Emeryville Went The YIMBY Way: Now It Has The Most Expensive Rent In The East Bay

 The More Apartments We Build, The More Expensive It Is To Rent Here

City Council's YIMBY Gambit Failure

Building More Was Supposed To Bring Cheaper Rent

What Happened?

News Analysis

Rising apartment rents in Emeryville have eclipsed neighboring cities, leaving our city the most expensive place to rent in the East Bay amid an unprecedented apartment building binge and calling into question a long standing ‘supply and demand’ master narrative that has seized the housing policy debate here.  According to real estate brokerage and consumer search platforms, rents in Emeryville, formerly middle income affordable, are now shown to be pulling ahead of Piedmont and Walnut Creek, despite having built more new apartment units per capita than any other city in the East Bay; an overturning of overly simplistic supply side economic theory pushed by YIMBY.

In 2024, Emeryville emerged as the top East Bay most expensive city for one-bedroom apartment rentals, with average prices now peaking around $2,790, a 16.3% increase. Emeryville's significant rent growth and apartment building growth made it a standout, often surpassing the most expensive spots in other parts of the Bay Area.  The more Emeryville builds, the more expensive Emeryville becomes as it turns out, in spite of publicly proclaimed YIMBY and Council majority countering dogma. 
 

Similar to President Ronald Reagan’s oft cited claim that wealth will “trickle down” to the middle class as a reason for why rich people’s taxes must be cut, America’s middle class was left waiting for the wealth to trickle down, just as residents here are waiting for Emeryville’s rents to fall amid the ongoing housing boom driven by a didactic YIMBY and schoolmarmish Council majority.

Sky High Rent Increases Despite Unprecedented Housing Boom
According to the search platform Zumper, to which the City of Emeryville defers, on April 1st, an average one bedroom unit in Emeryville rents for $2725 ($2682 according to Apartment finder.com and $3021 at Rent cafe.com).  In Walnut Creek, a one bedroom unit can be had for $2599, while Oakland, Berkeley and Fremont average is $1995, $2295, and $2377 respectively.

All the increasing rent costs in Emeryville have occurred concurrently with a massive housing boom, like no other East Bay city has experienced.  Data shows Emeryville increased its housing stock between 2020 and 2024, with more than 600 new housing units added, making our town one of the fasted growing cities in California according to the SF Chronicle.  At the same time, the Chronicle called Emeryville's City Council "One of the most YIMBY city councils in California".   For decades, Emeryville has beaten the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) recommended housing numbers - something no other East Bay city has done.  All this growth was supposed to drive down rents said YIMBY and their Emeryville City Council sycophants.

YIMBY California is a Sacramento based municipal housing policy lobbying group supported by State Senator Scott Wiener and funded by real estate investment trust corporations and developers.  YIMBY has long advocated for removing local municipalities' ability to set their own public housing policy, deferring instead to YIMBY's laissez faire deregulation model.  YIMBY has praised Emeryville for singularly following their directives, citing former Emeryville City Councilman John Bauters as well as current Council member Courtney Welch and Planning Commissioner Dianne Martinez as especially helpful to their cause.  

The dichotomy between Emeryville’s unprecedented multi-year housing boom and rapidly rising rent prices here should offer a reality gob smack to the City Council majority and other YIMBY apologists.  So far, there has not been any acknowledgement from any pro-YIMBY forces of this inconvenient high building/high rent dichotomy.  Indeed, that stubbornness to accept basic facts and indisputable numbers betrays an increasing zealotry among the Council majority. 

Further, in their rush to support YIMBY, the City Council majority have precluded any chance to get popular parts of Emeryville’s General Plan implemented.  For instance, developers with approved housing projects are supposed to materially help support the building of new parks but the Council majority has stopped even asking them (at YIMBY’s insistance).  Because park acreage is supposed to be based on the number of residents in Emeryville, new housing projects are the mechanism that drives the need for new parks as well as the money for the building of new parks.  However, with YIMBY in charge, every year, Emeryville falls farther behind on the park goals stipulated by the General Plan.  Emeryville is now the worst, most under served city in the East Bay for parks.

Emeryville elected officials should be the kind of people to be able to pivot once it becomes clear their ideas aren’t working.  Unfortunately, we don’t have that kind of Council (majority).  It appears these four Council members of ours have been captured ideologically by the materially driven YIMBY.  The people of Emeryville deserve rational public policy that serves them, not real estate trust corporations and developers who seek to double down on their private profit housing policy.  

We reached out to Mayor Sukhdeep Kaur, Vice Mayor Matthew Solomon, Council members David Mourra and Courtney Welch as well as City Manager LaTonya Bellow for this story but none responded.  Council member Kalimah Priforce is a fan of local housing control and the sole YIMBY critic among the Council members.

Emeryville is one of the fastest growing cities in California: HERE

Emeryville's City Council the most YIMBY controlled city council in California: HERE

Emeryville is the 6th most expensive place to live in the Bay Area. Source: Zumper.com

Emeryville has the fastest growing rent in the Bay Area. Source: Zumper.com

Emeryville is now the most expensive place to rent in the East Bay. Source: Zumper.com

Council member Courtney Welch Violated FPPC Rules

 Courtney Welch: Latest City Council Member Found to Have Violated FPPC Rules

City Council Waits for the Next Shoe to Drop

After Mourra Fail, Will Accountability Come This Time?

Emeryville City Council member Courtney Welch recently failed to file a required political campaign disclosure form for elected officials with the California Fair Political Practices Committee it was revealed.  Following a second warning notice sent to the Councilwoman from the Emeryville City Clerk, Ms Welch appears to have made good with the FPPC for the transgression shortly after, the Tattler learned.

 The FPPC, a state sanctioned agency charged with ensuring all California elected officials are bound by the same election laws fairly, determined that Ms Welch had not filed her Form 460 as the law dictates, the same as her colleagues Mayor David Mourra and Council member Kalimah Priforce who the agency determined both to be in violation earlier.

Emeryville City Council member
Courtney Welch
She's violated FPPC rules.

