Does Castro Valley need to raise its civic identity?
At the recent "pop-up museum" devoted to local history, an informal poll asked whether Castro Valley should reconsider incorporation as a city (see picture above).
David Ashton, who led efforts to organize the pop-up, said attendees voted 105 to 83 in favor of incorporation.
But, he joked, there may have been some voter fraud: "No one was insisting on seeing ID's, the Republican group from Colorado was in charge of voter registration, and I think some of the toddlers may have voted twice."
In a more serious vein, Supervisor Nate Miley is willing to consider whether members of the Municipal Advisory Council might be elected instead of appointed by him as is currently the case.
That according to Michael Joseph Kusiak, who has created a Facebook page to push for an elected MAC.
As Kusiak wrote to explain the rationale:
(State) law says that a MAC can be elected or appointed. Our MAC was set up as an appointed one; I would like it to be elected. I think this would get CVers more likely to care about civic affairs (even if the MAC is just advisory) - it would also clarify very quickly to whom members are accountable, to CV residents, not the Board of Supervisors or the Supervisor who appointed them. I hope it can light a spark in how we engage local governance issues in our town.
Kusiak says the notion of an elected advisory body will be discussed at the Oct. 15th MAC meeting, probably at 6 pm at the Castro Valley Library.
Is there enthusiasm or need for a change of status? And, if so, what form should it take? Weigh in with comments or suggestions.
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