City Council Election '24 Questionnaire: Mia Esperanza Brown and Calvin Dillahunty

 This City Council election season, the Tattler continues its 15 year tradition of  disseminating answers put to City Council candidates for the edification of the voting public.  The upcoming City Council election features six candidates competing for three seats.  The six are: Mia Esperanza Brown, Calvin Dillahunty, Sam Gould, Sukhdeep Kaur, Matthew Solomon and Courtney Welch.  Courtney Welch is an incumbent as well as Sukhdeep Kaur (who was appointed to her position following the resignation of Council member Medina).   Unfortunately, both Ms Welch and Ms Kaur declined to take part in this opportunity to inform the voters about their ideas for our town.  Accountability being an integral part of any democratic polity, voters should take into consideration, candidates who don’t respect the community enough to answer questions.  

We thank each candidate that took the time to answer these questions for the voters to consider.  Our City Council is improved when democratic norms are followed, when the politicians show deference and respect to the voters.  We thank Sam Gould, Matthew Solomon, Calvin Dillahunty and Mia Esperanza Brown.

Each of the other candidate’s answers to these questions will be posted in succession, the names were picked at random.  Next up are two candidates running together as a slate, Mia Esperanza Brown and Calvin Dillahunty.

Mia Esperanza Brown

https://www.miaforemeryville.com/

1)  Name the three biggest issues facing Emeryville right now and what are your ideas to address them?

Decorum: Making our politics in Emeryville better and more accessible to everyone. We need to change how we select our mayors and make it about an election and not a selection

Affordability and lack of tenant protections: Lowering barriers to home ownership in Emeryville & reversing the downward trend of declining Black and Brown home ownership.  Allowing tenants the right to organize, allowing tenants to be first bidders to purchase rental property once it enters the market. This would be similar to Berkeley’s TOPA but before it was weakened.

   

Public safety and working with our officers to ensure the community feels safer and working with Kalimah and Calvin to gather community feedback about a substation (mini police station) in South Emeryville.  I would add more license plate reader cameras but with significant oversight from the public.

2)  Emeryville is the East Bay city with the lowest number of families per housing unit.  Why is that and what do you suggest should be done about it (if anything)?

I’m a mother of two children under three who has had to deal with eviction notices in Emeryville.  I believe the affordability of living in Emeryville is slipping away from us because we haven’t had people in office who are fighting for working families.  Before getting my current apartment, I was on a waiting list for a year.  We don’t have enough units that people can afford, but some developers are tired of this “no-parking” trend that our city council has demanded from them.  Carless cities for families aren't real and aren't pragmatic, practical, or progressive. It’s elitist.

This can be very frustrating and disheartening for families who do not have time to wait and need housing and SPACE!  Also having adequate parks and parking spaces for families can be crucial.  We also need to provide better support for our schools.  I have a friend in Emeryville who may be leaving just because she wants her daughter to attend better schools.  No parent should have to move just to afford opportunities for their children, and it isn’t EUSD’s fault, it’s ours for not coming up with an education master plan as a city.

3)   What do you think about Council collegiality?  Is being collegial with each other important to help facilitate the people’s work?

I think that council members should respect each other’s views even if they do not agree or have the same beliefs.  All council members should be doing what is best for the community and the people of Emeryville.

I’m guessing those who don’t understand why this is important also have the privilege of not being aware of workplace discrimination, especially as a woman, woman of color.  Being passed up for opportunities because you have a difference of opinion or because you are different should not have a place in city hall.

As council member, I would vote to put back in place the rotating of mayors to end favoritism.

4)  Is there enough accountability between Council members and the constituents?  If not, what is the solution?

Absolutely not. The hurdles it takes just for someone like me, for anyone to file a grievance about council members is impossible.  I’ve been in Emeryville for a few years but I used to think like everyone else that Emeryville was like Oakland and Berkeley in how we govern and prevent corruption. It’s not!

We could be better at accountability and responsibility by holding our elected officials to a higher standard.

5)  Is it important to build more park land in Emeryville going forward?  If so, how much do we need and how will you deliver it?

Yes. I would follow the general plan.

6)  What tells you how much market rate housing to build in Emeryville?  Is it knowable (measurable)?

RHNA, but I think we have had more than enough market rate housing. The other candidates are build, baby, build, but we’re not building low-income and low low income units like we should.

7)  Is the ratio of rental housing to ownership housing in Emeryville good?  If not, how will you address this issue for the Black and Brown community there are more renters than homeowners in Emeryville.

I think we are in a renter’s phase that could last fifty years from now, especially when we keep using bonds to borrow money that we’re paying for, for over a century.  As a below-market-rate renter we need to have a voice on our city council.  There is a below-market-rate renter on there but she’s all about the build, baby, build along with the other YIMBYs.  We need real advocacy so the barriers that were created in our BMR home ownership program that reduced the number of new homeowners just to ONE over a span of years, never happens again.

8)  Should Emeryville have a public library?  If so, how?

No. The Golden Gate branch should suffice especially since we are in a budget deficit.

9)  The City Council resolved support for the people of Ukraine, but not for a ceasefire in Gaza.  Was that correct in your view?

I support ceasefires worldwide.

10)  What should be done about all the empty storefront retail space in town?  Do developers have a responsibility to rent out their retail space they built?