Council member Welch, who did not return calls from the Tattler for this story, appears to have corrected her transgression with the FPPC in March, sometime after City Clerk April Richardson’s second attempt to notify her.  

Ms Richardson is tasked with ensuring  Emeryville’s elected and appointed officials are in compliance with FPPC law.

Over the decades, many Emeryville City Council members have failed to keep 100% current with the multitudinous required FPPC fillings and many have failed to file on time as is the case with the most recent Welch violation.  Transgressions have generally been seen as a technicality as far as the public and the press are concerned.  All of that changed however, in 2024 when the City Council majority used a late filing to try to bring down Council member Priforce by use of a censure and sanction against him.  

Mr Priforce, the sole progressive on Emeryville’s City Council, has earned animosity from the more conservative Council majority for his center left politics and they have have used every opportunity to try to discredit him in the eyes of the public for it.  Accordingly, his late FPPC filings were seen as a way to discredit him but they may have failed to realize the Tattler would thereafter see all Council member failures to file all FPPC forms in a timely manner as a hot ticket news item and that they would soon run afoul of the FPPC’s byzantine filing schedule themselves.  The Tattler has vowed to highlight each Council member’s violations as we find them.  

Before the Council majority, especially members Welch and Mourra, so sanctimoniously went after Council member Priforce for his violations, this was seen as something not newsworthy because most elected officials would run afoul of the FPPC from time to time.  The Tattler never reported on these violations because it was not seen as something nefarious, rather just an honest mistake anybody but a lawyer would be expected to occasionally make. 

So perturbed were the conservative Council majority,  they even spent public money to send a US postal service stamped letter to every Emeryville household to notify the public of the disciplinary action the Council majority took against Priforce.   Later, after the Tattler showed Mayor David Mourra was also guilty of recent FPPC filing violations, the Council majority pulled back and opted to do nothing, no public rebuke, no stamped letters, no hair on fire sanctimony, chalking it up rather as a simple oversight by the mayor.

It is not known if the council majority will now rise up in indignation at Ms Welch’s FPPC filing violations made public here by the Tattler like they did with Mr Priforce or if they will let this pass like they did with Mayor Mourra’s violations.  The Council has treated Welch (and Mourra) with kid gloves up until now.  The Tattler will report. 

The hubris smashing FPPC, now 50 years old, makes sure all elected
officials are transparent in their public works.  

FPPC Reports: Emeryville Mayor Guilty of FPPC Violations

 Mayor Mourra is Guilty of Violating FPPC Regulations

Double Standard on Council FPPC Rules Called Into Question

After investigation as a result of a Tattler inquiry, Emeryville’s mayor has been found guilty of violating California Fair Political Practices Commission regulations, the FPPC recently announced.  The investigation found Emeryville mayor David Mourra guilty of “violations”  but they found the violations were “de minimus” and because the mayor had since corrected his violations, they would not take action against him.  Earlier, the FPPC had also found Emeryville City Council member Kalimah Priforce guilty of violations that he (Priforce) had also corrected.  Like Mayor Mourra, the FPPC dropped their investigation against Mr Priforce because he had also since corrected his violations. 

Emeryville Mayor David Mourra
Guilty of violating FPPC regulations. 

Regardless of the guilty verdicts from the FPPC against Mr Mourra and Mr Priforce, the finding against Mr Priforce was cited as a reason to conduct an investigation of him by the City Council and ultimately to censure and sanction him for violations of Emeryville's  Code of Ethics.  The City Council was notably aware at the time of the censure and sanction against Councilman Priforce he had corrected his FPPC violations.

The letter about Mayor Mourra from the FPPC to the Tattler by James M Lindsay, the Chief Enforcement Officer for the State sanctioned agency, was unequivocal: Emeryville’s mayor is guilty of rules violations but because Mr Mourra had corrected his violations after the agency received a Tattler complaint that sparked their investigation, the FPPC would “not pursue an enforcement action in this matter”.   Mayor Mourra for his part, diminished the FPPC letter the Tattler received and to which he was cc’ed, when he was asked to comment for the public’s benefit.  He has made no statement on the matter since.

After Mayor Mourra failed to complete all his FPPC required filings, the Tattler filed a complaint with the agency resulting in a February story where it was reported he had an ongoing FPPC investigation against him.  Council member Priforce's late filings on the other hand, were made public by Mr Priforce himself, it should be noted.

No City Council member has yet initiated an inquiry into Mayor Mourra’s FPPC violations, drawing questions about the propriety of the Council’s Priforce investigation and action.  Because FPPC violations were used as the primary reason for the Priforce Council investigation and punishment, notably the same violations that the Mayor is guilty of, citizens would have a natural reason to inquire about the seeming double standard but the Tattler could not get a responce from any Council member, the City Manager or the City Attorney for this story.  

Because a double standard with regard to FPPC violations by Council members would be unethical and possibly illegal , the Tattler will continue to investigate this story.

Council Member Priforce to Force Election on Unfair Small Business Taxes

 Council Member Priforce Says Small Business in Emeryville Is Taxed Unfairly

Snubbed by Council Majority, He Says Voters Should Now Decide

Big Business Pays a Much Lower Tax Rate Than Small Business

Council member Kalimah Priforce announced today he is beginning a campaign to lower the tax rate on small business in Emeryville by forwarding a direct ballot initiative for voters, bypassing the City Council.  If successful, the small business tax ballot initiative would culminate a citizen drive begun in 2011 to finally address Emeryville’s infamous business tax cap, a regressive structure implemented by a pro-business City Council in 1993 that allows the largest corporations in Emeryville to pay a much lower tax rate than small businesses do.  Mr Priforce's announcement comes on the heels of a rejection in December by his colleagues to even discuss the business tax cap at the Council level.  The City Council could get rid of the cap by fiat but they have steadfastly refused and they even actively worked to stop an incipient citizen's ballot initiative in 2011 that would have removed the tax cap.  Emeryville is the only city in Alameda County that has a business tax cap.

