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Alameda Board of Supervisors Deadlock Over District 2

Ana Apodaca, Newark vice mayor, poses with her son.

This past Tuesday the Alameda County Board of Supervisors reached a deadlock over who would fill Nadia Lockyer’s District 2 seat with a 2-2 vote split over former Union City councilmember Richard Valle and Newark vice mayor Ana Apodaca.

Supervisors Nate Miley and Wilma Chan voted for Richard Valle and supervisors Scott Haggerty and Keith Carson voted for Ana Apodaca. The deadlock will be settled next Tuesday, June 12.

“You know I thought it would be over with by now,” said Apodaca, with a similar reaction as Valle.

“I’m disappointed that they could not have come to a decisive decision,” said Valle.

Richard Valle sits waiting for the verdict.

The deadline for Lockyer’s spot to be filled is June 19, and if no consensus is made then the appointment will go to Gov. Jerry Brown.

Carson told the crowd of largely Apodaca and Valle supporters he spoke last week with Brown, who inquired about the situation.

“It looks like I may have to fill that seat,” Carson said Brown told him. “Like hell he will,” Carson said in staunch defiance to the potential appointment. The board was in agreement this decision will be made by the supervisors and not the governor.

The board contemplated for a moment after the deadlock, “Perhaps we can put both of them in a room and see who walks out,” said Haggerty jokingly. The board suggested to Apodaca and Valle if either wanted to forfeit their candidacy to end the process now, to which neither did.

“It is a hard decision because Richard Valle and Ana Apodaca are both well qualified and represent the diversity of the district. I would be proud to serve with either of them,” said Chan.

Chan threw her support in for Valle, citing his work with youth against violence, his recycling company Tri-CED and his Vietnam veteran history as qualifications for the seat.

“I made my decision on two reasons, one is the community feedback within District 2 for Valle and two, there is a disillusionment and disappointment in district 2 with the events in the last few months and we need someone who can repair that disillusionment and disappointment and I believe that Richard is the man to do that,” said Chan.

Other candidates opted to not expose their selectees before their vote nor explain why they made their vote, but they acknowledged the decision rested between Valle and Apodaca.

The “events” Chan was referring to was Nadia Lockyer’s meth addiction, her beating from her ex-drug dealing boyfriend and her resignation as a result. Just a little over a month ago there was a brief leak of two clips from a sex tape with Lockyer in a garter and another with her masturbating. The man filming it was likely her ex-boyfriend.

Although Haggerty did not give much reason to his vote, he addressed Sheryl Grant, a local businesswoman who was vying for the position, stating his reason why he did not support her.

During last week’s interviews for the supervisor seat, Grant gave wide and unspecific answers exposing her lack of knowledge and foresight into local politics compared to Union City Mayor Mark Green, Valle and Apodaca.

Miley said he could not support Green because of his run for Assembly and believed it to be a conflict with their appointment.

The appointment will only temporarily fill the seat until the general election in the fall, but Miley raised concerns about Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi’s potential run for the supervisor seat.

Hayashi was caught shoplifting in an upscale store in Union Square last year, a scandal just preceding Lockyer’s own controversy. The shoplifting scandal incited a media blitz and wide denouncement of Hayashi’s qualifications as an assemblywoman. She does have a large campaign war chest to run for the supervisor seat, which Miley is most concerned about.

“She has a lot of money to spend,” Miley told The Pioneer. “I support Richard Valle because he has the name recognition to compete with Hayashi. Ana Apodaca would be qualified but she only captured 1,600 votes for mayor of Newark.”

This amount of votes was a relatively small amount captured compared to Newark Mayor Alan L. Nagy.

Miley wants someone with enough political pool and local support to beat Hayashi for the general election.

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Alameda Board of Supervisors Deadlock Over District 2