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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013122/san-jose-councilmember-omar-torres-resigns-arrested\">Former San José City Councilmember Omar Torres\u003c/a> pleaded no contest on Tuesday to three child sexual abuse charges stemming from when he was a young man, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plea, entered at the Hall of Justice in San José, comes about five months after Torres resigned from the council on election day and was arrested. Torres was charged and convicted of sodomy, oral copulation and lewd and lascivious acts on a minor under the age of 14.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He was accused of abusing a relative for years, starting when Torres was also a minor and continuing after he turned 18 in 1999.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is heartbreaking that someone elected to represent and serve thousands of San Jose residents had previously molested a small child,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement on Tuesday. “Children are vulnerable and precious, and my office will do everything in our legal power to fight for their safety and fully prosecute those who hurt them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Torres was in court on Tuesday, polls were open in San José for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033826/low-turnout-high-stakes-district-3-election-could-shift-power-san-jose\">special election\u003c/a> to fill the District 3 seat on the City Council that Torres vacated when he resigned. The race is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034920/san-jose-city-council-election-headed-to-runoff-chavez-lopez-leads\">headed to a June 24 runoff\u003c/a>.[aside postID=news_12034920 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/250408-SanJoseSpecialElection-15-BL.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council appointed businessman Carl Salas in January to hold the seat until a new council member is elected. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, a runoff between the top two finishers will be held on June 24.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The results of the election could shape the balance of power on the governing body and influence the future of Mayor Matt Mahan’s policy agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nelson McElmurry, Torres’ attorney, wasn’t immediately available for comment on Tuesday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The victim in the case came forward in November after reports surfaced last fall of a separate police investigation into Torres over allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. No charges have been filed from the earlier investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police recorded a phone call from the relative to Torres in early November, during which investigators said Torres admitted to the crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry that I hurt you,” Torres said to the victim during the call, according to the police report. “I’m in intense therapy right now to, you know, to work on myself, and I haven’t stopped thinking about the harm that I caused you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres faces up to a maximum of 24 years in prison, though a county judge will have the final decision at a sentencing later this year. Torres will also be required to register as a sex offender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Omar Torres pleaded no contest to three charges of child sexual abuse on Tuesday while polls opened to elect his replacement on the San José City Council.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is heartbreaking that someone elected to represent and serve thousands of San Jose residents had previously molested a small child,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement on Tuesday. “Children are vulnerable and precious, and my office will do everything in our legal power to fight for their safety and fully prosecute those who hurt them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Torres was in court on Tuesday, polls were open in San José for a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033826/low-turnout-high-stakes-district-3-election-could-shift-power-san-jose\">special election\u003c/a> to fill the District 3 seat on the City Council that Torres vacated when he resigned. The race is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12034920/san-jose-city-council-election-headed-to-runoff-chavez-lopez-leads\">headed to a June 24 runoff\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council appointed businessman Carl Salas in January to hold the seat until a new council member is elected. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, a runoff between the top two finishers will be held on June 24.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The results of the election could shape the balance of power on the governing body and influence the future of Mayor Matt Mahan’s policy agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nelson McElmurry, Torres’ attorney, wasn’t immediately available for comment on Tuesday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The victim in the case came forward in November after reports surfaced last fall of a separate police investigation into Torres over allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. No charges have been filed from the earlier investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Police recorded a phone call from the relative to Torres in early November, during which investigators said Torres admitted to the crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“From the bottom of my heart, I’m so sorry that I hurt you,” Torres said to the victim during the call, according to the police report. “I’m in intense therapy right now to, you know, to work on myself, and I haven’t stopped thinking about the harm that I caused you.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Torres faces up to a maximum of 24 years in prison, though a county judge will have the final decision at a sentencing later this year. Torres will also be required to register as a sex offender.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "border-patrol-said-it-targeted-known-criminals-in-kern-county-but-it-had-no-record-on-77-of-78-arrestees",
"title": "Border Patrol Said It Targeted Known Criminals in Kern County. But It Had No Record on 77 of 78 Arrestees",
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"headTitle": "Border Patrol Said It Targeted Known Criminals in Kern County. But It Had No Record on 77 of 78 Arrestees | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was quiet on the border. A Border Patrol agent named James Lee was parked in the shade next to a 30-foot fence in Calexico. The windows of his SUV were rolled up, the engine making that noise when it’s idle for a long time while the air conditioning is running. “We haven’t had any crossing in the last few days,” Lee said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the height of illegal border crossings in 2023, Border Patrol encountered 3.2 million people. But now the southern border is desolate. Lee is one of around 1,000 agents in the El Centro sector, which has seen a 91% decrease in encounters compared to the same month last year. The decline in crossings that began during the Biden administration has accelerated in the first few months of the Trump administration. When we visited in late February, not a single person had been recorded trying to cross for more than half the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The man in charge of the El Centro sector, Gregory Bovino, once told congressional investigators, “I’ve always found that idle hands do the devil’s work.” On Jan. 7, the day after Congress certified Trump’s election victory, Bovino sent 65 of his agents into Kern County, six hours north of the border, to conduct a raid that has shaken immigrant communities and agricultural businesses across the state, and has set the stage for a legal battle over how the government carries out mass deportations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m93xbICwsSM&t=7s\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Border