Election 2014
Measure U, the ballot item to increase the retail sales taxes to 9.5%, passed yesterday with 53.7% of the vote. Another key ballot item, Proposition 47, also passed. The statewide proposition to reduce six types of felony crimes to misdemeanors was approved with 65% of voters in favor.
Violence marred Election Day in Richmond as four teens were shot in close proximity to one another on Tuesday night. Police say the shootings may be related.
City Councilman Tom Butt defeated his opponent Nat Bates, winning Richmond’s mayoral contest today and dealing a blow to local oil giant Chevron, which allocated over $3 million to political spending.
Berkeley has become the first city in the country to pass a sugar-sweetened beverage tax in an effort to combat childhood obesity and diabetes, according to Josh Daniels, co-chair of the Yes on D campaign. As the polls closed Tuesday night, an energetic crowd, many of whom wore black t-shirts emblazoned with the words “Berkeley vs. Big Soda,” clapped and cheered within the Yes on D campaign headquarters on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley.
As voters head to the polls, the nation’s eyes will be on Richmond as the city decides the future of its leadership. Not only are Richmonders electing a new mayor and new city council members, but they’re also passing judgement on the effects of unlimited political spending.
GUEST OPINION: The Richmond Confidential story on the school board election in West Contra Costa Unified School District (Pro-charter school PACs flood West Contra Costa school board elections.) leaves me puzzled. After 15 years of teaching at Cal Berkeley myself, I applaud the experience these young journalists are gaining. Still, our students and families depend on you to ensure the story is complete and balanced. While telling readers about “pro-charter” money flooding into West Contra Costa school board elections, your…
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If recent history is any indication, the fate of Tuesday’s Richmond municipal elections is likely to rest the hands of about a tenth of its roughly 107,000 residents.
Richmond Confidential will be live covering the Nov 4. Richmond election.