Malia Vella was first elected to the Alameda City Council in November 2016, where she soon became the Vice Mayor for two years. An active member of the community, Malia previously served on the City’s Historical Advisory Board and the Alameda Family Services Board and continues to serve on the Spectrum Community Services Board and assist the Alameda Family Services League with their annual Holiday Home Tour. Before assuming office, she also volunteered with the Philippine Independence Day Committee and Alameda’s Sister City Association for several years.

A former staffer for members of the California State Senate and State Assembly from the East Bay, Malia has a background in policy and constituent services. Since 2013, she has worked as a policy director and attorney focusing on labor and employment law. Malia is also an adjunct professor of practice at Mills College’s Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy. She teaches ethical policy-making and an introductory class on economics and policy-making.

Malia was born at Alameda Hospital. She grew up enjoying Alameda’s parks and beaches and has fond memories of rowing the estuary with Oakland Strokes as a teenager. Her family came to Alameda in the 1960s when her grandfather was stationed at the Alameda Naval Air Station.

Malia is a graduate of Wellesley College, where she earned a B.A. in Architecture and Political Science. She earned her J.D. with a special certificate in Public Interest and Social Justice at Santa Clara University School of Law. Malia is a licensed attorney admitted to practice in California and the United States Supreme Court.

Over the past four years, we made great strides to make the City of Alameda a more welcoming, multiracial community. The Island City’s greatest strength is our community. Our diversity is our strength.

The work goes on as we continue to fight for affordable housing for all, a safe, clean environment, climate resilience, antiracist police reform, and just economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The road ahead will be tough in dealing with a worldwide health pandemic and an economic crisis, but I know we can get through this together.

It’s been wonderful living in Alameda for over 20 years and raising our four children here. I was elected Mayor of Alameda in 2014 and served through 2018). As such, I was the first and only Hispanic/Latino mayor of Alameda. Prior to being your Mayor, I was elected twice to the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) Board of Education from 2008-2016.

Education is critical to me. I was the first in my family to attend a four-year university from high school; I worked my way through college (U.C. Berkeley, B.A., Sociology), paralegal school at UC Irvine and law school at night, and passed the CA State Bar my first try. I am an active California attorney and practice business litigation and family law. Recently, I have helped victims of domestic violence with pro bono legal services.

Education “give back." From the late 1990s through the mid-2010s, when my children attended AUSD public schools and for years after, I volunteered in AUSD schools across Alameda, including schools that my children did not attend but needed volunteers. I served in numerous PTA positions in K-12 schools in AUSD, including as PTA Council President overseeing all of AUSD PTAs, as well as Athletic Boosters co-president and a substitute teacher for many years. I started substitute teaching after a principal asked me to, citing a shortage of substitute teachers. Soon thereafter, another teacher discouraged me from substituting on the West End of town. My reaction was to immediately go to District Offices and tell them that I would happily substitute teach on the West End of town, just assign me where needed. Thus, I substituted at almost all AUSD schools. That’s how I met many of you and your children.

I am also part of Alameda’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), joining many Alamedans volunteering and being the first City Council member to do so. Recently, I have been a leader in sharing COVID-19 information to help Alamedans make informed decisions as we navigate this pandemic, as well as an advocate for a free testing center here in Alameda. I also volunteer for Alameda Legacy & Holiday Home Tours, Alameda Museum, Kiwanis, and Mastick Senior Center, and I support many local philanthropic organizations, our art community, and Alameda businesses.

I am well known and supported by Alamedans, especially as a voice for those who may not be represented otherwise, those who may have barriers navigating government or receiving services to which they’re entitled. I’m accessible and people from all walks of life reach out to me when they need assistance because they know I will do my utmost to serve them.