Patrol said it arrested 78 people in what it called “Operation Return to Sender,” but provided few details. Most of the official information about the raid came from Bovino’s Facebook \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/USBorderPatrolElCentroSector/posts/pfbid02WDPRvfPFmX7kqLWSCwrS8ovzQqzgWb1gaDX21vR75EUfkRaenFea6FTJwUWwoW6Wl\">comments\u003c/a>. He posted \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/USBorderPatrolElCentroSector/posts/pfbid02WDPRvfPFmX7kqLWSCwrS8ovzQqzgWb1gaDX21vR75EUfkRaenFea6FTJwUWwoW6Wl\">blurred photos\u003c/a> of three Latino men alongside a photo of 33 lbs of marijuana in the trunk of a car. He wrote, “Here in the #PremierSector we go the extra mile — or 500 of them — to protect our nation and communities from bad people and bad things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the day of the raids, Casey Creamer, CEO of California Citrus Mutual, an association of citrus growers around Bakersfield, heard that the Border Patrol was targeting criminal activity. He thought that might explain why the agents had come so far north. But the next day, he began to doubt the official narrative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does not seem to be a targeted criminal activity just based on what growers are seeing and observing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creamer learned that agents detained people outside of a Home Depot and a convenience store frequented by farm workers in the morning on their way to the fields. They pulled over drivers on roads running between farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know for a fact they were stationed on growers’ property. Not public property, but actual growers’ property,” Creamer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bovino said that his agents had a “predetermined list of targets,” many of whom had criminal records, before they set off for Kern County. “We did our homework,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a CalMatters investigation, in partnership with \u003ca href=\"https://www.evidentmedia.org/\">Evident\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.bellingcat.com/\">Bellingcat\u003c/a>, found that Border Patrol officials misrepresented the very basics of their high-profile, large-scale immigration raid. Data obtained from U.S. Customs and Border Protection reveal that Border Patrol had no prior knowledge of criminal or immigration history for 77 of the 78 people arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a spreadsheet provided by the agency, under “Criminal History,” all but one entry contains the following passage: “Criminal and/or immigration history was not known prior to the encounter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bovino sat down with CalMatters in February to talk about the Kern County operation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A handful of armed agents stood as audience for the entire hour. They stayed quiet, listening to their boss tell a reporter what’s what.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bovino stands out among the Border Patrol chiefs. The El Centro sector’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/USBorderPatrolElCentroSector/\">Facebook page\u003c/a> features staged photos of him in uniform, including including a closeup with an AR-15, and one on a white horse in the desert, cradling a shotgun. He has given his sector a brand: “the premier sector.” It’s similar to the way states have mottos on license plates that aren’t necessarily used by anybody else to describe that state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Twenty sectors in the U.S. Border Patrol, and we do call ourselves the premiere sector,” he said with a smile. “So please let those other chiefs know we said that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This area of the border is remote. But Bovino’s powers stretch far beyond the border. “Our area goes up through Central California, all the way to the Oregon border,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034932\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034932\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the U.S. and Mexico border wall near Jacumba Wilderness Area on Feb. 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Kevin Clancy/CalMatters and Evident Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>U.S. Customs and Border Protection has the authority to search vehicles and vessels without a warrant “within a reasonable distance from any external boundary” of the U.S., including the entire coastline. The federal government defines this distance as 100 miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population, about 200 million people, live within this zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Federal authority does not just reside at that line in the sand, as some people like to look at it on the border,” Bovino said. “A lot of bad things and bad people that come across that border. And it doesn’t just stay at the border. What comes across that border goes into Anytown, USA and into Ma’ and Pa’ America.”[aside postID=news_12029195 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/BakersfieldFarmworkersGetty-1020x680.jpg']Nationwide there are roughly four times more Border Patrol than ICE agents. In El Centro, there are five Border Patrol agents whose job it is to produce videos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their latest project is a series of fictionalized videos portraying migrants crossing the border as menaces with a bloodlust to commit crimes. Bovino shared the \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/USBPChiefELC/status/1894412561912672762\">first video\u003c/a> on social media with the caption: “Any town. Any neighborhood. Any family. When heartless criminals, sex offenders, and human traffickers illegally enter the United States and get away, they prey on our children, the most vulnerable members of our communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the video, two agents sit in their vehicle at night, listening to a news broadcast about an undocumented migrant charged with the rape and murder of a 64-year-old woman in Santa Maria. The news clip is from a real CBS report from 10 years ago. An agent shakes his head in disgust and turns off the radio, saying “Man, that’s the second one in less than a week. Things are getting out of hand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that moment dispatch comes over the radio and tells the agents of a nearby vehicle that’s loaded with migrants. The agents are able to catch three of the men, but one gets away and sneaks into “Anytown, USA,” where he savagely murders an American citizen, taking the man’s cell phone and fleeing. The screen goes dark with the message: “Every apprehension matters. Do you know who got away?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bovino is proud of the videos, and rejected the idea that the fictional portrayals are, in fact, fictional. “Those fictionalized accounts that you’re talking about are really not fictionalized accounts. Let’s get that straight. Because thousands of American citizens every year die and/or are maimed, killed or raped,” he said. Less than 1% of the people Border Patrol agents encounter have a criminal conviction of any kind, according to agency data. By comparison around 8% of Americans have a felony conviction, according to one \u003ca href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13524-017-0611-1\">study\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bovino likes to praise President Dwight Eisenhower, who led the largest deportation in American history, rounding up 1.3 million Mexicans and Mexican Americans in 1954. The first buses deporting migrants — in what was called “Operation Wetback” — rolled out of El Centro \u003ca href=\"https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctt2ttpgc\">over 70 years ago\u003c/a>. In January, Bovino launched his own operation as “a \u003ca href=\"https://inewsource.org/2025/03/14/lawsuit-border-patrol-el-centro-chief-kern-county-operation/\">proof of concept\u003c/a>,” he has said, to show how Border Patrol could be used for