Council Member Kalimah Priforce
He says helping small businesses thrive in
Emeryville should be more than just platitudes.
Small businesses in Emeryville should not have
a higher tax rate than big businesses do.

Council member Priforce, who calls himself a 'progressive populist', announced at the Council's December meeting that the lack of equity in Emeryville’s business tax code is troublesome and that the Council needs to finally do something about it especially seeing how they (individual Council members) often publicly exclaim how they want to help small business, he said.  As it is now, the small businesses in Emeryville are effectively subsidizing the big businesses by paying a rate higher than they need to for the City to collect the same amount of money.  A ‘flat tax’, that being every one paying the same rate, would be more fair than the current tax cap scheme and it would enable the City to charge all businesses at a lower rate to collect the same amount of money.  Small businesses would pay considerably less money under a flat tax.

Mr Priforce is correct: Emeryville’s business tax cap is unprecedented.  In fact, no other city in the entire East Bay has such a tax cap.  For small businesses, the business tax rate in Emeryville is .1% of gross receipts.  Large businesses pay a much lower effective rate, and it’s a rate that goes down the bigger the business is.  This is because big businesses, those with revenue that would be taxed above the $450,997 capped total, don’t have to pay any tax at all on any receipts above that.  Small businesses on the other hand, must pay tax on all of their revenue, making for a much higher tax rate; small businesses must pay the full .1%.

Mayor David Mourra
He likes the business tax just as it is.
NO to helping small businesses he says.
He won't even allow a debate about it.

The inequity is highlighted by a comparison between a large business in Emeryville and a typical small business.  A small local restaurant with $500,000 in revenue (gross receipts) owes the City of Emeryville the full .1% of their revenue, whereas Grocery Outlet Corporation owes the City a lower percentage of their revenue.  Every dollar the local restaurant makes is taxable versus Grocery Outlet who doesn’t likely have to pay Emeryville any taxes at all for some of their $3,969,549,003 ($3.96 billion) revenue.  If they were taxed at the rate of small businesses, Grocery Outlet would have to pay Emeryville more than what they now pay with the cap.  The cap affects the two businesses this way: the local restaurant owes the City $500 per year and Grocery Outlet owes no more than $450,997 per year.  The cap being a cap, every other large business in town also owes Emeryville only $450,997 per year regardless of their revenue.  That’s the most any business in Emeryville has to pay, no matter how big they get.  Because Grocery Outlet operates some of their stores as franchises, it is unknown how much of their revenue is taxable by Emeryville and City Hall does not reveal that private information.  

The tax cap is a very sweet deal for the large corporations in Emeryville and something much less than that for the small businesses. 

Council Member Courtney Welch
She says she loves small business.  Except when
it comes to taxing them.  Then she's saving all
her love for big business.

At .1%, Emeryville has the lowest business tax of any neighboring city.  Berkeley’s business tax, dependent on the type of business, ranges from .16% to .45%; from 50% over Emeryville to four and a half times Emeryville’s rate.  And Berkeley doesn’t have a tax cap so every business pays fairly and equally.  With a $12 million deficit this year, if Emeryville raised the rate to what neighboring cities charge and removed the cap, the deficit would be taken care of rapidly. 

Mr Priforce says Emeryville could decide how to best tax businesses after a public debate.  Two ideas are presented without a tax cap: money to the City could remain the same (revenue neutral), meaning a large tax rate reduction for all businesses and a big savings for small businesses, or the rate could be kept at .1%, meaning small businesses would pay the same as they do now but big businesses would pay more, giving the City a lot more money to pay down the deficit and have money left over or something in between.    

City Council Tax Double Cross in 2011

Back in 2011, Emeryville residents reached a boiling point with the tax cap because of the unfair taxation on small businesses.  A drive to put the issue before Emeryville voters was started by Residents United for a Livable Emeryville (RULE), a citizen’s activist group.  RULE took out papers and started a door to door signature drive to get the issue on a ballot because the City Council refused to remove the tax cap by fiat as is their prerogative. After they caught wind of the RULE signature drive, the Council intervened and they unanimously voted YES (in principle) to remove the tax cap on their own and they further announced a petition drive would therefore not be necessary.   That Council vote ended the petition drive but at the last minute, after loud protests from Pixar, the conservative majority on the Council scuttled the deal, keeping the cap in place and leaving the citizens no time to finish their petition drive before the election deadline.  Any new petition drive would have to wait until the next election, two years later.   

After the dirty deal done by the conservative Council majority, stopping the will of the people, Council member Jac Asher offered a consolation: an increase in the tax rate while leaving the tax cap in place.  The conservatives on the Council accepted that and the rate was raised from .08% to the current .1%, still the lowest business tax of any city in Alameda County even with the cap.  Ms Asher’s modest deal and the required two year wait for a new ballot initiative petition drive brought about by the Council majority dirty deal, took the wind out of the sails of the citizen petition drive and it didn't rise up again two years later.

And that’s where we are today.  From then to now, no other City Council member other than Councilman Priforce has publicly offered a plan to get rid of Emeryville’s notorious business tax or even talk about the gross inequities built in to Emeryville's pro-corporate business tax rules.

Councilman Priforce is offering the people of Emeryville a chance to return to 2011; a time when it seemed for a moment, public business tax policy would be decided by the public.  Mr Priforce gave his colleagues on the Council a chance to weigh in on this in December but they refused.  

Mayor Mourra was contacted for this story but he refused to comment, presumably leaving his publicly made NO vote to even allow discussion of changing Emeryville business tax policy, to speak for him.  Council member Priforce was also contacted and he told the Tattler he heard all four of his Council colleagues say NO to his business tax equality discussion proposal and so he will go around them and “listen to the people, not the Council”.   

Please read more on the 2010-2011 fight for a fair business tax HERE, HERE, HERE , HERE , HERE and HERE.

The Tattler will report on developments in this story as they come to light.  

UPDATE CORRECTION:  A reader pointed out that Grocery Outlet operates some of its stores as franchises and so some of their revenue is not taxable by Emeryville.  We thank the reader for catching what we missed and we apologize for the mistake.

