Alameda County Races

Race to Watch

Board of Supervisors, District 5

Why does this race matter?

Supervisor Keith Carson’s decision to retire after eight terms launched one of the year’s most contested East Bay elections. The seat represents Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville, Piedmont and part of Oakland on a board that will help shape various countywide policies, including those on housing, public health and law enforcement.

What does a county supervisor do?

Supervisors govern county programs and departments and approve the county budget. Their largest area of spending is traditionally health care and human services. Supervisors are also responsible for local jails and elections, and they make decisions on law enforcement and housing in unincorporated areas of the county. If a supervisor candidate receives over 50% of the vote in the primary, they take office for a four-year term. Otherwise, the top two candidates face off in the November general election.

Candidates

Nikki Fortunato Bas
Nikki Fortunato BasCity Council President, Oakland
John J. Bauters
John J. BautersCity Council Member, Emeryville

Key Supporters

This list represents notable organizations and individuals who have taken a position on the ballot measure or candidate, or who are funding campaigns in support or opposition. This list is not exhaustive, and may be updated.

For Fortunato Bas

  • Alameda County Labor Association, AFL-CIO
  • Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment
  • California Nurses Association
  • Fiona Ma, state treasurer
  • Nancy Skinner, state senator

For Bauters

  • Alameda County Firefighters, IAFF Local 55
  • The Sierra Club
  • Housing Action Coalition
  • Keith Carson, supervisor, Alameda County 
  • Elisa Márquez, supervisor, Alameda County
 

Positions on Key Issues
Candidate summaries are based on interviews with the candidates, questionnaires, statements made at debates and public events, and past news coverage.

Alameda County has still not finalized its state-required eight-year roadmap for how it plans to provide housing to all residents. The state rejected an early draft this summer, citing among other things a need for additional tenant protections. If elected, what would you advocate to include in the final plan?

Fortunato Bas says the plan should include ways to create housing at all income levels, while also preventing evictions. She says it should also proactively address homelessness by proposing an expansion of services for encampment outreach, public assistance benefits, behavioral health, medical health, and emergency shelter. She would also push to improve coordination between the county and District 5 cities by defining clear action steps and responsibilities for each entity.
Bauters touts a 2018 Emeryville bond he championed that funded the development of supportive housing on city land — and says he would bring that model to the county. But he says the county’s plan must also prioritize not just housing development, but also strong tenant protections and public health responses to homelessness. He says he has the experience to guide the way — noting that he helped reduce homelessness in Emeryville by 79% since 2019.

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors has been developing a plan for civilian oversight of the sheriff’s office since 2021, but has yet to approve anything. Do you believe civilian oversight of that office is needed, and if so, what should it look like?

Fortunato Bas supports creating a sheriff’s civilian oversight body with a diverse membership and a majority of seats reserved for people who have been directly impacted by the criminal justice system. She says the agency should be well trained, supported, funded and empowered — including through subpoena power — to investigate the root causes of chronic jail deaths and ensure reforms are implemented in the sheriff's office.
Bauters says civilian oversight of the sheriff’s office is overdue. He says that oversight should be paired with a drive to expand programs that divert people with extreme mental illness from jails — an effort that requires strong partnerships between the county, community stakeholders and law enforcement agencies. Without that, he says, “we're not serving the people we need to help the most.”

The county’s public health care service — Alameda Health System (AHS) — provides care to tens of thousands of primarily lower-income residents every year. But it has long been struggling financially. What should the county do to ensure its financial stability?

Fortunato Bas says she would continue the work of former supervisors Wilma Chan and Richard Valle to improve AHS’s financial stability and transparency. She would work with labor partners to identify ways to make the health care system more efficient, and push to boost funding by working directly with District 5 cities and lobbying state and federal elected officials.
Bauters says the county could save AHS money by investing more in housing and behavioral health support for people experiencing homelessness. In providing proactive holistic care, he says, the county would divert significant numbers of people from AHS emergency rooms. He says he would also aggressively pursue new state and federal funding opportunities, including a state grant program to better support Medi-Cal patients.

Some county residents say they’re frustrated that the Board of Supervisors sometimes takes years to make decisions on certain particularly pressing issues, like sheriff‘s oversight and just-cause eviction protections for single family homes. What would you do to address the disconnect between the decision-making timeline that residents expect and what the board is actually able to deliver?

Fortunato Bas says she wants to improve public education about the board’s role in the county, and facilitate ways for its members to more directly engage with the public. “My hope and intention is that, with my participation and the public's, the board will act with more urgency around a number of issues that the community has created recommendations for, but have not been able to move forward yet,” she says.
Bauters says most citizens don’t know what the county Board of Supervisors does. “I think that lack of accountability and transparency is what allows this kind of stagnation on issues and the resolution of issues to fester,” he says. He says he would work to boost community engagement by hosting regular town halls for his constituents to report on the board’s work and answer their questions.

Last year, Alameda County established a reparations commission to study whether county policies discriminated against Black residents, and if so, come up with a plan to compensate those who have been harmed. Do you think the commission's work is a good use of county resources?

Fortunato Bas says she supports the work of the county reparations commission. She points to the legacy of Russell City, a formerly unincorporated community in Alameda County, whose residents and businesses were displaced some six decades ago through the county’s use of eminent domain. She says that’s a “concrete example of racial discrimination that deserves more than a formal apology.”
Bauters says he supports the county’s reparations commission. “I believe Alameda County is no different from the United States in that it has historically engaged in systemic racism,” he says, noting that it's important for county leaders to listen closely to residents’ concerns. “So I'm going to continue listening as that group works through its process and find ways to be supportive as may be appropriate.”

Race to Watch

District Attorney Recall

Should Alameda County recall District Attorney Pamela Price?

What would the measure do?

If approved, the recall would remove District Attorney Pamela Price from office, effective immediately. The county Board of Supervisors would appoint an interim district attorney to serve until the next regularly scheduled election in 2026, when voters would elect a new DA to finish out Price’s term, which ends in 2028. (Thanks to a 2022 state law, Price is serving an irregular six-year term. The next regular DA term, beginning January 2029, will go back to being a four-year term.) The recall needs a simple majority to be approved.

Yes Argument

Supporters of the recall blame Price’s policies, such as limiting sentencing enhancements and encouraging the use of the county’s diversion courts, for a steep rise in crime in the county last year. Some victims of crime have also pushed for the recall, alleging that they have not received adequate support from Price’s office.

No Argument

Opponents of the recall say it’s unfair to blame Price for a rise in crime that began during the pandemic, and argue it’s too soon to know the impact of her policies, less than two years into her term. They note the effort is funded primarily by a small group of wealthy individuals, who should be using that money to support jobs programs, mental health care and schools if they really cared about public safety.

Key Supporters

This list represents notable organizations and individuals who have taken a position on the ballot measure or candidate, or who are funding campaigns in support or opposition. This list is not exhaustive, and may be updated.

In Support

  • Isaac Abid, HP Investors, LLC
  • Philip Dreyfuss, partner, Farallon Capital Management
  • Justin Osler, The Martin Group of Companies, LLC
  • Holland Residential, Inc.
  • Save Alameda For Everyone: Recall DA Price

In Opposition

  • The ACLU of Northern California
  • Asian Americans for Progressive Alameda
  • Latino Task Force
  • Oakland Rising Action
  • Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club

Related Coverage

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