Rob AriasIntroductions
1). Tell us where you’re from, what brought you to Emeryville, and how long you’ve lived in the city.
I’m from Phoenix, Arizona and moved to Emeryville around February 2024 because it was safer that downtown Oakland, where I lived previously. I enjoy Emeryville’s close proximity to San Francisco and Oakland and our retail shops and small businesses, but it didn’t take long to see past our veneer. Not only was my car broken into, but the building I live in, a brand new complex, was sold. With these issues and more I decided to get more involved, but I was hesitant because I heard negative things about how Black men in Emeryville politics are bullied by people like John Bauters and Courtney Welch.
2). What has your involvement with The City of Emeryville been thus far? Have you served on any committees, commissions, panels, HOAs, or other relevant entities within the city?
I got involved with Emery Rising after my friend Andre Stanford decided to run against Mia Bonta for the Assembly District 18 seat. I met Kalimah/Councilman Priforce and was surprised by how warm and welcoming he was. He wasn’t just nice, he has an edge to him that I can relate to and asked me if I could see myself in politics. I was hesitant because like I said in the mailers we sent out, I’m not the loudest ego in the room.
I prefer to observe and analyze and come to a decision after weighing all the factors. Kalimah and I are different. He’s more “jump in the boat and figure it out” while he’s there or while he’s jumping, and I’m more calculating. If I’m elected, I think we would make a good team, along with Mia, we would offer something different to city council, a diversity of perspectives and not be the same housing and transportation guys. How many people on a city council have to be so big on one or two issues? We need to change it up.
I haven’t gotten involved in the committees and I know that’s where a lot of city council members come from, but that’s also why the bureaucracy there is locked behind the same rotating people. We’ve seen how they want to run the city, now it’s time for the people to run the city who they overlook. People like Mia and I. People like you. That’s the only way things can change. Vote Calvin Dillahunty for change.
3). Tell us what you do professionally. What skills and different perspectives would you bring to Emeryville’s City Council that might be currently lacking?
I work for T-Mobile by helping business configure their digital transformation using our suite of products and services that streamlines their operations with technology while reducing business expenses and waste. I currently working with the City of Escalon’s network infrastructure which services their police and fire departments when connectivity issues develop. Soon we will be providing internet services to the entire city.
Prior to T-Mobile, I was at New York Life insurance Company, and that background gave me greater insight into financial services that I believe could help the city with our current budget crisis. There’s a story behind the numbers and it’s time Emeryville had a straight shooter who can communicate what needs to done based on the numbers in front of them.
Qualifications & Priorities
4). By order of priority, what do you see as the top 5 challenges that you’d like to help address in the city during your first term if elected?
- Public Safety
- Fiscal Crisis
- Affordability
- Small Businesses
- Accountability
5). Emeryville is facing a potential shortfall in the coming budget cycle. The Emeryville Police Department’s budget is the highest in the city. Are you prepared to make cuts to the police force to balance the city’s budget? What other resident amenities or programs are you prepared to cut to fix this shortfall?
I had the honor of a six-hour ride-along with our Emeryville Police Department to get a lay of the land. I learned a lot, but the key takeaways are that our police work very hard but they need support. Short term, the ALPR cameras were a boon to better tracking of vehicle related crimes. Long term, they’d like community and council support to move the police station to a new location that isn’t a risk of falling into the bay. As a Black man it feels good that I know our police force and they know me. But I know communities like Watergate are tired of their cars being broken into and other public safety issues.
6). Emeryville’s Art Center has not been prioritized by past leaders and is arguably no closer to being built than it was a decade ago. Is this a priority for you and what can be done to get this to the finish line?
One of the first things I’ll do as Councilmember is support the art center. I heard about Sukhdeep Kaur wanting to add a library to it. I don’t think that’s necessary and would just slow things down, but before we can get to an art center, we have to fix out budget. I’m going to be mentioning this a lot because it’s all connected. City services will be cut down until we have people in place who can balance the budget and raise money.
Ethics & Governing
7). The City recently adopted a version of a Code of Ethics that gives those outside of council almost no tools for fighting corruption in the city. Considering Emeryville’s long history of corruption and the inherent nature of small cities with little oversight, should Emeryville have an independent ethics commission like many other Bay Area Cities?
Yes. The first time I attended a council meeting, I text Mia Esperanza Brown, “it’s giving me high school.” It’s like a popularity contest and they don’t like Kalimah and play favorites to some members of the public and not to others. I honestly think we deserve more than this.
