Emeryville's Newest Council Member-Elect Involved in Scandal Before Taking Seat

 Emeryville's Newest City Council Member in Hot Water Over Residence Discrepancies 

Was Election Law or Affordable Housing Law Violated?

Newly elected City Council member Courtney Welch is entangled in a scandal over her Emeryville residence, having likely defrauded Emeryville’s affordable housing program or California election law, the Tattler has learned.  Specifically, Council-elect Welch either shared her government subsidized low income apartment with two unauthorized people without permission from and in violation of Emeryville’s Below Market Rate (BMR) housing program or she has helped the two people, her parents, when they signed their names on their voter registration forms falsely claiming they live in her apartment.  

The two bedroom apartment rented by Ms Welch can only accommodate up to four people according to her lease and since her two minor children live with her, two additional people would represent a violation of the City’s BMR stipulations.  Three bedroom units are available at her apartment complex and that would have allowed her parents to move in with her but Ms Welch did not rent one of those.  

Candidate Welch told her campaign Twitter
readers she was having trouble meeting the 
City's BMR income mandates.  If her parents 
lived in her unit and showed any income
at all, that would have to be reported.

Moving to Emeryville from Oakland, Ms Welch registered to vote on June 1st according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters with her parents also registering June 1st at her Emeryville address.  Ms Welch informed the landlord her two children would be living with her but she did not acknowledge anything at the time about her parents moving in.  In addition to renting a three bedroom unit, she would have also been required to submit income documents for her two (parent) housemates according to Emeryville’s BMR program dictates.  If two uncleared people moved into her apartment, that would be a violation of Emeryville’s BMR housing law.

If income from her parents pushed her 
over the disqualifying line, the subsidized 
apartment would have to be given up
to a needy family.

The need to clear people by checking their income is necessary to protect and ensure Emeryville's affordable housing stock is available for needy people.  Uncleared persons can move in on a temporary basis but only for up to one month according to the lease agreement at Ms Welch's apartment complex, a regulation backed up by the City of Emeryville's BMR housing program.

California election law makes it a crime for citizens to knowingly falsify registration documents by registering to vote at a location other than their legal domicile.  Voting in a falsified different election district also constitutes a crime.  In a tweet, Ms Welch’s father claimed to have voted for Courtney on October 14th. 

Many Council election watchers noted how the Council candidate was able to get a hard to come by BMR unit so quickly.  Moving here in June, Ms Welch had already announced her candidacy for the open Council seat  left by Christian Patz in July.   Mr Patz announced his resignation from the Council in May.

In September, the Alameda County Democratic Party announced it would endorse the new Emeryville resident/City Council contender causing some in town to question if that party set her up for the newly opened Emeryville seat.  A young but rising political star in Oakland, Ms Welch may have jumped at the opportunity of an auspicious Emeryville beginning to a political career, open Oakland City Council seats being such a rarified thing.  

From Courtney Welch's Campaign
Twitter Account
To vote in an Emeryville election
you have to live in Emeryville.

With seeming lightning speed, Ms Welch also was accepted on Emeryville’s Housing Committee by our City Council before the election, a fact Courtney conspicuously placed in her campaign literature.  Interestingly, at their June 15th meeting, the Council overlooked the fact that although she missed the deadline for the Housing Committee application, they appointed her anyway even though, in a snub to the Council, she didn’t attend that meeting to answer customary applicant questions.  Housing Committee members subsequently reported Ms Welch only ever attended one committee meeting.

Having won a low turnout November 2nd special election 1033 votes to her contender's 705, Courtney Welch will take her oath of office and become Emeryville’s newest City Council member in December.

Ms Welch was contacted multiple times for comment on this story but she did not respond. 

Courtney Welch Wins Council Seat

 Breaking

8:55 PM

Courtney Welch has won the special City Council election today with both precincts reporting.  Council elect Welch replaces Christian Patz who announced last May he would resign his seat.  Ms Welch who is a housing policy director, took 641 votes or 55.35% of the votes over challenger Charlotte Danielsson-Chang who got 517 votes according to the Alameda County registrar of voters.

City Council Special Election 2021: Courtney Welch

  City Council Special Election Questionnaire: 
Courtney Welch

November 2nd, Emeryville voters will decide a replacement for Christian Patz who vacated his City Council seat in June.  This special election asks voters to chose between two candidates, Courtney Welch and Charlotte Danielsson-Chang.  We thank these two democratically minded candidates for running for our City Council.  As you review their candidacies, we think you'll agree both are very qualified to serve.  Be sure to also read Charlotte Danielsson-Chang's responses to these questions HERE.

