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CASTRO VALLEY FORUM A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CASTRO VALLEY SINCE 1989

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2022

YEAR 34 INSIDE YOUR

FORUM

Award Finalist CV poet Zoe Dorado named as finalist for national award

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Mask Up Health officials asking the public to put their masks back on

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Lots of Latkes Hanukkah begins this Sunday. Celebrate with traditional latkes

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INDEX Calendar .................. 4 Classified Ads ....... 12 Crosswords ........... 13 Homes ...................... 8 Horoscope ............. 11 Obituaries ............ 15 Opinions .............. 15 Our Town ................. 3 Sports ................... 16 Weather ................. 2 WWW.MYCVFORUM.COM

NO. 49 MAC MEETING

Density, Housing Mulled

NEW FACES TO LEAD CV NEXT YEAR

By Amy Sylvestri By Michael Singer

CASTRO VALLEY FORUM

Density was the name of the game at Monday night’s land use meeting of the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC). Castro Valley will need to build more housing on less land to keep up with growth. That goes for small-scale and large-scale projects, as the MAC approved a plan to build two homes where one once stood and also heard preliminary ideas about a large housing complex. First, the MAC approved a subdivision at 3779 Somerset Avenue, which will split a single-home plot into two parcels. The existing home will be demolished, and another home and an accessory dwelling unit will be built. see MAC on page 14

Alameda County voters have spoken, and now Castro Valley has a significant number of new faces representing it. The Alameda County Registrar of Voters certified the November 8, 2022, election results this past Thursday. Out of 931,086 registered voters in the county, 496,125 or 53.28% cast a ballot. Most of those (457,817) were submitted by mail or dropped off in a ballot box before Election Day. Some 38,308 voters turned out in person that first Tuesday in November to mark their ballots. Cynthia Cornejo, the county’s Deputy Registrar of Voters, confirmed the certification and added that the totals are now posted to their website (www.acgov.org/rovresults/248/). While many of the state-level contests (e.g., governor, lieutenant governor, controller etc.) favored incumbents, some key races locally were won by lesser-known names. At the top of the list is Pamela Price, who was voted in as Alameda County District Attorney. She replaces outgoing DA Nancy O’Malley. Price, who is a civil rights attorney, received 26,000 more votes than O’Malley’s Chief Assistant DA, Terry Wiley. see FACES on page 14

Pamela Price, new Alameda County District Attorney

CV Resident Establishes Gun Group for Women instructors who donate their time. Kristina says she hopes CASTRO VALLEY FORUM the Gun Group will empower This past Saturday, more other women to learn about than 100 women signed up to firearms and how to protect attend a meeting at an undisand defend themselves and closed Bay Area gun range as their families. part of the East Bay Women’s “I got into shooting about 3 Gun Group. The private group, years ago and moved to Castro organized by Castro Valley Valley approximately 6 months resident Kristina Marie, alago,” Kristina told the Forum. lowed those women attending “I’ve taken a number of classes to shoot at the range as well as in both Santa Cruz County as to establish introductory and well as a CCW [concealed carbeginners’ classes for those ry weapon] class here in Alamnew to firearms. eda County, and one thing Membership is open to that remained consistent was women only. Locations are the lack of women in classes, known only to members as well as the lack of female to protect their anonymity. perspective of the instructors Classes are taught by certified giving the classes.” By Michael Singer

Statistically, women make up only 1 in 5 or 22% percent of gun owners in the United States, according to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey of 1,269 gun owners. The survey also found that women who own guns tend to become gun owners at a later age than men. On average, women who own a gun or have owned one in the past report that they first got their own gun when they were 27 years old, compared with an average of 19 for men who own or have owned guns. Women are also more likely than men PHOTO COURTESY OF EAST BAY GUN CLUB to cite protection—rather than recreation—as the only reason A new gun club in the East Bay is inviting women to they own a gun. join to learn about firearms and how to protect and see GUN on page 14 defend themselves and their families.