Monday night saw another lively meeting of the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (CV MAC) in front of about 20 local citizens at the Castro Valley Library.  Those in attendance were lucky enough to hear talk about local topics ranging from ethics and storm drains, to squirrels and vaping.

Public comment started with two local citizens making similar comments.  One was calling for the CV MAC to institute a Code of Conduct, something they currently do not have.  The Code of Conduct adopted by the Avila Beach Advisory Council in San Luis Obispo County was held up as an example and was read aloud to the Council (it is also posted on the home page of their website.)  A copy of the most recent Castro Valley MAC by-laws (from 1990) was also distributed to the Council.  The next speaker called for the County Counsel to give an informative presentation at an upcoming MAC meeting talking about the legal issues facing those serving on appointed County commissions, specifically conflict of interest and conduct issues.  Chair Crawford agreed to get that put on the agenda for a future meeting.

Next, a presentation was made by a local resident detailing the ongoing issues with homes on Winifred Drive in Castro Valley.  Many houses on the South side of Winifred have been suffering from civil engineering choices made when the homes were constructed in 1956.  After the homes were built, a hillside was created separating the homes from the newly constructed Vannoy Elementary school.  Storm drainage was not installed on Winifred, so water coming down to Winifred from Crane has percolated through and destabilized the hillside.  The resident called for CVUSD to do more to stabilize the hill and improve drainage, while also calling on Alameda County Public Works to install a modern storm drain on Winifred to divert the water from the hillside.

Jim Negri, CVUSD Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent Candi Clark both gave brief statements simply stating that the school district was not responsible for the hillside as their property line ended at the base of the hill.  They stated that previous studies done by the District attributed the hill instability to squirrels and water percolation through the hillside.  Alameda County Public Works said they did not perceive a problem with the drainage. After further direct questioning by Chair Crawford, Public Works admitted that no drainage study had been done since the street was originally built in the 1950’s.  A motion was made and unanimously passed requesting that Public Works further study the issue.

The meeting then moved on to revisiting the e-cigarette ordinance being proposed for the Unincorporated areas of Alameda County.  The proposed ordinance was last presented at the May 19^th General Purpose meeting. At the time, the MAC raised many concerns pointing out factual, theoretical and scientific errors with the ordinance and the wording of it in general.  Suggestions were also made to create a new ordinance rather than simply retrofitting e-cig language onto an existing tobacco ordinance. The MAC wanted the County to explore separating and treating differently e-cigs with “active” additives (nicotine, caffeine, etc) and those with only flavoring.  The CV MAC requested that Public Health review the MACs suggestions and return at a later date with an update. When Dr. Muntu Davis, the Alameda County Public Health Department Director came to re-present the ordinance on Monday he stated that the County had consulted with the Board of Supervisors, and they were planning on proceeding with the ordinance as-is.  Public Health stated that they had held brief (non-public) email conversations regarding the MACs comments, but decided against revisions to the proposed ordinance.

You can hear an audio recording of the e- cigarette presentation, and the MACs response here.

These revelations incensed the MAC.  Vice Chair Miraglia made a request to see the emails where the BOS approved of leaving the proposal as-is.  Chair Crawford was shocked by the attitude from the County of “..we don’t care what you think”  He continued that it “was a disservice to.. (the MAC and all of Castro Valley) to say basically that ‘we don’t care what you think.’”  Member Turner stated that it was “the MACs worst nightmare.  Why are we going to be here if we are going to be rolled over like that?”  Chair Crawford concluded by saying that this “would set a precedent going forward that the Board can ignore the public, and that is just not OK.” “This is like a dictatorship.” Finally, the MAC restated all of their initial concerns with the proposed ordinance, and recommended denial of the proposal worded as is,  and urged the County to revisit their concerns.

The next MAC meeting will be a land use issue meeting scheduled for Monday the 22nd at 6pm at the Castro Valley Library.  Come make your voices heard about what matters to you!