A Sampling of Emeryville Businesses & How the Business Tax Cap Effects Them
NOTE UPDATE: Grocery Outlet operates some of its stores as franchises and the franchisees share in some of the profit and those numbers are not public.  Because of this, the numbers in these charts are based solely on the total corporate revenue and are not accurate for Grocery Outlet.  We apologize for the mistake we didn't catch.
Leapfrog Corporation has to pay taxes on every dollar it makes just like the Mom & Pop Shop and the local restaurant.  The big businesses only have to pay taxes up to $450,997 regardless of what they make.  Everything they make over that taxable amount is tax free.  It must be nice for them....says Leapfrog and every small business in town.

A Portrait of Emeryville's Business Tax Cap
Actual Tax Rates For a Sampling of Emeryville Businesses

100 = .1% (the tax rate for small businesses).
NOTE: Grocery Outlet pays Emeryville more than this number because some of its
stores are franchises.  This number is based on their total revenue, not Emeryville receipts which are unknown.
The higher the number in this bar chart, the higher the tax rate.
Higher taxes for small businesses is considered 'fair'
by the Emeryville City Council majority. 
Every other city in Alameda County disagrees with Emeryville.

Mayor Mourra Violates FPPC Rules & Emeryville Code of Ethics

Mayor Mourra Violates FPPC Filing Rules

City Council Majority Recently Censured and Sanctioned Their Colleague Kalimah Priforce for the Same Violation

Planning Commission Chair Also Violated FPPC Filing Rules

Breaking News

Emeryville’s Mayor, David Mourra, has not filed required FPPC political disclosure forms, a violation of state law, the Tattler has learned.  The FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission), a state agency tasked with ensuring government transparency, acknowledged in a January 24th letter to the Tattler that Emeryville’s mayor is under investigation for failure to disclose as is required by law.  Mr Mourra is very late in his filing as it turns out, having not filed required campaign disclosure forms since his election victory in 2022.  The FPPC investigation comes as a result of a Tattler complaint.  

The California Reform Act of 2024 mandates that all elected officials must continue to file FPPC disclosure forms even in the event that they have been elected and regardless of any subsequent donor contributions or lack of contributions.

The Tattler investigation also revealed Jordan Wax, the chair of Emeryville’s Planning Commission, failed to file a required FPPC 'Statement of Economic Interest' form on time, itself a violation of state law.

Some elected officials have presupposed that an inactive election campaign lets them off the hook for FPPC filings but state law is very clear that filing is still required.  Violations of proper and timely FPPC filing rules have been very common among Emeryville politicians over the years.  So much so that late filings would not normally be considered newsworthy except for the fact that Mayor Mourra and his colleagues on the City Council majority made much ballyhoo of recent late filings by Council member Kalimah Priforce to such an extent that they invoked Emeryville's new Code of Ethics to censure and sanction him for it.  Now Mr Mourra, who seems to have unclean hands, finds himself in the same pickle. 

The Tattler has an open Public Records Request filed with the City Clerk for details that will inform future editions of this ongoing story.

Mr Mourra was contacted for this story but he refused to comment. 

Emeryville Mayor David Mourra
Unclean Hands
He sanctimoniously wagged his finger at
his colleague Council member Priforce for
violating the exact same state law as he did.

Breaking News: Vice Mayor Vote Shocker - Priforce Skipped

Council Member Priforce Skipped Over in Favor of Mourra

Council Majority Disregards Priforce Despite Status as the People's Clear Favorite

BREAKING

Tonight, in a four to one vote (Priforce abstaining), the City Council elevated David Mourra to Vice Mayor, skipping the people's choice Kalimah Priforce, presaging a move to deny Mr Priforce his turn at the mayoralty.  Former Vice Mayor Courtney Welch, a favorite of vacating mayor John Bauters, was selected to be Emeryville’s newest mayor, a move not surprising to anyone.  

New Vice Mayor David Mourra
The people's second choice but 
the Council majority's first choice.

Mr Priforce, a progressive who has been repeatedly attacked by Mayor Bauters at the Council meetings, separated himself from the Bauters led conservative majority.  This has been evident especially over the issue of housing, Mr Priforce taking the side of anti-gentrification and placing the interests of the people of Emeryville over that of real estate developers.  Mr Bauters, a stanch YIMBY supporter who effectively runs the City Council, has sought to reel in the independent voice of Council member Priforce.  

YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) is a corporate real estate developer lobbying group based in Sacramento.  They have targeted many Bay Area cities, overturning their formerly independent planning commissions to hand over decision making powers to out-of-state development corporations.  The other four Emeryville City Council members have shown their loyalty to YIMBY in action and words over the last two years.

Emeryville’s mayor is selected by a vote of the City Council and each council member is supposed to get a turn at being mayor.  The idea is that the people’s choice for council comes with an expectation they will be mayor. The Vice Mayor almost always ascends to the mayoralty after one year.  There is no force of law to this however. It has generally worked over the years with some exceptions but the skipping of some members has been happening with greater frequently recently.

Over the years, lone progressives on the Council have been forbidden to be mayor by conservative majorities controlled by former Councilwoman Nora Davis (and now John Bauters).  In this way Council members Greg Harper, John Fricke were skipped over.  More recently, Council member Ken Bukowski was skipped over for mayor after he told the New York Times he was a methamphetamine user and Scott Donahue was skipped after Mr Bauters called his competence into question.  Bauters used that vote to personally take another year being mayor.  

Vice Mayor David Mourra, Emeryville voters’ second choice, having received only 1223 votes, or 21%  will become mayor next year while Council member Kalimah Priforce, the overwhelming choice of the people, who won with 1583 votes or 28%, will likely never be allowed to be our mayor (with this conservative Council majority in power).  

We reached out to Council member Mourra over the last week concerning the impending vice mayor vote but he didn't return our calls.