mass deportations in the interior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The El Centro sector denied requests for details on the 78 people arrested during “Operation Return to Sender.” CalMatters made the same request to Customs and Border Protection headquarters in Washington, D.C., which provided the data. It showed the Border Patrol had a record of criminal or immigration history on only one person. That person’s record showed that they had been ordered to be deported a year earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The records directly contradict what Bovino told us in the interview. He maintained his agents went after specific targets, “many of which … were prior deports, already had immigration history, criminal history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We received the data after our interview with Bovino. We attempted to ask the Border Patrol follow-up questions, but the agency declined, citing “ongoing litigation.” Last month the ACLU \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/02/border-patrol-sued-over-kern-county-raids/\">sued Border Patrol on behalf\u003c/a> of United Farm Workers, arguing that the agency detained people who looked Latino or like farm workers without reasonable suspicion they were doing anything unlawful, and then deprived them of due process by forcing them to sign self-deportation paperwork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our interview, Bovino also offered an expansive definition of who he considers “criminals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every single one of the 78 that we arrested were criminals. Eight U.S.C. 1325 — illegal entry into the United States,” he said, citing federal code for what is a misdemeanor offense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the Border Patrol did have a targeted list of people with criminal records, they didn’t arrest them. Regardless, Bovino didn’t see a difference between going after undocumented field workers or drug dealers: “If you’re an illegal alien, you’re getting it. A fentanyl dealer, you get it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creamer, who represents the citrus growers, said he has a different definition of criminal activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the people who work in their operations have been there as long as 30 years — “ hard-working people that don’t deserve to be harassed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they’re targeting a rural operation like this, people that are getting up early in the morning to work, those aren’t drug dealers,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034935\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034935\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A worker picks oranges on a farm outside of Bakersfield, Feb. 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Kevin Clancy/CalMatters and Evident Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034936\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034936\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Oranges at a packaging facility outside of Bakersfield, on Feb. 27, 2025. Right: A worker at an orange packaging facility outside of Bakersfield, on Feb. 27, 2025. \u003ccite>(Kevin Clancy/CalMatters and Evident Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Creamer warned that the United States won’t have a food supply if agriculture doesn’t have a workforce in California and beyond. The USDA Economic Research services says that 42% of agricultural workers are undocumented. Lawmakers in Florida, which is the other major citrus provider, recently introduced legislation to loosen child labor laws to replace field workers following an immigration crackdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ninety percent of the nation’s fresh citrus comes from California, according to Citrus Mutual. Zac Green, a citrus farmer in Kern County, said that, in the days after the raid, 85% of his workers stayed home out of fear. “We have to have that reliable workforce,” he said. “We’re feeding people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our people can go back to their communities and put their kids in school. They can buy homes, they can buy vehicles,” he said. “We’re here to work and provide for our families, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bree Bernwanger, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, said she’s not surprised that Border Patrol had prior records on only one of the people arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Border Patrol went on a fishing expedition in the Central Valley. They swarmed the highways and stopped people in agricultural areas,” she said. “People who are just driving down the road because they were brown or because they looked like farm workers. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ACLU has asked for a restraining order to stop the agency from conducting similar raids within California while the lawsuit is being heard. The organization argues that Border Patrol must have reasonable suspicion a person is doing something unlawful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re asking a court to order them not to stop people — whether they’re driving down the road or whether they’re in a parking lot — not to stop them unless they have a reason,” Bernwanger said. “And someone looking Latino, looking like a farm worker, looking like a day laborer — those are not legal reasons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034937\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034937\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers pick oranges on a farm outside of Bakersfield, Feb. 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Kevin Clancy/CalMatters and Evident Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For his part, Bovino wants to use the Kern operation as a model for immigration enforcement across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s game on — anywhere,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It could be Fresno, could be Sacramento, could be Stockton. You never know. We’re going to go where that threat is, and where we can do the most damage to bad people and bad things that we possibly can. That’s what we’re in the business of doing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/04/border-patrol-records-kern-county/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Contrary to its public narrative, the agency cast a wide net in its California immigration raid, setting the stage for a legal battle over how the government carries out mass deportations.",
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"title": "Border Patrol Said It Targeted Known Criminals in Kern County. But It Had No Record on 77 of 78 Arrestees | KQED",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/sergio-olmos/\">Sergio Olmos\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/wendy-fry/\">Wendy Fry\u003c/a>, CalMatters",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was quiet on the border. A Border Patrol agent named James Lee was parked in the shade next to a 30-foot fence in Calexico. The windows of his SUV were rolled up, the engine making that noise when it’s idle for a long time while the air conditioning is running. “We haven’t had any crossing in the last few days,” Lee said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the height of illegal border crossings in 2023, Border Patrol encountered 3.2 million people. But now the southern border is desolate. Lee is one of around 1,000 agents in the El Centro sector, which has seen a 91% decrease in encounters compared to the same month last year. The decline in crossings that began during the Biden administration has accelerated in the first few months of the Trump administration. When we visited in late February, not a single person had been recorded trying to cross for more than half the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The man in charge of the El Centro sector, Gregory Bovino, once told congressional investigators, “I’ve always found that idle hands do the devil’s work.” On Jan. 7, the day after Congress certified Trump’s election victory, Bovino sent 65 of his agents into Kern County, six hours north of the border, to conduct a raid that has shaken immigrant communities and agricultural businesses across the state, and has set the stage for a legal battle over how the government carries out mass deportations.