Title
Adoption of Resolution Recognizing Malia Vella’s Eight Years of Service on the Alameda City Council.
Body
CITY OF ALAMEDA RESOLUTION NO. _____
RECOGNIZING MALIA VELLA‘S EIGHT YEARS OF SERVICE
ON THE ALAMEDA CITY COUNCIL
WHEREAS, Malia Vella was born in Alameda, California, grew up in San Leandro, and graduated from Wellesley College where she earned Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Architecture and Political Science, and Santa Clara University School of Law where she earned her Juris Doctorate. Malia formerly served as a staff member for several California State Legislators, taught at Mills College in Oakland, worked as a labor and employment attorney, and for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and currently works in the field of literacy education; and
WHEREAS, Malia Vella was first elected to the Alameda City Council in 2016, re-elected in 2020, and served as Vice Mayor from 2020 to 2022. Malia and her husband are the proud parents of two young children, both of whom were born while she served on the City Council, making Malia the first sitting Council member to become a new mother while in office, and informing her request that City Council direct staff to place lactation and diaper changing stations in City buildings; and
WHEREAS, prior to being elected to the City Council, Malia served on the City’s Historical Advisory Board for three years, on the Spectrum Community Services Board, Alameda Sister City Association, Philippine Independence Day Committee, and on the Alameda Family Services (AFS) Board, Co-Chairing, with her mother, AFS’s Annual Holiday Home Tour fundraiser; and
WHEREAS, as a City Councilmember, Malia Vella served on the League of California Cities (League) Board of Directors and Housing, Community and Economic Development policy committee, and was a member of the League’s Asian Pacific Islander Caucus. Councilmember Vella also represented Alameda on the Alameda County Lead Abatement JPA Board, and City Council Subcommittees with the East Bay Regional Parks District and City of Alameda Healthcare District; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, Vice Mayor Vella and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft introduced a Council Referral to consider directing the City Manager to take immediate action regarding the Alameda Police Department’s (APD) response to 911 calls, prepare a compendium of all mental health resources currently available to APD, revise APD’s Use of Force policies, and create a mental health-oriented response model, which the City Council approved, laying the foundation for the creation in July, 2021 of the CARE Team, Alameda’s well-regarded alternative crisis intervention program; and
WHEREAS, in 2022, Vice Mayor Vella and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft introduced a Council Referral to Consider Directing Staff to Bring the Rent Program “In-House” to the City Attorney’s Office, which Council approved, and which resulted in the successful “Hearing Officer” model of resolving landlord-tenant disputes; and
WHEREAS, throughout her eight years of service on the City Council, Malia Vella has prioritized racial justice, tenant protections, production of low- and middle-income housing, pedestrian and bicyclist safety, support for local businesses, and sea level rise protection.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Alameda City Council and City staff do hereby thank Malia Vella for her eight years of service on the Alameda City Council, including two years as Vice Mayor, and wish her well in all her future endeavors.
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I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly and regularly adopted and passed by the Council of the City of Alameda in a regular meeting assembled on the 17th day of December 2024, by the following vote to wit:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTENTIONS:
IN WITNESS, WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of said City this 18th day of December 2024.
Lara Weisiger, City Clerk
City of Alameda
Approved as to form:
Yibin Shen, City Attorney
City of Alameda