Council Gives Real Estate Developers Vote of Confidence

 Council Majority Votes to Support YIMBY's Plan Over City's General Plan

Red Carpet to be Rolled Out For Developers

In a remarkable show of fraternity with corporate real estate interests, the Emeryville City Council majority voted to support the hand over of California cities’s autonomous public housing policies to private developers Tuesday night.  The voting (4-1 Priforce dissenting) puts the City’s imprimatur squarely in the ‘hands off’ developers camp with its nod to near total deregulation of municipality's housing policy for the benefit of market forces.  The vote shows a Council hostile to Emeryville's General Plan and a predilection to disallow Emeryville's residents a say so as the guiding principle for its housing policy in the future.

The new housing polity was forwarded in a series of affirmative votes, officially conjoining Emeryville with developer’s wishes, each in the same 4-1 fashion; a roll back of State planning protections for residents (AB 1307), a lowering citizen’s threshold vote from 2/3rds to 55% for development projects that would cost taxpayers money on infrastructure  (ACA 1) and a bill that broadly deregulates the approval process for local municipalities, including a roll back of affordable housing construction regulation (SB 423). 

Mayor John Bauters
Emeryville's laws protecting 
housing must be "streamlined" to
protect developers.    

 

The Council explained that community safeguards protected by Emeryville’s construction approval process need to be “streamlined” because “we are not building enough housing” and lowering the voter threshold for requiring taxpayers to foot the bill for public infrastructure improvements (coming as a result of private development) from the traditional 2/3rds to 55%, is OK because “it’s still democracy”.  

The protections the Council showed animosity towards come at the expense of decades of community activism at the local and state level through changes to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Constitution of the State of California. 

The developer and tech funded housing lobbying group YIMBY backed the votes taken by the City Council, applauding Emeryville for what they characterized as being sufficiently “pro housing”. YIMBY has been criticized by many housing equity organizations state-wide for equating its hands off developers campaigning with a lowering of the price of housing as a false narrative.  

Affordable housing advocates refer to the YIMBY model as ‘trickle down housing’, recalling the Reagan era mantra of the discredited trickle down economics that was advertised as a way to buoy up the middle class.  The idea is government provides tax cuts to wealthy people and corporations and their extra wealth will trickle down to poor people as corporations re-invest in their businesses, hiring more and wealthy people hire more servants and they stimulate the economy with their increased purchasing power.  It is an idea Emeryville is doubling down on with Tuesday’s deregulation scheme.

Councilman Kalimah Priforce
The four other Emeryville City
Council members + Dianne 
Martinez are the "YIMBY 5".

Very revealing in the bills the Council voted on is a provision that developers will not have to provide as much affordable housing as they are now.  It is an irrational part of the trickle down idea: that being the notion that more affordable housing will end up being built if we remove requirements for building affordable housing.  Notably, the four supporting Council members didn't speak to that provision.  That plus the fact that developers, freed from government regulation requiring them to build ownership housing, will not build ownership housing.  Even before the Tuesday vote, Emeryville has morphed into a mostly rental city as Council member Priforce showed us on his website. 

Council members Courtney Welch, David Mourra and Sukhdeep Kaur all followed Mayor John Bauters’ lead with the votes but Councilman Kalimah Priforce was adamant this was not a way forward towards equitable growth.  Calling the four Council members plus newly appointed Planning Commissioner, the former City Councilwoman Dianne Martinez the “YIMBY Five”, Mr Priforce told the Tattler, “I want homeowners, renters, Community Based Organizations and City officials working together for an Emeryville free from developer control.  The YIMBY Five think they know better than what the people want.  I believe in placing the power back into the people’s hands so they can determine what true affordable housing is - not this trickle down housing.”

Kalimah Priforce Wins Democratic Party Delegate Race for Emeryville

 Mayor's Losing Fight Against Councilman Priforce 

Priforce Victory Called 'Huge Upset'

Money & Power Backed Council Member Courtney Welch Loses

Council member Kalimah Priforce
Big winner in Friday's delegate race and rising 
regional political star representing Emeryville.

Emeryville City Councilman Kalimah Priforce was part of a slate of 12 progressive candidates, all of whom won a landslide victory in a contentious Democratic delegate race to the California 18th Assembly District, announced by the party Friday. Council member Priforce handily defeated Councilwoman Courtney Welch who ran as part of a corporate backed slate of candidates, but that slate of 14 candidates were all defeated excepting for one.  The rank and file Democratic Party delegate election represents a defeat for the corporate backed 18th Assembly District representative, Mia Bonta, who leveraged her power to try to get her slate of candidates elected.  The election results, what many are calling a ‘huge upset’, were unexpected owing to the power and money representing Ms Bonta’s slate.  The newly elected delegates will serve under a now weakened Assemblywoman Bonta.

Mayor John Bauters
He endorsed the loser,
Councilwoman Courtney Welch.

The election of Mr Priforce as Democratic delegate means Emeryville’s interests will serve an oversized role in the delegation with our little town representing one of the 14 in a district that encompasses all of Alameda and most of Oakland.  Had Ms Welch also been elected, Emeryville’s power in the California Democratic Party would have been hugely increased.  However, Emeryville’s Mayor John Bauters used his position to lead a drive to steer votes away from Council member Priforce being elected in favor of Ms Welch.  As such, the regional election for the 18th District, conducted over the last couple of months, has come to be seen by East Bay politicos as part of a proxy battle for who is to control Emeryville City Hall, Mr Bauters or Mr Priforce.

The loss for Ms Welch is a blow for Mayor Bauters who has used his position to push against Council member Priforce in the Council chambers and in the delegate race securing the endorsement of Ms Welch by Council colleagues Ally Medina, and David Mourra.  Despite his Council colleagues working against him and with the delegate race won, Mr Priforce is now seen as a rising political star in regional politics, and a challenge to Mr Bauters. The two councilmen can be seen as representing two different visions for Emeryville with Mr Bauters’ side represented by a deference to housing developers versus a deference to a more democratic policy vision shown by Mr Priforce.  

Assemblywoman Mia Bonta
Her slate of corporate backed
candidates, including Courtney Welch
 lost.