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/m93xbICwsSM'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/m93xbICwsSM'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>Border Patrol said it arrested 78 people in what it called “Operation Return to Sender,” but provided few details. Most of the official information about the raid came from Bovino’s Facebook \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/USBorderPatrolElCentroSector/posts/pfbid02WDPRvfPFmX7kqLWSCwrS8ovzQqzgWb1gaDX21vR75EUfkRaenFea6FTJwUWwoW6Wl\">comments\u003c/a>. He posted \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/USBorderPatrolElCentroSector/posts/pfbid02WDPRvfPFmX7kqLWSCwrS8ovzQqzgWb1gaDX21vR75EUfkRaenFea6FTJwUWwoW6Wl\">blurred photos\u003c/a> of three Latino men alongside a photo of 33 lbs of marijuana in the trunk of a car. He wrote, “Here in the #PremierSector we go the extra mile — or 500 of them — to protect our nation and communities from bad people and bad things.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the day of the raids, Casey Creamer, CEO of California Citrus Mutual, an association of citrus growers around Bakersfield, heard that the Border Patrol was targeting criminal activity. He thought that might explain why the agents had come so far north. But the next day, he began to doubt the official narrative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It does not seem to be a targeted criminal activity just based on what growers are seeing and observing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creamer learned that agents detained people outside of a Home Depot and a convenience store frequented by farm workers in the morning on their way to the fields. They pulled over drivers on roads running between farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I know for a fact they were stationed on growers’ property. Not public property, but actual growers’ property,” Creamer said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bovino said that his agents had a “predetermined list of targets,” many of whom had criminal records, before they set off for Kern County. “We did our homework,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But a CalMatters investigation, in partnership with \u003ca href=\"https://www.evidentmedia.org/\">Evident\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.bellingcat.com/\">Bellingcat\u003c/a>, found that Border Patrol officials misrepresented the very basics of their high-profile, large-scale immigration raid. Data obtained from U.S. Customs and Border Protection reveal that Border Patrol had no prior knowledge of criminal or immigration history for 77 of the 78 people arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a spreadsheet provided by the agency, under “Criminal History,” all but one entry contains the following passage: “Criminal and/or immigration history was not known prior to the encounter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bovino sat down with CalMatters in February to talk about the Kern County operation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A handful of armed agents stood as audience for the entire hour. They stayed quiet, listening to their boss tell a reporter what’s what.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bovino stands out among the Border Patrol chiefs. The El Centro sector’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/USBorderPatrolElCentroSector/\">Facebook page\u003c/a> features staged photos of him in uniform, including including a closeup with an AR-15, and one on a white horse in the desert, cradling a shotgun. He has given his sector a brand: “the premier sector.” It’s similar to the way states have mottos on license plates that aren’t necessarily used by anybody else to describe that state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Twenty sectors in the U.S. Border Patrol, and we do call ourselves the premiere sector,” he said with a smile. “So please let those other chiefs know we said that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This area of the border is remote. But Bovino’s powers stretch far beyond the border. “Our area goes up through Central California, all the way to the Oregon border,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034932\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034932\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/022525-Evident-Border-Trip-EM-CM-16-1-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of the U.S. and Mexico border wall near Jacumba Wilderness Area on Feb. 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Kevin Clancy/CalMatters and Evident Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>U.S. Customs and Border Protection has the authority to search vehicles and vessels without a warrant “within a reasonable distance from any external boundary” of the U.S., including the entire coastline. The federal government defines this distance as 100 miles.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly two-thirds of the U.S. population, about 200 million people, live within this zone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Federal authority does not just reside at that line in the sand, as some people like to look at it on the border,” Bovino said. “A lot of bad things and bad people that come across that border. And it doesn’t just stay at the border. What comes across that border goes into Anytown, USA and into Ma’ and Pa’ America.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Nationwide there are roughly four times more Border Patrol than ICE agents. In El Centro, there are five Border Patrol agents whose job it is to produce videos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their latest project is a series of fictionalized videos portraying migrants crossing the border as menaces with a bloodlust to commit crimes. Bovino shared the \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/USBPChiefELC/status/1894412561912672762\">first video\u003c/a> on social media with the caption: “Any town. Any neighborhood. Any family. When heartless criminals, sex offenders, and human traffickers illegally enter the United States and get away, they prey on our children, the most vulnerable members of our communities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the video, two agents sit in their vehicle at night, listening to a news broadcast about an undocumented migrant charged with the rape and murder of a 64-year-old woman in Santa Maria. The news clip is from a real CBS report from 10 years ago. An agent shakes his head in disgust and turns off the radio, saying “Man, that’s the second one in less than a week. Things are getting out of hand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that moment dispatch comes over the radio and tells the agents of a nearby vehicle that’s loaded with migrants. The agents are able to catch three of the men, but one gets away and sneaks into “Anytown, USA,” where he savagely murders an American citizen, taking the man’s cell phone and fleeing. The screen goes dark with the message: “Every apprehension matters. Do you know who got away?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bovino is proud of the videos, and rejected the idea that the fictional portrayals are, in fact, fictional. “Those fictionalized accounts that you’re talking about are really not fictionalized accounts. Let’s get that straight. Because thousands of American citizens every year die and/or are maimed, killed or raped,” he said. Less than 1% of the people Border Patrol agents encounter have a criminal conviction of any kind, according to agency data. By comparison around 8% of Americans have a felony conviction, according to one \u003ca href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13524-017-0611-1\">study\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bovino likes to praise President Dwight Eisenhower, who led the largest deportation in American history, rounding up 1.3 million Mexicans and Mexican Americans in 1954. The first buses deporting migrants — in what was called “Operation Wetback” — rolled out of El Centro \u003ca href=\"https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctt2ttpgc\">over 70 years ago\u003c/a>. In January, Bovino launched his own operation as “a \u003ca href=\"https://inewsource.org/2025/03/14/lawsuit-border-patrol-el-centro-chief-kern-county-operation/\">proof of concept\u003c/a>,” he has said, to show how Border Patrol could be used for mass deportations in the interior.