally, candidate Meleah Hall (hallforalamedaschools.com) says that as a school board member she would like to see improving school safety and early childhood education as goals.

Hall, who has three teaching credentials, a master-of-arts degree in information systems and technology and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford in psychology, says she wants wants to develop a strong and welcoming school environment by investing in staff development and training, creating more inclusive and bias-free schools and addressing the requirements of students with special needs.

Paul Kilduff is a San Francisco-based writer who also draws cartoons. He can be reached at pkilduff350@gmail.com.