Charlotte's campaign website is HERE

Courtney's campaign website is HERE

Courtney Welch

According to her campaign website, Courtney is Director of Policy and Communications with the Bay Area Community Land Trust, (BACLT) where she and her team help create permanently affordable housing through cooperatively-run land stewardship projects.

1. Briefly explain what your vision for Emeryville is and how you propose to take us there. 

I envision Emeryville as a place for families and community members to live and thrive.  As a parent, I am very aware of issues that are facing working families, as they are issues that I am facing myself.   Affordable housing and homelessness is one of the most important issues facing all of our communities and an issue that I am prioritizing as part of my campaign.  In addition to housing, I am prioritizing working with fellow council members to make fiscally responsible budget decisions as we navigate the pandemic deficit, equitable public transit accessibility, addressing public safety concerns, and working with Emeryville’s small business community to not just bring businesses here but keep them in the city.   My initial action plan includes:  -Increase the city of Emeryville’s participation in the Alameda County Continuum of Care collaborative to work with neighboring cities and community based organizations to craft comprehensive plans to prevent homelessness, quickly re-house individuals already experiencing homelessness, and address homelessness from multiple angles on both a regional and local level.  

-Develop an effective governance relationship with AC Transit directors and staff to advocate for the appropriate level of transit service Emeryville needs which would include consistent transit assessments to allow for timely adjustments to area service.  -Work alongside business owners, community members, and other council members to implement a rebranding campaign for Emeryville to re-establish ourselves as not just a shopping, tourist, and entertainment destination, but also a desirable and successful location for businesses and explore opportunities to diversify the tax base.  This includes researching barriers business owners face when attempting to open businesses in Emeryville and removing those challenges when possible.  -Facilitate a public safety coalition between the police department and residents to develop official neighborhood crime prevention councils and work with law enforcement to increase on-foot beat patrols in known “crime hot spots” in the city. 

2. Do you support Emeryville’s Measure C, the affordable housing bond passed by voters in 2018? 

I absolutely support this measure.  I applaud the voters of Emeryville for passing this measure to build more affordable housing in our city.  I encourage continued community oversight of the $50 million dollars of affordable housing financing that this bond provides our city. 

3. Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance? 

I support minimum and prevailing wages for workers. However, I feel it is essential that any conversation about increasing the minimum wage must include a plan on how to address the rising cost of living, especially with regards to housing.  I will always support increases to minimum wages, as our workers deserve to earn a living wage.  In addition, small business owners should be part of the conversation of minimum wages and be given as much support as possible. 

4. Name two areas in which you think Emeryville has done a good job recently. 

Emeryville has done a fantastic job at COVID 19 response, which includes working with eviction moratorium and support for the business community.  We are lucky in Emeryville to have a council that works very well together, which is beneficial to the entire city.  I also think that our council members have also done well at keeping our city financially solvent.  The responsible fiscal decisions made previously have allowed for our city to avoid some of the major financial pitfalls experienced by surrounding communities. 

5. Name two areas in which you think Emeryville has done a bad job recently. 

I believe there should be a more organized effort to engage residents on the west side of Emeryville.  Many west side residents, especially tenants and residents of color feel disconnected and neglected by the city, especially surrounding concerns about public safety and addressing encampments.  As a west side renter and a woman of color, I feel my election can provide us the representation we deserve.  Additionally, Emeryville tends to get left out of the regional and county policy conversations.  Many of the initiatives and funding Emeryville can benefit from, we miss out on simply because we are not at the table.  As someone who is currently representing Emeryville through two county commissions and has worked as the county’s Continuum of Care Specialist for homelessness services, I have both the connections and relationship building skills to facilitate that process, and will be able to easily incorporate Emeryville in those spaces.

City Council Special Election 2021: Charlotte Danielsson-Chang

 City Council Special Election Questionnaire: Charlotte Danielsson-Chang

November 2nd, Emeryville voters will decide a replacement for Christian Patz who vacated his City Council seat in June.  This special election asks voters to chose between two candidates, Charlotte Danielsson-Chang and Courtney Welch.  We thank these two democratically minded candidates for running for our City Council.  As you review their candidacies, we think you'll agree both are very qualified to serve.   Be sure to read Courtney Welch's responses to these questions  HERE.