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>***\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The El Centro sector denied requests for details on the 78 people arrested during “Operation Return to Sender.” CalMatters made the same request to Customs and Border Protection headquarters in Washington, D.C., which provided the data. It showed the Border Patrol had a record of criminal or immigration history on only one person. That person’s record showed that they had been ordered to be deported a year earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The records directly contradict what Bovino told us in the interview. He maintained his agents went after specific targets, “many of which … were prior deports, already had immigration history, criminal history.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We received the data after our interview with Bovino. We attempted to ask the Border Patrol follow-up questions, but the agency declined, citing “ongoing litigation.” Last month the ACLU \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/02/border-patrol-sued-over-kern-county-raids/\">sued Border Patrol on behalf\u003c/a> of United Farm Workers, arguing that the agency detained people who looked Latino or like farm workers without reasonable suspicion they were doing anything unlawful, and then deprived them of due process by forcing them to sign self-deportation paperwork.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In our interview, Bovino also offered an expansive definition of who he considers “criminals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Every single one of the 78 that we arrested were criminals. Eight U.S.C. 1325 — illegal entry into the United States,” he said, citing federal code for what is a misdemeanor offense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If the Border Patrol did have a targeted list of people with criminal records, they didn’t arrest them. Regardless, Bovino didn’t see a difference between going after undocumented field workers or drug dealers: “If you’re an illegal alien, you’re getting it. A fentanyl dealer, you get it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Creamer, who represents the citrus growers, said he has a different definition of criminal activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the people who work in their operations have been there as long as 30 years — “ hard-working people that don’t deserve to be harassed.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If they’re targeting a rural operation like this, people that are getting up early in the morning to work, those aren’t drug dealers,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034935\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034935\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-12-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A worker picks oranges on a farm outside of Bakersfield, Feb. 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Kevin Clancy/CalMatters and Evident Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034936\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034936\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-2-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Oranges at a packaging facility outside of Bakersfield, on Feb. 27, 2025. Right: A worker at an orange packaging facility outside of Bakersfield, on Feb. 27, 2025. \u003ccite>(Kevin Clancy/CalMatters and Evident Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Creamer warned that the United States won’t have a food supply if agriculture doesn’t have a workforce in California and beyond. The USDA Economic Research services says that 42% of agricultural workers are undocumented. Lawmakers in Florida, which is the other major citrus provider, recently introduced legislation to loosen child labor laws to replace field workers following an immigration crackdown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ninety percent of the nation’s fresh citrus comes from California, according to Citrus Mutual. Zac Green, a citrus farmer in Kern County, said that, in the days after the raid, 85% of his workers stayed home out of fear. “We have to have that reliable workforce,” he said. “We’re feeding people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our people can go back to their communities and put their kids in school. They can buy homes, they can buy vehicles,” he said. “We’re here to work and provide for our families, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bree Bernwanger, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, said she’s not surprised that Border Patrol had prior records on only one of the people arrested.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Border Patrol went on a fishing expedition in the Central Valley. They swarmed the highways and stopped people in agricultural areas,” she said. “People who are just driving down the road because they were brown or because they looked like farm workers. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ACLU has asked for a restraining order to stop the agency from conducting similar raids within California while the lawsuit is being heard. The organization argues that Border Patrol must have reasonable suspicion a person is doing something unlawful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re asking a court to order them not to stop people — whether they’re driving down the road or whether they’re in a parking lot — not to stop them unless they have a reason,” Bernwanger said. “And someone looking Latino, looking like a farm worker, looking like a day laborer — those are not legal reasons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034937\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034937\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/032725-Evident-Bakersfield-EM-CM-14-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers pick oranges on a farm outside of Bakersfield, Feb. 25, 2025. \u003ccite>(Kevin Clancy/CalMatters and Evident Media)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For his part, Bovino wants to use the Kern operation as a model for immigration enforcement across California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s game on — anywhere,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It could be Fresno, could be Sacramento, could be Stockton. You never know. We’re going to go where that threat is, and where we can do the most damage to bad people and bad things that we possibly can. That’s what we’re in the business of doing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/economy/2025/04/border-patrol-records-kern-county/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "5 Takeaways From Tuesday's Elections, Including Bad News for Elon Musk",