One of the reasons why we have empty storefronts is because we don’t support our local businesses like the 40th Street Multi-Modal project that threatens to shut down our legacy businesses.  Calvin and I would join Council member Priforce in proposing a vacancy tax for residences and commercial properties and units.  If you have the space, fill it up, if not, pay a fee that will go to support eviction-prevention and our schools.

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Calvin Dillahunty

https://vote4calvind.com/

1)  Name the three biggest issues facing Emeryville right now and what are your ideas to address them?

I believe the three most important opportunities for growth in Emeryville that I happen to be focused on are public safety, lack of support for small businesses and their workers, and our climbing deficit. Our slate, “Emery Rising,” is about new city leadership learning from the mistakes of the past so we can govern in a better way than what exists now.

Council member Priforce has been preparing Mia and I for these roles, whereas Mia Esperanza Brown is focused on some areas, I’m focused on others and then there’s some overlap. I believe in progressive policing and that the relationship between the city and our police force should be healthy and Emeryville as a whole should feel safer for everyone. Public safety is more than just policing. It includes fire, hazard, and disaster preparedness systems, but we can’t be prepared for the worst if we are in a deep financial hole.

I was picked to be on the slate because of my business background and maybe I can be considered naive for bringing my customer service and technical expertise into city government to resolve our deficit, but we do have to do a better job of keeping our local businesses around in Emeryville like the 40th Street Multi-Model and how it’s hurting businesses that have been with us for years.

By hearing from them rather than dictating to them, we can come to a better compromise than what they are getting. What’s currently on the books of how we treat people in Emeryville isn’t working, so I would help with better small business support, widen our police presence with a substation in South Emeryville, and fix our deficit by reforming the city’s relationship with big developers. No more of these shady dealings to finance political campaigns.




2)  Emeryville is the East Bay city with the lowest number of families per housing unit. Why is that and what do you suggest should be done about it (if anything)?

We need better tenant protections, and we have to make sure landlords actually rent out properties. This is both for residential and commercial. Emeryville feels empty, like we are building for companies that won’t come and sticking residents with the bill for them not showing up. To support families in Emeryville we have to increase home ownership opportunities and improve our BMR (Below Market Rate) program for owners and renters.

Most of all, we need a Vacancy Tax similar to other cities so properties and units won’t sit empty for long without there being a cost.




3)  What do you think about Council collegiality? Is being collegial with each other important to help facilitate the people’s work?

It is, but not at the expense of independence. If I were a council member, I would represent my constituents, not my own interests. I attended a council meeting last month and several times while I was there it was giving me “high school,” vibes. I probably wouldn’t be in politics if it weren’t for Councilmember Priforce because he showed me that my voice matters.

I admit, Mia and I waited until the last minute to get our paperwork because we heard that politics gets ugly in Emeryville and I stay away from drama. All this talk about Kalimah using us as political tools is disrespectful and the people making these comments (I heard it’s just one guy) are cowards. You have something to say, say it to my face. Don’t be a coward. Keep the drama to yourself and respect that Mia and I want this because it’s time for change in Emeryville.

My building was sold right from under us and my car was broken into, and they act like everything is golden. The way the city council carry themselves, they make it seem like they only want certain people belonging up there. That’s not collegial. It’s high school.




4)  Is there enough accountability between Council members and the constituents? If not, what is the solution?

It’s hard to have accountability when everyone is expected to sound the same and care about the same things. Does everyone have to be so focused on housing and transportation? What about other parts of the city? What about balancing our budget? We need better ethics. Let the people decide.

The best way to have accountability is to have different people on the council so there’s a greater balance of viewpoints and experiences, but that’s not our current council.




5)  Is it important to build more park land in Emeryville going forward? If so, how much do we need and how will you deliver it?

I think we should follow our General Plan that tells us we should be building more parks. We just got a new park extension, which is great, but we are so behind from where we should be. I don’t want to promise to build more parks until we fix our budget, but I’m open to it.




6)  What tells you how much market rate housing to build in Emeryville? Is it knowable (measurable)?

We have the RHNA numbers that informs us how many units we should build, but we are building more luxury housing than affordable housing, and so we’re not even following those numbers.




7)  Is the ratio of rental housing to ownership housing in Emeryville good? If not, how will you address this issue?

I’m a renter so I think it’s good, or else I wouldn’t be here, but I don’t want to be a renter forever, and I would like to stay in Emeryville. The weather is much better here than Arizona.

Home ownership is key to any city that wants to grow, but it’s also a vehicle for economic mobility, a wealth builder, and I was pretty pissed off that we created ways to stop people applying for our BMR ownership program in the past. It was discrimination and it wasn’t during my father or grandfather’s day, it was within this decade. We need more homes we can own in Emeryville and we can protect renters while also protecting single-family homeowners.




8)  Should Emeryville have a public library? If so, how?

My first instinct is yes. It's everyone's gut reaction to say yes because who doesn’t like libraries? When Council member Priforce explained to me the cost of having one rather than supporting the Golden Gate branch, I understood why we don’t have one. I’d rather we focus on the art center instead as a priority.




9)  The City Council resolved support for the people of Ukraine, but not for a ceasefire in Gaza. Was that correct in your view?

I support all ceasefires worldwide.




10)  What should be done about all the empty storefront retail space in town? Do developers have a responsibility to rent out their retail space they built?

We should put a vacancy tax on them until they find a tenant.