A code of ethics with an independent ethics commission would serve the public better than the drama we see and don’t see. Yeah, I heard about the yelling too, but I also watched videos of John Bauters silencing people, telling his colleagues what to do – people think this is about Kalimah. No self-respecting Black man would accept this. I’m not going to have anyone speak to me a certain way or scold me like I’m their child. I don’t know how Kalimah does it, but hopefully he won’t have to put up with this for long.
If we can’t disagree without bullying other people then we need a code of ethics and and independent ethics commission. Didn’t David Mourra say he was going to support one? That it would come later? Well, later is here and there still isn’t one.
8). A free and active press is regarded as an essential pillar of democracy. Our platform promotes transparency in local government and helps hold leaders, like yourself, accountable. Will you commit to supporting a free press by responding to our inquiries even when they are not flattering?
Transparency is important. I’m all for that.
Kalimah approached Mia and I about running for city council as part of Emery Rising. He told us the most important thing he valued from us was being independently minded. If we won our elections, we wouldn’t owe him anything, only the people we are supposed to serve, and we can disagree with him and he wouldn’t carry a chip on his shoulder. But he did talk to us about the rotation of mayorship and although he had more votes than David Mourra during the election, he was skipped for mayor. Mia and I both agree it was wrong because if only one of us wins, they will do the same thing to me or her.
If the city council are racist or if they don’t support a woman’s right to choose, they could choose someone that believes in what they do even though they are supposed to be the next mayor. That’s wrong to me and it doesn’t matter how they spin it, it’s unethical and morally wrong. Vote for Mia and I if you believe that democracy is not flexible and that our votes matter.
Also, the city council never gave a good reason why. They don’t get along with Kalimah, so skip him? They changed the rules of a democratic custom because they don’t get along? Isn’t this a power grab? The excuse they made the first time when they skipped Scott Donahue was they wanted someone who would fix city’s finances so John Bauters became mayor for two years in a row and now our we are in a budget deficit. None of this makes sense, but its corruption, so it’s not supposed to make sense.
A free press should report all of that. If they hate the truth is being told, it’s because they benefit from the lie.
9). Despite some pressure, the Emeryville Council majority opted to not agendize a “Gaza Ceasefire” resolution as some cities in the Bay Area did. Do you think these symbolic resolutions fit the role of local government and If you were on council at the time, would you have pushed for this?
Mia and I didn’t focus on endorsements for this race because we knew we were up against incumbents who would soak up all the endorsements, but CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) endorsed us because we are open to discussing a ceasefire resolution. I would have pushed for a discussion when we made a resolution for Ukraine but now don’t want to comment on anything outside Emeryville.
Housing Affordability
10). Emeryville’s latest 100% affordable housing project came in at nearly one million dollars per unit. Can we ever really satisfy the demand for 100% affordable housing at this price tag and what laws or policies need to change to build more economical 100% affordable housing projects?
We need more housing people can actually afford. I had to make a lot more money in order to move into Emeryville. The staff follow the direction of the city council so if more luxury rate apartments are being built, its because we are directing them to.
11). Emeryville already has tenant protections and the state has an anti-rent gouging law on the books (AB 1482). Are these protections enough and if not, where specifically would you like to see these strengthened?
Measure C, passed on June 2018 was suppose to support low and middle-income households, including local artists, purchase homes and stay in the community with first time homeowner loans and prevent displacement of vulnerable populations in Emeryville, including extremely low, very low, low and moderate-income households, veterans, seniors and people with disabilities.
For the new sixth-cycle RNHA, Emeryville’s target is 710 housing units affordable to low- and very low-income households. The subsidies to produce that many units will run about $400 million, give or take several million dollars. It would take miracle or a very big bond to cover that, but that isn’t our only problem.
Why do we only have one person in charge of housing? Why is the housing committee only required to meet bi-monthly (six times a year) and can barely do that? There is little accountability for what is happening with our housing situation in Emeryville.
12). In 2019, the city explored waiving or amending the required “family friendly” unit mix to encourage more highrise construction in the core of the city which is part of the city’s general plan. Is this something you would support and do you have any caveats?
I don’t support that.
13). Where do you personally align on YIMBYism and do you support their opposition to Prop 33/Rent Control which they say “will likely worsen housing affordability.”
