Miley reelected Alameda County Supervisor, results tighter in CV
Nate Miley was reelected to a fifth term as Alameda County District 4 Supervisor last night. With 43,897 total votes cast in the race, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters is reporting that Miley received 61.7 percent of the vote versus challenger Bryan Parker’s 37.5 percent. District 4 encompasses parts of …
Caltrans Acknowledges Castro Valley Existence
One day back in July 2014, I was driving along on Northbound I-880. I saw a sign that I had passed hundreds of times before, a standard “CITY LIMITS” sign, installed by Caltrans throughout California, but missing the “CITY LIMITS” part since it was for our unincorporated neighbors in San …
CVM Will Be Streaming Tonight’s MAC Meeting
Tonight’s Castro Valley MAC meeting will be concentrating on the proposed new East Bay Regional Parks building proposed to be built overlooking Lake Chabot. It will be held at the Castro Valley Library tonight starting at 6PM. This afternoon over 100 people attended a “field trip” to view the site …
The Tale of Castro Valley’s Closed Schools
At Wednesday night’s Board meeting of the Castro Valley Unified School District (CVUSD), the Board discussed a possible general obligation bond for school facilities. In October 1960, the area now covered by the CVUSD contained about 9,900 students, and was served by 13 elementary schools, two junior high schools, and one high school. …
How We Built the Old Castro Valley Library
One of the more popular conversation topics around town is “what the heck is going on with the old library building?” The Castro Valley MAC was asking the same thing of the County at the September 21st MAC meeting. Caroline Judy, the acting head of the Alameda County GSA (the …
An Affordable Way to Get an Elected MAC in 2016
Time and again, we have been told that having an elected Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) would be an expensive and pointless endeavor. Last year, I wrote an article deflating the arguments floated at the time of an election for MAC costing up to $500,000 every two years. Although completely without …
County Report Views MAC as “Political Voice of the Community”
The Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) is the first and only MAC in Alameda County. Created in 1981, our MAC is the fourth oldest MAC in California, where an estimated 1.4 million residents in unincorporated Californian communities are served by a MAC or a “MAC Equivalent.” Before creating a MAC …
An Update on AB 3 and the Plight of Isla Vista
What if unincorporated communities could get more local control without having to incorporate? Assembly Bill 3 (AB 3), working its way through the California Assembly, would give Isla Vista, an unincorporated community next to the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus, an enhanced version of a community service district (CSD), …
How the Brown Act protects you from “Your Secret Government”
If you’ve ever attended a meeting of any local agency, you may have heard of the Brown Act, but do you know what it is, and what it is for? It has nothing to do with Jerry Brown or UPS, but it has everything to do with keeping meetings …
The Written History of the Castro Valley MAC
At Castro Valley Matters, we often discuss the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) and what they have or have not done in the past. This requires research, which can be a bit of a pain. As a community service, we have compiled all known Castro Valley MAC Land Use …