As someone who has served as an elected official six years on the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) Board of Education and four years as Mayor, I am uniquely qualified to serve as an Alameda City Council Member. Issues quite often are more complex than some may think. I am a dedicated public servant who always researches issues thoroughly, listens to Alamedans, and does my utmost to make informed, mindful decisions that are sustainable. Oftentimes, my supporters have gone through long processes with me to reach fair, sustainable, decisions that may be unique and complex but are the best for Alamedans. Please see my endorsements on my website for individual examples. Trish4U.com/endorsements/

Now, we must do our utmost working together so that every person is safe in Alameda. We must rebuild public trust in our City and morale in City Hall, by ensuring that the City’s financials are accurate and expenditures focus on serving our community members, especially now during this pandemic, and through the aftermath. I will continue to vote against overdevelopment and corporate handouts. City Hall is failing Alamedans and pricing many out. We must change course. Everyone knows me: I’m independent, not beholden to special interests, and genuinely care about Alamedans.

My pledge to you is to continue to do my utmost to serve you, whether it’s a personal concern or an issue that impacts many. You can always contact me.

We’re a good team for Alameda! Thank you for your consideration, continued support and I’m asking for your vote.

Amos White for Alameda

Amos is an environmental nonprofit excutive working at the intersection of climate. He is an entrepreneur, community leader, award-winning writer, producer/director, and artist. Over the past 30 years, he has led and supported movements and policy initiatives that created positive change and impact for our communities. 

Amos have served on the front lines of California communities focusing on children, youth and families, and served to lead in many capacities:

• Southern California Volunteer Coordinator for Barbara Boxer's first US Senate campaign,
• Field Coordinator for Barbara Lee’s State Senate campaign,
• Kids First! Oakland Fund for Children and Youth Program and Coalition, a $5.5MM Fund for underrepresented Children and Youth. 
• Deputy Director of Eureka Communities - Northern California/Eureka Foundation - Co-created and managed the $1.6MM Statewide Leadership Training Fellowship Program for nonprofit directors and community leaders.

In Alameda, Amos has served our community, serving on the boards and committees of

• Rhythmix Cultural Works, Board Member, the only arts organization in the city that is dedicated to presenting and preserving multicultural programming that attracts audiences representative of the island’s diversity;
• Alameda Coming Together (ACT NOW!) Coalition Member
• The California Sanctuary Campaign, protecting our immigrant community members,
• CASA - Community Action for a Sustainable Alameda, our city environmental task force - Co-authored Alameda’s Climate Emergency Declaration,
• Alameda All Faith’s Coalition, Chair Rapid Crisis Response Committee and Climate; Encinal Jets Athletic Boosters VP of Marketing; Alameda Island Poets; and lead organizer with ACLU People Power Alameda where I co-authored Alameda Resolution to Declare Racism as a Public Health Emergency.

Seeing the mounting trials of a rapidly warming planet and the increasing intersection of race and migration, led Amos to pivot away from marketing consulting in 2017 to focus on developing community based strategies to engage and motivate individuals to act on this climate emergency.  And in 2019, with the support of key CASA colleagues, he launched 100K Trees for Humanity, an urban reforestation tree planting initiative to accelerate carbon sequestration globally. He also was elected Vice Chair of the bay area Climate Emergency Mobilization Task Force a regional coalition of elected officials, city staff, sustainability and environmental staff and community based organizations working to align climate action plans, centering frontline communities in their strategies. 

Amos White is excited to run to be Alameda’s next council member. He has a broad-base of endorsers to support his campaign.  He is committed to building together with our diverse communities a city that truly serves and welcomes all here.

Serving as your Councilmember for the last 6 years has been an honor. I’m proud that together, we’ve improved emergency operations, made significant investments in safe streets for all, and secured landmark advances in affordable housing, tenant protections, and compassionate solutions for our unhoused neighbors. We face enormous challenges and opportunities in the coming year, especially how we deal with COVID-19. While Alameda has fared better than most of our neighbors in this pandemic, vigilance, foresight, and preparation are critical. I’ve put protection and safety first. We’ve prevented commercial and residential evictions and been responsive to our treasured small businesses as we forge a local economy that can weather this storm. We’ve also heard the clarion call: Black Lives Matter – and must embrace this moment to tear down the legacy of systemic racism. We must end exclusionary zoning in Alameda, securing for more of our neighbors an opportunity to find affordable housing and attain the dream of homeownership. My vision and purpose in public service is to defend an Alameda that is inclusive, welcoming, and resolute. Now that we face the greatest economic and public health challenge we’ve ever seen, I’m ready to meet this moment. www.Oddie4Alameda.com