The ‘battle for the 18th ‘ delegate race was represented by the two opposing slates, Mr Priforce’s grassroots progressive “People’s Slate” and the Mia Bonta corporate backed and ironically named “Progressive Unity and Labor Slate” that Ms Welch ran with.  The People’s Slate for the 18th District was endorsed by Our Revolution, a national grassroots political organization started by Senator Bernie Sanders and a critic of Councilwoman Courtney Welch, whom they called a “corporate backed Democrat”.

During the campaign, Councilman Priforce signed a pledge to not take donations from corporations including from corporate real estate organizations such as YIMBY, an action that the YIMBY backed Councilwoman Courtney Welch mocked on the campaign trail.

Speaking to the Tattler, Allyssa Victory, the top vote getter in the Democratic delegate race and an Oakland mayor challenger in the election last November said,  “The People’s Slate was truly independent and all 12 candidates were successfully elected due to a strong grassroots campaign that included a people-centered platform, direct outreach, voter registration, and education to overcome the many hurdles in the election process. All members of the Slate, whether re-elected or elected for the first time, ran to change the status quo by addressing the crises in our democracy and increasing accountability to the people we are elected to represent."

Council member Priforce came in 6th place in the delegate race with 286 votes while Council member Welch came in 16th place with 192 votes.

Councilwoman Courtney Welch
She has the support of corporations but she
does not have the support the of the people.

The People's Slate
Swept the Corporate Backed Slate
Non corporate and victorious.  All signed pledges not to take corporate money.
Every candidate won their race.

Mayor Bauters Leads Drive Against Council Colleague, Kalimah Priforce

Round Two in War Against City Council member Priforce

His Colleagues Refuse to Endorse Him For Assembly Delegate While They Endorse Council Member Welch

Mr Priforce Asked to Sign 'Collegiality Agreement' 

An emerging discord among Emeryville City Council members has manifest in another unprecedented event Friday when the Mayor and two colleagues endorsed Councilwoman Courtney Welch for a delegate to the Democratic Party Assembly District 18, conspicuously leaving aside Councilman Kalimah Priforce, who is also running for delegate in the same election.  Notably, the Emeryville City Council has never endorsed a candidate for the State Assembly, let alone snub a fellow Council member running as they did on Friday.  The negation of Mr Priforce adds muscle to the new polity of hostility against him by the Council majority after the wholesale attack on Mr Priforce at his swearing in meeting. 

City Council member Kalimah Priforce
Since entering the City Council, his colleagues
have been hostile to him.
The Council refuses to say why.

 

Propping up Ms Welch at the expense of Mr Priforce for Emeryville representation in Assembly District 18, Mayor Bauters was joined by Ms Medina and even newly sworn in City Council member David Mourra.  In a show of force, the existing District 18 Assembly member Mia Bonta has also endorsed Courtney Welch and other corporate backed Democrats, revealing the political reach of Mayor Bauters who plays by the Democratic Party mainstream rules and gets favors like this returned.  

Mr Priforce and Ms Welch are running for delegate on different slates with different guiding philosophies.   Ms Welch’s slate of 14 candidates is noteworthy for its attachment to YIMBY, a developer lobbying backed organization that seeks to remove local regulation in housing policy.  A central figure supporting Courtney Welch is her slate mate Zac Bowling, a software CEO and YIMBY backed candidate.  Ms Welch too is backed by YIMBY, having received $1000 from the 'YIMBY Victory Fund'.  Mayor Bauters has also received YIMBY money from YIMBY supporters it should be noted.  

The YIMBY organization (Yes In My Back Yard) is backed by rightwing groups including the far right Koch Brothers.  The organization has quietly reached tentacles into cities across the Bay Area in recent years as they get municipalities to reverse their rules constraining developers that would deliver livability for existing residents.     

Councilwoman Welch was called out as a “corporate backed Democrat” by several local election watching politicos including the well known progressive Alameda resident, Democrat Dan Wood.  Ms Welch has forcefully pushed back on the accusations on her Twitter account stating "From here on out, if you want to say I'm connect w/, to, involved in, etc something, cite your sources or shut the fuck up & that's on everything."

Courtney "Shut The Fuck Up" Welch
Council member Welch is supported by the YIMBY
backed network East Bay for Everyone.  Their agenda is
to overturn local municipal power and give it to housing developers.
Council member Priforce has been critical of YIMBY.

The snubbing of Council member Priforce by his colleagues is added to the recently released pre-City Council election collegiality agreement they required him to sign.  The agreement stipulated that Mr Priforce is to behave in a collegial manner at City Council meetings (never mind the fact that the Council majority themselves violated the collegiality they sought at Mr Priforce’s swearing in meeting).  

For his part, Council member Priforce has taken the attacks and snubbing from his colleagues on the Council in stride.  He told the Tattler, "As a Black man, a Buddhist Haitian Afro-Latine son of foster care, I'm used to being judged and non-engaged with out of fear and biased assumptions.”  He said of his fellow Council members, “I have no power over darkness, only my own light.”

The City Council members did not respond to Tattler questions about the snubbing of Mr Priforce as he seeks to represent Emeryville in the Democratic Party except David Mourra who said he didn’t receive an ‘ask for endorsement’ from Mr Priforce. 

California Democratic Party Assembly District 18 includes Emeryville, Oakland, Alameda.   Emeryville voters registered as Democrats were asked to vote last Friday for 14 candidates although they can still vote by appearing at polling places outside Emeryville up until January 22nd.  Winners will be announced in March.

UPDATE TO STORY:  We received emails asking for us to include the full quote Council member Priforce supplied us with.  We left part of the quote out initially to keep the story on track and to the point.  Because Tattler readers have requested it, here's one better, a revised full quote from Councilman Priforce:

As a Black man, a Buddhist Haitian Afro-Latine son of the foster care system, I'm used to being judged and non-engaged with out of fear and biased assumptions. Today, an elderly White woman pulled me aside after church and told me, 'it's so good to have a Godly Black man on the city council.'  That is what centers me throughout all this drama that looks more like student government than a real government led by mature, mindful adults.