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"content": "\u003cp>Democrats won a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/01/nx-s1-5345862/wisconsin-supreme-court-crawford-schimel-election-results\">judicial election in Wisconsin\u003c/a> that saw a record amount of money spent, national attention and was something of a referendum on Elon Musk, who played a big role, as well as President Trump’s agenda by extension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also won a state schools superintendent race there, but Republicans got a win on a voter ID measure. And, in Florida, Republicans won two special elections by double-digits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what should be made of all that 19 months from the 2026 midterm elections?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are five takeaways:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>1. The results show some political headwinds for Trump and Republicans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Susan Crawford, a liberal judge, helped keep the state Supreme Court leaning in Democrats’ direction in a race that saw nearly $70 million in advertising, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, the most ever for a judicial race. That included \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/01/nx-s1-5345862/wisconsin-supreme-court-crawford-schimel-election-results\">some $20 million from Musk\u003c/a> (more on him below).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was the marquee race of the elections Tuesday in a state that was decided by 1 point in the 2024 presidential election, and Crawford won it handily, by 10 points with more than 95% of the vote in.[aside postID=news_12033066 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/paypal-mafia_web-img-1020x574.png']Republicans, on the other hand, won the two special elections in Florida by roughly 14 points each. But these are very red districts. Republican members of Congress, who had represented these seats before being plucked for the Trump administration, won them by more than 30 points in November, so Democrats ate into the margins significantly there as well — though indications were they might do even better. (These are the seats that were held by Mike Waltz, now the national security adviser, and Matt Gaetz, whom Trump wanted to be attorney general before his nomination was pulled over concerns that he lacked sufficient Republican support to be confirmed.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were 60 Republican House members who won in 2024 by 15 points or less — and they might be concerned after these results, according to \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2024:_Congressional_margin_of_victory_analysis\">Ballotpedia\u003c/a>. The conservative \u003cem>Wall Street Journal\u003c/em> editorial board, well read in Trump world, is calling the results a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/opinion/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-susan-crawford-brad-schimel-florida-house-gop-jimmy-patronis-randy-fine-38db797f?mod=editorials_article_pos1\">MAGA backlash\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s important to be careful to not overread the results of off-year elections — and Democrats did win a Wisconsin judicial seat in 2023, but lost the state in the presidential election. But there are early warning signs here for the GOP and a reminder that the energy is often with the out-party, which is why they have historically done so well in presidents’ first midterms. And these elections can be breadcrumbs on the path to success in midterms, especially if a president continues with a bold and divisive agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. It was a very bad night for Elon Musk — and his days may be numbered as Trump’s right hand\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Musk went all in in the Wisconsin judicial race. Groups with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#513fea1e3d78\">world’s richest man’s\u003c/a> backing spent some $20 million. He also made an appearance in the state (wearing a cheese hat), offered $1 million checks to voters and even said “\u003ca href=\"https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2025/03/30/musk-says-destiny-of-humanity-rests-on-wisconsin-supreme-court-race/82705243007/\">the entire destiny of humanity\u003c/a>” could rest on the race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Talk about raising the stakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump is likely to do what he does — put a positive spin on the results or say everything is fine and point to the Florida elections (as he did in an \u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114265493906125093\">ALLCAPS\u003c/a> social media post Tuesday night without mentioning the Wisconsin judicial result). But it likely isn’t making him happy, especially considering how much heat Musk and his DOGE group have taken. Musk’s favorability ratings have been a net-negative nationally — and were in Wisconsin too. Musk represented something of a heat shield for Trump on an unpopular way of making sweeping cuts to the government, but, after Tuesday’s results, how long can he remain in the public eye and not start to affect Trump’s political standing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, Trump’s overall approval rating has been marginally higher than during his first term because of \u003ca href=\"https://news.gallup.com/poll/658661/republicans-men-push-trump-approval-higher-second-term.aspx\">strong GOP backing and because of men\u003c/a>. But an AP-NORC poll out this week showed Trump’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnorc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/March-2025-topline-Trump-.pdf\">approval rating falling to 42% (PDF)\u003c/a>, and his \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-poll-immigration-tariffs-trade-b7a430909606d6b8b27cfbc5049a32b4\">economic approval only at 40%\u003c/a>, compared to better marks he received on immigration. That’s especially telling on this day of reciprocal tariffs as his trade war is unpopular.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Musk does start to lose luster in Trump’s eyes, it could be a result congressional Republicans are quietly happy about. After all, they won their two House seats in Florida, helping shore up their majority, and Wisconsin’s outcome might help move Musk and his blunt, unpopular agenda out of the spotlight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the way, Musk may be new to politics, but he violated a key rule of it — never put anything on your head you don’t normally wear, even Trump, who likes a good hat, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/donald-trump-jabs-michael-dukakis-over-tank-2/140795/\">knows about that one\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>3. Signs of how Democrats combat Trump — and what the base wants.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>An easy — and somewhat lazy — framing of the internal battle within the Democratic Party is “progressive vs. moderate.” Largely, many in the party agree on the issues, with obvious exceptions on how far to go on certain things or when to push for them or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, it is more fighting vs. acquiescence, of standing up vs. complacency.[aside postID=forum_2010101909107 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2025/03/GettyImages-651462930-1020x680.jpg']That was clear with how angry the “do something” Democratic base was when Senate leader Chuck Schumer allowed a GOP-led spending bill to pass last month to keep the government open. It’s also why so many on the left liked Sen. Cory Booker holding the floor of the Senate with an anti-Trump speech. It is now the longest speech ever in the chamber, more than 24 straight hours, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/01/nx-s1-5347318/cory-booker-senate-speech\">breaking the record\u003c/a> held by the late Strom Thurmond, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/06/22/128020372/scott-beats-strom-thurmond-s-son-in-sc-for-gop-house\">racist South Carolina senator\u003c/a>, a fact Booker, who is Black, said he was “very aware” of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party summed up the split among Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think that the most meaningful distinction within Democrats now is left versus center,” state party chair Ben Wikler said in MSNBC’s \u003cem>Morning Joe\u003c/em>. “I think it’s actually going on your front foot and fighting back versus rolling over and playing dead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He noted that Crawford was against an abortion ban at the court, that Jill Underly, the state schools chief, ran against the dismantling of Department of Education, and that they both were against Musk casting “aside any check and balance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are broadly held by progressives, by centrists, by everything in between,” Wickler said. “The critical thing is to go out there and fight. It is to make the case to voters; it is to be omnipresent, to communicate, travel