Charlotte's campaign website is HERE

Courtney's campaign website is HERE

Charlotte Danielsson-Chang

According to her campaign website, Charlotte is a small business owner practicing business and immigration law for technology companies in the Bay Area since 1998.  She currently serves as a Commissioner for the Alameda County Human Relations Commission, and is Chair of the National Voter Education Forum for the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association.

 

1. Briefly explain what your vision for Emeryville is and how you propose to 

take us there.

Emeryville is the city of “arts and innovation” and my vision is to foster an environment where the ingenuity of our citizens can flourish and where both people and businesses feel genuinely invested in our community. We need to focus more on the livability of our city; we need more spaces for people to connect---more parks, green space, bike/walking trails, public gathering spaces, and small businesses---and we need to deal with environmental and climate change issues more proactively. Our smaller size is an asset and means we can be more creative, nimble, adaptable, and make sure all people within our community are treated with respect and dignity. Diverse input results in more innovative and effective solutions so I would prioritize not only respecting diverse voices but actively reaching out to parts of our community that have historically not been very involved with our city government. I would work with companies within our city to concentrate their social impact and sustainability initiatives in Emeryville to make the companies and their employees feel more invested in the city. I’ve spent decades working with entrepreneurs and building tech ecosystems and will use those contacts and that knowledge to foster more entrepreneurship in Emeryville. More info at www.charlotteforemeryville.com

2. Do you support Emeryville’s Measure C, the affordable housing bond passed by voters in 2018?

Yes absolutely. We need to make sure people at all income levels can afford to live in Emeryville. We need to make sure that the seniors on fixed incomes, many of whom have lived here for decades and hold the historical knowledge of Emeryville that gives us our roots, can afford to stay here. We need to make sure we don’t lose the artists who play such an essential role in providing inspiration for our city. We need our teachers, nurses, fire fighters and police officers to be able to live in the community they serve. We need to take care of our families who are struggling to survive and our homeless because that’s the heart of who we are as a progressive city. 

3. Do you support Emeryville’s Minimum Wage Ordinance?

Yes, Emeryville has a high cost of living so wages should reflect that and reflect our beliefs as a city that workers matter. The Minimum Wage Ordinance often gets blamed for the empty and boarded up retail spaces in Emeryville but that’s inaccurate because this trend predates the Minimum Wage Ordinance. It started off with new developments creating retail spaces that were too expensive for small business owners and now there is the devastating impact of Covid on top of that which is also accelerating the disruption of the retail industry brought on by technological changes and the rise of ecommerce. I’ve been a small business owner for 23 years and my parents were small business owners throughout my childhood so I know personally that being a small business owner is a 24/7 all-in endeavor that consumes all aspects of your life and being able to feed your family is tied to how well your business does. Our city needs to keep our small businesses in mind whenever development decisions are made both in terms of making sure we have viable spaces for them and that we are ensuring that they have the foot traffic and visibility needed to thrive. Our city also has a role to play in helping small businesses build forward-focused resiliency in terms of providing information and resources to adapt to economic and technological shifts more easily.

4.   Name two areas in which you think Emeryville has done a good job recently.

One, Emeryville is a leader in the region for affordable housing.

Two, giving BioMed Realty development approval to expand its Emeryville Center of Innovation. The project involves building 4 new lab buildings which expands our life science core, will bring more high paying jobs to the region, and expand our reputation as a city of innovation.  The project is being done in a way that it contributes to the livability of the community as a whole by including 300 acres of public space including parks, café, etc. 

5.   Name two areas in which you think Emeryville has done a bad job recently.

We haven’t done enough regarding climate change or public safety. Here’s an example that encompasses both: my husband, an avid cyclist who rides 20-30 miles multiple times per week, would say the bike trails are great here and I know many cyclists would probably agree.  Biking, however, is not currently a truly viable alternative means of transportation that would make our city more livable and decrease our negative impact on the environment.  You know you’ve attained the goal of cycling as an alternative form of transportation when you see seniors with groceries, parents with kids, and people in their regular clothes (not special biking clothes) using our bike lanes and there are safe places for them to store their bikes when they get to their locations.  Emeryville has an extremely high property crime rate, a lot of which could be reduced by better urban planning, smarter infrastructure, and more community engagement. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel here and waste taxpayer dollars trying to figure out what would make this transition work…we only need to talk to cities in Europe who have successfully transformed their infrastructure as I have been doing for over a decade in my nonprofit work…to successfully do this in the cheapest manner possible.