Supervisor Calls for Protections for the Most Vulnerable
Alameda County District 4 has a diverse population with its own set of challenges that can only be overcome with the shared contribution of its residents, Supervisor Nate Miley said in his 2022 State of the District address.
“I recognize that the work ahead is challenging but it is critical. We must continue to come together as a collective voice because our most in need are dependent on us,” Miley said during the online presentation last Wednesday, June 1.
Miley, who has served in the position since 2001, outlined other accomplishments in the last year including securing $14 million in federal funds to help rebuild civic infrastructure in the unincorporated areas, and $3.1 million to spend on supporting those in the deepest need including the unhoused, seniors, and marginalized groups. Miley said he would funnel the funding toward supporting three specific areas:
• Job creation, economic development, and housing
• Organizations that provide direct assistance to older adults, those with disabilities, formerly incarcerated, undocumented, and justice-involved individuals
• Organizations that encourage civic engagement and those that work to achieve Social Justice
“I believe it is these challenges that are the biggest ones facing our district, the county, and the nation.”
On the housing front, the Supervisor was proud to announce his district was the first in the state to open two Project Roomkey hotels last year. These hotels helped people living on the street who were at risk of contracting COVID-19 relocate to safer accommodations while maintaining union jobs for those hotel workers.
“Providing services to the homeless only goes so far and we need to increase our housing stock,” Miley said. “It is too complicated to build within our county. We need to make the permit process easier in Alameda County.”
The 2022 homeless count revealed a 22% increase since 2019 with a relatively solid tally of more than 8,000 individuals living on the street, on a friend's couch, or in their vehicles.
Miley also touted his participation in getting the Tiny Home program up and running in conjunction with First Presbyterian church on Grove Way in Castro Valley as well as the 34 homes the county helped construct at the Fairview Hospital site to put a dent in the number of unhoused in the county.
Diverse Community
According to the federal data-gathering site Data USA, District 4 population was 757,806 in 2019. Its media age was 45 years. The poverty rate was 8.99 percent (a 263% 1-year decrease),
People living in District 4, CA have a median annual income of $86,374, which is more than the median annual income of $65,712 across the entire United States. This is in comparison to a median income of $77,592 in 2018, which represents an 11.3% annual growth.
In 2019, there were 7.89 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (568k people) in Congressional District 4, CA than any other race or ethnicity. There were 72,000 White (Hispanic) and 44,000 Asian (Non-Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups. Only 13.1% of the people in Congressional District 4, CA are Hispanic (99,000 people), according to Data USA stats.
District 4, CA employs 343,000 people. The largest industries in Congressional District 4, CA are Health Care & Social Assistance (46,864 people), Retail Trade (37,427 people), and Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (30,153 people), and the highest paying industries are Management of Companies & Enterprises ($119,757), Utilities ($91,244), and Finance & Insurance ($82,010).
District 4 includes the City of Pleasanton, portions of Oakland from Montclair in the north to Oracle Arena and the Oakland Coliseum in the south, and the unincorporated communities of Ashland, Castro Valley, Cherryland, El Portal Ridge, Fairmont Terrace, Fairview, and Hillcrest Knolls.