In my research for this question I stumbled on the city council appointing a real estate lobbyist, Ned Resnick from California YIMBY, on our housing committee. He’s no longer on there, last I checked, but that only shows the influence YIMBY has on our city, and they don’t support rent control.
I support rent control and better tenant protections.
Public Safety & Quality of Life
14). Grappling with increasing levels of street homelessness for over a decade, cities are finally starting to aggressively dismantle encampments following the Grants Pass ruling. Where do you stand on this issue? Should those who refuse services be “incentivized” into shelters and rehabilitation programs?
Some of those unhoused people are U.S. veterans, mostly people of color and their families, and members of the queer community. So I don’t support the Grants pass ruling.
15). A surge in crime in Oakland led Governor Gavin Newsom to deploy the CHP for a “surge operation” that has thus far led to 803 arrests, 81 illegal firearm seizures, and 1641 stolen vehicles recovered. Since then, crime has significantly declined in Oakland and in Emeryville. What do you glean from this in terms of the safety of Emeryville residents?
Our property crime numbers went down a bit, but there’s more to be done.
16). Criminal recidivism in our justice system is a big topic of conversation and many blame “reformer“ DA Pamela Price for being too lenient on repeat offenders. Where do you stand on this and do you support her recall?
I’m with Pamela Price. I support her. No to the recall.
17). In 2023, the city approved the installation of ALPR technology. Do you have any concerns about the use of these surveillance devices and would you support the approval of additional cameras throughout the city?
We need more cameras and citizen oversight, but if we couldn’t get that for our public ethics, I doubt we’ll get that for our cameras.
Local Business
18). The Biotech/Life Sciences sector is a big source of local jobs is Emeryville and currently struggling with a 37% vacancy rate. Do you see this as an important issue and how can the city help?
It is important and is one of the reasons why we are in a deficit. They keep calling is a pandemic-related deficit, like we are stupid enough to believe that. We didn’t diversity their portfolio. Any economist can see that the barriers of entry are too high and we need to diversify.
19). Do you believe that vacant storefronts are an issue in Emeryville and if so, what is your policy prescription for remedying this (if any)?
Vacancy tax. Let’s do it.
20). Bay Street has been the site of some troubling incidents involving juveniles in the past few years including the 2020 Mass-Looting, a 2021 “melee” that led to the closure of a roller skating rink and 2023’s infamous Mall Brawl where 100s of youth engaged in fighting and uncivil behavior (and there are many more). Is it time to discuss limiting unaccompanied youth at Bay Street as they did recently in the city of Torrance?
I don’t think we need to limit unaccompanied youth. Bay Street needs better security or pay our officers for it.
Learn more about Calvin on his website or by contacting him via email at vote@vote4calvind.com.
Read our questionnaires for other candidates including Mia Esperanza Brown, Sam Gould, Sukhdeep Kaur and Matthew Solomon (Incumbent Courtney Welch declined to participate).
I will not be voting for Calvin and Mia.
It’s OK to disagree with others like Courtney Welch.
But it’s not OK for Calvin Dillahunty, Mia Esperanza Brown and Kalimah Priforce to blatantly lie to voters that “Council member Priforce’s slate of two, the only African Americans running for council“ https://x.com/priforce/status/1847806169395712281?s=46 Lifting oneself doesn’t mean having to erase the presence of Courtney Welch, the first woman black mayor of Emeryville.
It’s not OK to lie to voters that the rules of mayorship were changed. There’s a reason voters do not see a mayoral campaign on the ballot. Because the rules of our government has not changed. https://www.ci.emeryville.ca.us/8/City-Council
The Democratic Party of Alameda County had to issue a statement to stop the misinformation because the misinformation and unethical behavior from the mailers by Calvin Dillahunty, Mia Esperanza Brown, and Kalimah Priforce were escalating so badly.
Also ask yourself this when thinking about Emeryville’s budget: do you trust the competence and ethics of councilmembers or a Mayor or Vice Mayor with campaign finance violations/infractions LEADING Emeryville’s finances? Kalimah, Calvin, Mia all have FPPC campaign finance-related issues at the time of this questionnaire.
It’s OK to disagree but it’s not OK to lie on facts about Emeryville’s form of government and to support lies to erase black history. It is unethical and brings a new era of dirty politics. When a candidate is willing to lie on such critical things, what else are they lying about?
Vote for candidates who embrace facts, math and servant leadership: Sam Gould, Matthew Solomon, Sukhdeep Kaur, Courtney Welch.