New Faces to Lead Castro Valley Next Year
Alameda County voters have spoken, and now Castro Valley has a significant number of new faces representing it.
The Alameda County Registrar of Voters certified the November 8, 2022, election results this past Thursday. Out of 931,086 registered voters in the county, 496,125 or 53.28% cast a ballot. Most of those (457,817) were submitted by mail or dropped off in a ballot box before Election Day. Some 38,308 voters turned out in person that first Tuesday in November to mark their ballots.
Cynthia Cornejo, the county’s Deputy Registrar of Voters, confirmed the certification and added that the totals are now posted to the Registrar’s website (https://www.acgov.org/rovresults/248/).
While many of the state-level contests (e.g., governor, lieutenant governor, controller etc.) favored incumbents, some key races locally were won by lesser-known names.
At the top of the list is Pamela Price, who was voted in as Alameda County District Attorney. She replaces outgoing DA Nancy O’Malley. Price, who is a civil rights attorney, received 26,000 more votes than O’Malley’s Chief Assistant DA, Terry Wiley.
Another new face representing Castro Valley will be Liz Ortega as the new California State Assemblymember for District 20. She replaces longtime representative Bill Quirk. A San Leandro resident, Ortega became the first Latina to head the Alameda County Central Labor Council after decades of working for labor unions.
April Chan is another newcomer to an elected post. She received the most votes to now lead East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) Ward 7. Chan takes over for Frank Mellon, who is retiring. In her position, Chan will help keep the water flowing, which might be a challenge since the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) said it expects yet another dry year between now and September 2023.
In addition to elected officials, next year, Castro Valley and the unincorporated areas will be governed by Nancy Skinner, who represents the California State Senate District 9. Following the 2020 Census and redistricting lines, Castro Valley, Ashland, Cherryland, and San Lorenzo will be governed under District 9. The district is now primarily in Contra Costa County (including San Ramon, Danville, Pleasant Hill, and Concord) and extends as far north as Crocket and Antioch and as far east as Vasco Road. Castro Valley’s former District 10 now shifts to Hayward, Fremont, and the South Bay. Aisha Walab is the new face of District 10.
There is also a new face on the Castro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees. Sara Raymond received more votes than the other candidates. She joins incumbent Gary Howard to serve in the two vacated spaces. Raymond and Howard were administered the oath of office last Friday.
There are many familiar faces returning to serve Castro Valley, including Roxann Lewis as Eden Township Health Care District Director for Zone 3, Murphy McCalley as AC Transit Director for Ward 4, and Joel Young as AC Transit Director-At-Large.
East Bay Regional Park District’s Ward 3 will again be managed by incumbent Director Dennis Waespi, and Liz Ames will continue as BART Director of District 6.
As for the various ballot measures, Castro Valle helped pass Measure D, which will help preserve open spaces.
Voters in Castro Valley and elsewhere also passed several Propositions, including Proposition 1 (protecting abortion and contraception rights), Proposition 28 (funding for arts and music education), and Proposition 31 (upholds state law barring the sale of flavored tobacco).
Voters defeated Propositions 26 and 27 (online gambling), Proposition 29 (staff coverage for dialysis clinics), and Proposition 30 (tax on millionaires for electric cars).