But it's folk like her that remind me to pray for my colleagues and focus less on them and more on the mandate granted to me by the voters to make Emeryville a better village to work, live, and play in. I don't agree with many of the views expressed in this body, but any semblance of special interest influence that warps the destiny of our city, its residents, homeowners, and workers is something I will always fight against and address. Silence is complicity. I also suggest readers focus less on the sensationalism or the back and forth and more on the solid points being made.

Matthew 5:16 says 'Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works..." so I'm focused on my own good works and to continue to be a light that shines in darkness - like I've done all my life. I have no power over darkness, only my own light. What my colleagues say and do is up to them and I want no part in anything that doesn't serve the best interests of Emeryville."

SECOND UPDATE & CORRECTION:  We erroneously reported that Councilman David Mourra was not asked to sign a collegiality agreement.  We apologize for the error.  At 8:31 tonight (1/10) Councilman David Mourra confirmed he in fact also signed a ‘Candidates Pledge’ (AKA collegiality agreement) given to him by his colleagues.  Before we posted the story, we reached out to Council members Bauters and Medina to ask if Mr Mourra was given the Pledge to sign after we got tips from two independent sources that they did not ask Mr Mourra to sign it or even present it to him.  The two Council members refused to confirm or deny.  

The collegiality agreement cooked up for this election is unprecedented in Emeryville City Council history and this election with Kalimah Priforce (and David Mourra) running, was the first time there has ever been such an agreement presented to any Council candidates.  No other Emeryville City Council members or Council candidates have ever been asked to sign such a document.

Breaking News: Election Results

 With two of two precincts reporting, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters released results from the City Council election and the Emery School Board election.  Kalimah Priforce and David Mourra will be elected to the City Council and the three incumbents, Regina Chagolla, Susan Donaldson and Brynnda Collins won re-election to the School Board.

Kalimah Priforce	503	25.09%
David Mourra	419	20.90%
Sukhdeep Kaur	402	20.05%
Brooke Westling	379	18.90%
Eugene Tssui	302	15.06%

Regina Chagolla	769	31.34%
Susan Donaldson	659	26.85%
Brynnda R. Collins	624	25.43%
Brian Donahue	402	16.38%

City Council Candidates Questionnaire Part II

 City Council Candidates Q&A (Continued) 

November 8th, Emeryville voters will decide on two new four year City Council members who will replace Scott Donahue and Dianne Martinez, both of whom decided to not run for a third term.  This election, voters will select between Sukhdeep Kaur, David Mourra, Kalimah Priforce, Eugene Tssui, and Brooke Westling.

The Tattler has come up with 10 questions we think the people of Emeryville would like to ask their prospective new council members and all but Brooke Westling responded to our questionnaire.   We released the first three questions from all four candidates October 16th and we now follow with questions four through seven.   The first three questions may be seen HERE. 

The order of presentation is random.

Here then are the next questions:

First up is Eugene Tssui.  Eugene’s website is HERE.

4)   Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

Eugene Tssui: Yes. It is fair, and it is morally correct. I am concerned about the quality of life and livelihoods. If elected, I will work to implement intergenerational jobs programs that provide the most robust workforces of the future.

5)   Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

Eugene Tssui:   The City of Emeryville needs a Code of Ethics in its government. This is a crucial aspect of a good, stable, transparent, and morally ethical government. We have been asking the City for this for over a year now. A Code of Ethics holds city representatives accountable for their statements and actions. It provides independent oversight if citizens feel excluded or shut down by the council members.

This process is a necessary step toward transparency and accountability.   We needed this last year and now even more!

Not having a Code of Ethics begs the question of why Emeryville has never had one, and more importantly, why haven’t the previous and current City Councilpersons made an effort to create one?   Earlier this year, there was talk amongst the current City Council to initiate a Code of Ethics by August of this year. What happened?  The Zoom distancing mentality relates to staving-off the Code of Ethics issue.

Regarding my personal ethic, I promise access to the residents that vote me into the City Council.   I will be available for people to call call or e-mail me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I am personally honored when people contact me with their concerns. I have already received calls from people complaining about street noise. I recommend that they note when and where the noise takes place and obtain as many other people’s signatures who agree with them and then take this to the City Council. We need to work together. It tells me what they are seeing, and it helps me to see in a different way, and that is always good. That is what I expect of our residents in social democracy, and of myself, and other public officials.

6)   What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

Eugene Tssui: Paying a real state transfer tax when you sell your building and adding $3 dollars per $1000 of real estate value up to $2 million seems fair.   In an extreme case, if you sell your building for $2 million and you must pay an extra $6000 it seems not to be a significant burden to most owners.

7)   Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

Eugene Tssui: As I see it, the treatment of the homeless in Emeryville is missing a crucial ingredient:   We are not  addressing the intricate needs of the homeless to find housing, medical, psychological/emotional counseling, and psychiatric examination for harm reduction. The Emeryville dialogue has been concerned with housing which, for many, stems from root causes often tied to drug and alcohol addiction, physical/emotional/sexual abuse, lack of medical help, counseling help, mental disorders, and causes pertaining to our military vets.

Working with local hospitals, the city must provide rapid deployment of medical/psychological care for the homeless so they can become capable of turning homelessness into prosperity. And such individuals must be around others who have succeeded in conquering homelessness and have created a new and contented life for themselves.

To do this, we must direct real estate developers to create housing that allows for short-term stays (for those temporarily unhoused) and long-term housing with integrated social services. How can the homeless break the chains of integrating the unhoused into the society of work and productivity, when possible? What government programs are set up to deliver while understanding the cause and effects of homeless conditions? How can once homeless be encouraged to show the way to rise out of their circumstances?

Working with all aspects of the community, we can create “settlement house” programs fueled by micro-certifications for workers, families, and students that address these issues and concerns for others that are temporarily or otherwise, less fortunate.

