Perry has the experience for San Leandro Council

By Linda Perry

The Hayward Daily Review Newspaper has endorsed Linda Perry for City Council based on her experience and long record of community service in San Leandro

THE SAN LEANDRO City Council will have a lot on its plate over the next several years. There are three major developments proposed that will change the face of the city and some residents are rightly concerned that the city might be trying to grow too fast, too soon. The city has recently signed an agreement with Cal Coast Development of Gardena to reconfigure the shoreline. There has been talk of a hotel, housing and restaurants. The key, of course, is to do all of this while retaining the pristine nature of the marina, which is a popular, relaxing hangout not just for local residents but for people from across the Bay Area who come to stroll the shoreline or golf at the Monarch Bay course. The city will also have to figure out if it wants to pony up the funds to dredge the yacht harbor and the area leading out to the channel that flows into San Francisco Bay. Not far from the Marina, off Marina Boulevard, Kaiser Permanente plans to build a new medical center. Kaiser will be closing its hospital in Hayward and building a 250-bed facility in San Leandro. The rub, for some, are ICI Development's plans to build a retail center and 250 apartments next to the hospital. Some question the wisdom of putting housing so close to the freeway for traffic and health reasons. Last, but certainly not least, are the city's plans to build a transit village, known as San Leandro Crossings, near the downtown BART station. Several downtown streets will have to be reconfigured to accommodate as many as 300 housing units, retail space and parking. The area is already notoriously congested and many residents oppose the development on the grounds that it will make traffic even worse. All of these plans are working their way through various stages of the city approval process. Whomever is elected to the council will likely be called upon to vote on the final plans. The one open seat is for District 2, replacing Surlene Grant who termed out after two terms. The candidates, Linda Perry and Ursula Reed, were the top two vote-getters in June. Perry, a former councilwoman who served two terms before terming out in 1996, received 41 percent of the vote in the primary, but shy of the 50 percent required to win. Reed, an Oakland school administrator, tallied 31 percent of the vote. Perry is a lifelong city resident who has long been active in the community. She is completing her third term on the school board. She is a familiar face at community meetings and has been endorsed by the Democratic Central Committee. Reed is endorsed by the outgoing Grant. Her supporters have described her as a fresh voice who would bring a new perspective to the council. If elected, she would become the only African-American on the all-white council. However, Reed's resume, as far as public service goes, is relatively thin. She is a member of the city's Library Historical Commission, the only public office that she has held in the city. Perry, on the other hand, has a long record of community service in San Leandro. We endorse Perry for District 2. Source: The Daily Review, Hayward, California October 29, 2008