everywhere, and I think the Democrats who do that in the big-tent coalition that makes up the Democratic Party, the anti-MAGA coalition, you’re going to see a lot of success from people who have that energy and that conviction. That’s what voters are looking for right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>4. The political realignment is helping Democrats in off-year elections\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Both parties poured millions of outside dollars into these races, and that’s because off-year and special elections are hard to mobilize voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The $70 million spent on ads alone in Wisconsin was the \u003ca href=\"https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/most-expensive-judicial-election-ever\">most ever for a judicial race\u003c/a> and lots of it came from outside the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Florida, the 6th congressional district election for Waltz’s seat — the one Trump and the GOP were most concerned about — would have been in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fec.gov/resources/campaign-finance-statistics/2024/tables/congressional/ConCand8e_2024_21m.pdf\">top 20 for most spending by a single candidate (PDF)\u003c/a> for any House race the \u003cem>entire\u003c/em> 2024 cycle, and that was over 20 months. This was two. The Democrat raised about $10 million in that time and spent more than $8 million, while the Republican spent less than $1 million, as of the candidates’ March 12 filings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turnout wasn’t bad. It’s always lower in those kinds of races than in presidential elections — and that, of course, was the case in both states. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/01/nx-s1-5345862/wisconsin-supreme-court-crawford-schimel-election-results\">In Wisconsin\u003c/a>, roughly 2.4 million ballots were cast (with 95% in), about 30% less than in November. In Florida, fewer than 200,000 voters went to the polls in each congressional district. In 2024, it was \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/projects/election-results-2024/florida/?r=0\">more than double that\u003c/a>. So money isn’t everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s a reminder that firing up the bases is key in off-year and midterm elections —and that the realignment of college-educated voters, who have higher turnout rates, toward Democrats is helping them in these kinds of elections.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>5. Voter ID is an issue that continues to heavily lean right\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It should be noted that the same voters who voted for a liberal judge in Wisconsin also \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/01/us/elections/results-wisconsin-question.html\">overwhelmingly approved\u003c/a> a measure requiring voter ID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s something that’s already state law; this enshrined it in the state constitution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/02/07/bipartisan-support-for-early-in-person-voting-voter-id-election-day-national-holiday/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pew poll\u003c/a> last year found 81% in favor of requiring people to show government-issued photo ID to vote. That included 69% of Democrats. Few things get that level of bipartisan support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, yes, Democrats can take Tuesday as one of the first bits of good news they’ve had since the 2024 presidential election. But they also have to be aware that there are lots of issues that are still center-right, including voter ID and many measures meant to curb immigration — especially when the party is seeing \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/16/politics/cnn-poll-democrats/index.html\">record\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/5224072-democrats-low-approval-rating/\">lows\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/democratic-party-hits-new-polling-low-voters-want-fight-trump-harder-rcna196161\">favorability\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "With 19 months to go to the midterms, the judicial election in Wisconsin was something of a referendum on Elon Musk and President Trump's agenda. Here are five takeaways from recent elections there, and in Florida.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Democrats won a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/01/nx-s1-5345862/wisconsin-supreme-court-crawford-schimel-election-results\">judicial election in Wisconsin\u003c/a> that saw a record amount of money spent, national attention and was something of a referendum on Elon Musk, who played a big role, as well as President Trump’s agenda by extension.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also won a state schools superintendent race there, but Republicans got a win on a voter ID measure. And, in Florida, Republicans won two special elections by double-digits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what should be made of all that 19 months from the 2026 midterm elections?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here are five takeaways:\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>1. The results show some political headwinds for Trump and Republicans\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Susan Crawford, a liberal judge, helped keep the state Supreme Court leaning in Democrats’ direction in a race that saw nearly $70 million in advertising, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, the most ever for a judicial race. That included \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/01/nx-s1-5345862/wisconsin-supreme-court-crawford-schimel-election-results\">some $20 million from Musk\u003c/a> (more on him below).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was the marquee race of the elections Tuesday in a state that was decided by 1 point in the 2024 presidential election, and Crawford won it handily, by 10 points with more than 95% of the vote in.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Republicans, on the other hand, won the two special elections in Florida by roughly 14 points each. But these are very red districts. Republican members of Congress, who had represented these seats before being plucked for the Trump administration, won them by more than 30 points in November, so Democrats ate into the margins significantly there as well — though indications were they might do even better. (These are the seats that were held by Mike Waltz, now the national security adviser, and Matt Gaetz, whom Trump wanted to be attorney general before his nomination was pulled over concerns that he lacked sufficient Republican support to be confirmed.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There were 60 Republican House members who won in 2024 by 15 points or less — and they might be concerned after these results, according to \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Election_results,_2024:_Congressional_margin_of_victory_analysis\">Ballotpedia\u003c/a>. The conservative \u003cem>Wall Street Journal\u003c/em> editorial board, well read in Trump world, is calling the results a “\u003ca href=\"https://www.wsj.com/opinion/wisconsin-supreme-court-election-susan-crawford-brad-schimel-florida-house-gop-jimmy-patronis-randy-fine-38db797f?mod=editorials_article_pos1\">MAGA backlash\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s important to be careful to not overread the results of off-year elections — and Democrats did win a Wisconsin judicial seat in 2023, but lost the state in the presidential election. But there are early warning signs here for the GOP and a reminder that the energy is often with the out-party, which is why they have historically done so well in presidents’ first midterms. And these elections can be breadcrumbs on the path to success in midterms, especially if a president continues with a bold and divisive agenda.