I intend to start a research and development commission that addresses and finds solutions to crime, homelessness, domestic violence, sexism, ageism, and family discord. These programs can be implemented as after-school classes and counseling sessions attended by the entire family and done at times of the evening when the entire family is available to attend together.

===================================================================

Next up is David Mourra.  David’s website is HERE.

4)  Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

 

Yes, these are crucial ordinances to ensure that people working in the city have good jobs with sustainable pay and scheduling. These ordinances allow us to focus on recruiting businesses to come to Emeryville and support our existing businesses and know that every job will be a good job. 

 

5)  Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

 

I think it is very important for the people of Emeryville to be able to contact the members of the City Council. City staff and city council members are not aware of every issue facing the city and we rely on engaged citizens to reach out. There are different ways of doing this-- email addresses, phone numbers, See-Click-Fix, social media etc. I check my official planning commission email address as often as I do my personal email. I've also shared my personal phone number with numerous people I've interacted with during my campaign and in my work as a Planning Commissioner. This is something I plan to continue doing if elected to serve on the city council. 

 

6)  What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

 

Why is Emeryville collecting less on real estate transfers than Berkeley and Oakland? Measure O brings us in line with our neighbors. More importantly, it is crucial for adequately funding city services. The largest impact is on sale/transfer of properties above $2 million which primarily affects major commercial transactions. Measure O is necessary and sensible and I encourage everybody to vote Yes on Measure O.

 

 

7)  Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

 

The issue of homeless encampments is a complicated regional problem. At its core, a lack of housing regionally has made this problem more acute. Recent fires at these encampments have shown that health and safety need to be paramount. I fully expect that the city treats unhoused people with humanity and decency but it is important to recognize that the status quo is not sustainable. People need to be matched with short term and longer term housing solutions that keep them off the streets. This should be a guiding principle for the City Council and its staff.

 ==================================================================

Next up is Kalimah Priforce.  Kalimah’s website is HERE.

4)  Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

 

Yes. I signed a pledge authored by Ally Medina that aligned with the interests of Dianne Martinez. That is how I collected their endorsements and I shared the pledge with Courtney Welch and she provided her endorsement as well. I posted the pledge on my platform page, www.votepriforce.com. Yes, I'm transparent AF.

 

5)  Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  Personal? No. Personal communication is by choice and should be left to the discretion of both parties.

 

Why? It could and usually does lead to harassment, trolling, and other behaviors from the public that make it a hostile work environment when work creeps into the time elected officials set aside to read a bedtime story to their kids, work out their glutes at the gym, or date night with their spouse.

 

Also, we get what we pay for. If Emeryville residents want full-time attention from elected officials, then elected officials should not have to balance their full-time work with their duties in office.

 

Positions should be full-time and I will be working towards drawing up a measure that would make elected city officials full-time public servants and the mayorship an election-based position rather than being chosen by the city council. Most Emeryville residents I’ve spoken to don’t even know that the positions are not full-time and that the mayor isn’t duly elected.

 

With the mayorship cycling the way it does between city council members, it’s akin to student government rather than a transparent engaging system, which is the basis for a democracy.

 

It’s no wonder voter apathy is high in Emeryville and voter turn-out is abysmal.

 

Emeryville deserves an elected city government working full-time with no other professional conflict to consider, whether they be conflict of interests or scheduling conflicts. Emeryville deserves a full-time, four year mayor just like our neighboring cities, elected by the people, for the people, or do we wait until a crisis to happen to change things?

 

As a council member, I will be available in ways that would be surprising to most. As a business leader, I am accustomed to having an open and public life. However, if there is anyone who tries to troll or harass me, I will shut off their access to me and I am smart and creative enough to loophole every Brown Act provision that would prevent me from doing so. I’m a hacker and it’s how I think.

 

I must protect my partner and daughter and I will not, as a Black man in America, allow my family to be harassed or bullied by anyone. The same would also go for my colleagues. I would not tolerate the same happening to them and would defend them vehemently, probably more than I would myself. This isn't my kind of politics and it needs to change and I don't care how things were in the past when that was okay. Harassment and bullying from the city council to the public and vice versa will not be condoned by me. I will gladly pull out my vintage Gameboy and Tetris it away if I am asked to be in a room wherein someone is insulting me. Not happening.

 

 

6)  What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  100% support it.

 

7)  Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

 

Kalimah Priforce:  If there is evidence or reports of inhumane treatment, that should be independently investigated. I do not support dehumanization. I help fund organizations across the country that combat dehumanization, so I wouldn't change that about me because it's part of my values system as a practicing Buddhist for over thirty-three years. Politics won't change that.

 

==================================================================

Last up is Sukhdeep Kaur.  Sukhdeep’s website is HERE.

4)  Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance and the Fair Workweek Ordinance?

Sukhdeep Kaur: Yes.

5)  Do you think Emeryville’s City Council members should be directly accountable to the people (by providing personal email addresses and/or telephone numbers) as has been the tradition in our town?  If you are elected, will you be available to the people so they can dialogue with you directly either on the phone, in person or electronically?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  The council members are assigned a public email from the City Council and whenever I have reached out to the council members on their email addresses, they have responded to me unless they are out of town or traveling and if they are, they respond when they are back.  So, I have reason to believe that the city provides council members this public email address to ensure accountability.   In the past, City Council members like Jennifer West would blog on their website and I see that the present council members are active on the social media and available for civil discourse.  I hope to use many of these tools to make myself available to Emeryville.

6)  What are your thoughts on Emeryville’s Measure O on the November ballot?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  I support Measure O.

7)   Do you think Emeryville’s treatment of homeless people camping here is good?  Are you concerned City Hall’s official explanation that their humane treatment might not always be true?  Are you willing to look into this question if elected and take corrective action if needed?

Sukhdeep Kaur:  I have spoken at length with our PD about this issue.  They work with Dignity Operations in keeping our streets clean and safe for Emeryville.  They have even helped many of the homeless people to get back to being productive members of society.  Our ECAP program offers free meals to anyone without question.  We have many good programs.  I am sure more can be done which will bolster the efforts already in place.