Role of police key part of San Leandro City Council race
SAN LEANDRO >> The national spotlight on policing is playing out in the City Council race this election in the aftermath of a white San Leandro police officer shooting a Black man to death inside a Walmart store.
Officer Jason Fletcher has been charged with voluntary manslaughter in Steven Taylor’s death in April, making him the first officer to be charged in a fatal shooting in the Bay Area while on duty in more than a decade. His family has said Taylor was experiencing a mental health crisis.
In June, the San Leandro City Council voted to pull $1.7 million from the city’s police budget after hearing from dozens of people demanding changes in how law enforcement interacts with the public following Tayor’s death.
San Leandro became one of the few cities in the nation to take the dramatic step in response to a growing chorus to defund police departments following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Councilman Ed Hernandez, who is facing re- election, voted against shifting the money from police because he said the idea needed more scrutiny. But he said he still supports looking into having mental health professionals trained in de- escalation response to some emergency calls.
“We need to reimagine policing,” Hernandez said, noting that the city allocates about 60% of its budget, or $70 million, for public safety.
“Officers will tell you that they are doing too much. They need help,” he said in an interview.
San Leandro must maintain adequate 911 emergency and medical response capacity, and police should keep programs that target youth violence and gangs, as well as maintain neighborhood patrols and neighborhood watch programs, Hernandez said.
Hernandez is being challenged by Bryan Azevedo in District 2 in the southeast part of the city. Azevedo, a fourth- generation San Leandro resident and sheet metal worker, unsuccessfully ran against Hernandez in 2016.
“I don’t like what they did to Steven Taylor,” Azevedo said, referring to the 33-year- old man fa
tally shot in Walmart and whose family said was in mental distress. “Police should have tackled him and arrested him.”
If elected, Azevedo also said he would support direc ting cit y resources toward hav ing menta l health workers, rather than police, respond to some calls.
“We need a mental component with policing,” he said. Mental health professionals “specialize in it rather than police officers.”
The other contest is for Benny Lee’s seat in District 4, which includes southwest San Leandro. Lee is being termed out; San Leandro has a two-term limit for council positions.
In the race is Fred Simon, a 25-year San Lean
dro resident and civil engineer who works at the Contra Costa Water District. Simon serves on the board of the Oro Loma Sanitary District.
“I am supportive of the police and the community. Uniting them is key to solving the challenges we face,” Simon said in an email. “I propose mental health, homelessness and addiction matters be removed from police responsibility and shifted, along with associated funding, to other departments, such as human services; (and that) police officers receive improved training and procedures on de- escalating situations.”
Facing Simon is Chris Bammer, an automotive detail technician who is running a low-key campaign. No law signs or website, no fundraisers, no walking door-to- door pitching for votes.
“I support the police 100%,” Bammer said in an interview. “I think we need more police, not less.”
Asked how he would spend the $1.7 million that the council opted to move from the police budget earlier this year, Bammer said he would consider using the money to renovate the Washington Manor pool.
Bammer said he was inspired to run because he believes the council and city staff ignore residents’ needs, citing the homeless who congregate near his business on Lewelling Boulevard and the crimes he alleges they cause as an example.
“Nothing ever gets done,” he said. “People complain. Years and years go by. It’s ridiculous.”
Councilman Pete Ballew, a retired San Leandro police officer, is running unopposed in District 6 in northwest San Leandro.