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. It was a very bad night for Elon Musk — and his days may be numbered as Trump’s right hand\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Musk went all in in the Wisconsin judicial race. Groups with the \u003ca href=\"https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#513fea1e3d78\">world’s richest man’s\u003c/a> backing spent some $20 million. He also made an appearance in the state (wearing a cheese hat), offered $1 million checks to voters and even said “\u003ca href=\"https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2025/03/30/musk-says-destiny-of-humanity-rests-on-wisconsin-supreme-court-race/82705243007/\">the entire destiny of humanity\u003c/a>” could rest on the race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Talk about raising the stakes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump is likely to do what he does — put a positive spin on the results or say everything is fine and point to the Florida elections (as he did in an \u003ca href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114265493906125093\">ALLCAPS\u003c/a> social media post Tuesday night without mentioning the Wisconsin judicial result). But it likely isn’t making him happy, especially considering how much heat Musk and his DOGE group have taken. Musk’s favorability ratings have been a net-negative nationally — and were in Wisconsin too. Musk represented something of a heat shield for Trump on an unpopular way of making sweeping cuts to the government, but, after Tuesday’s results, how long can he remain in the public eye and not start to affect Trump’s political standing?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So far, Trump’s overall approval rating has been marginally higher than during his first term because of \u003ca href=\"https://news.gallup.com/poll/658661/republicans-men-push-trump-approval-higher-second-term.aspx\">strong GOP backing and because of men\u003c/a>. But an AP-NORC poll out this week showed Trump’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnorc.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/March-2025-topline-Trump-.pdf\">approval rating falling to 42% (PDF)\u003c/a>, and his \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-poll-immigration-tariffs-trade-b7a430909606d6b8b27cfbc5049a32b4\">economic approval only at 40%\u003c/a>, compared to better marks he received on immigration. That’s especially telling on this day of reciprocal tariffs as his trade war is unpopular.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Musk does start to lose luster in Trump’s eyes, it could be a result congressional Republicans are quietly happy about. After all, they won their two House seats in Florida, helping shore up their majority, and Wisconsin’s outcome might help move Musk and his blunt, unpopular agenda out of the spotlight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the way, Musk may be new to politics, but he violated a key rule of it — never put anything on your head you don’t normally wear, even Trump, who likes a good hat, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/donald-trump-jabs-michael-dukakis-over-tank-2/140795/\">knows about that one\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>3. Signs of how Democrats combat Trump — and what the base wants.\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>An easy — and somewhat lazy — framing of the internal battle within the Democratic Party is “progressive vs. moderate.” Largely, many in the party agree on the issues, with obvious exceptions on how far to go on certain things or when to push for them or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Right now, it is more fighting vs. acquiescence, of standing up vs. complacency.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>That was clear with how angry the “do something” Democratic base was when Senate leader Chuck Schumer allowed a GOP-led spending bill to pass last month to keep the government open. It’s also why so many on the left liked Sen. Cory Booker holding the floor of the Senate with an anti-Trump speech. It is now the longest speech ever in the chamber, more than 24 straight hours, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/01/nx-s1-5347318/cory-booker-senate-speech\">breaking the record\u003c/a> held by the late Strom Thurmond, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/06/22/128020372/scott-beats-strom-thurmond-s-son-in-sc-for-gop-house\">racist South Carolina senator\u003c/a>, a fact Booker, who is Black, said he was “very aware” of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party summed up the split among Democrats.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think that the most meaningful distinction within Democrats now is left versus center,” state party chair Ben Wikler said in MSNBC’s \u003cem>Morning Joe\u003c/em>. “I think it’s actually going on your front foot and fighting back versus rolling over and playing dead.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He noted that Crawford was against an abortion ban at the court, that Jill Underly, the state schools chief, ran against the dismantling of Department of Education, and that they both were against Musk casting “aside any check and balance.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are broadly held by progressives, by centrists, by everything in between,” Wickler said. “The critical thing is to go out there and fight. It is to make the case to voters; it is to be omnipresent, to communicate, travel everywhere, and I think the Democrats who do that in the big-tent coalition that makes up the Democratic Party, the anti-MAGA coalition, you’re going to see a lot of success from people who have that energy and that conviction. That’s what voters are looking for right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>4. The political realignment is helping Democrats in off-year elections\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Both parties poured millions of outside dollars into these races, and that’s because off-year and special elections are hard to mobilize voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The $70 million spent on ads alone in Wisconsin was the \u003ca href=\"https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/most-expensive-judicial-election-ever\">most ever for a judicial race\u003c/a> and lots of it came from outside the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Florida, the 6th congressional district election for Waltz’s seat — the one Trump and the GOP were most concerned about — would have been in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.fec.gov/resources/campaign-finance-statistics/2024/tables/congressional/ConCand8e_2024_21m.pdf\">top 20 for most spending by a single candidate (PDF)\u003c/a> for any House race the \u003cem>entire\u003c/em> 2024 cycle, and that was over 20 months. This was two. The Democrat raised about $10 million in that time and spent more than $8 million, while the Republican spent less than $1 million, as of the candidates’ March 12 filings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Turnout wasn’t bad. It’s always lower in those kinds of races than in presidential elections — and that, of course, was the case in both states. \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/01/nx-s1-5345862/wisconsin-supreme-court-crawford-schimel-election-results\">In Wisconsin\u003c/a>, roughly 2.4 million ballots were cast (with 95% in), about 30% less than in November. In Florida, fewer than 200,000 voters went to the polls in each congressional district. In 2024, it was \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/projects/election-results-2024/florida/?r=0\">more than double that\u003c/a>. So money isn’t everything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s a reminder that firing up the bases is key in off-year and midterm elections —and that the realignment of college-educated voters, who have higher turnout rates, toward Democrats is helping them in these kinds of elections.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>5. Voter ID is an issue that continues to heavily lean right\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It should be noted that the same voters who voted for a liberal judge in Wisconsin also \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/01/us/elections/results-wisconsin-question.html\">overwhelmingly approved\u003c/a> a measure requiring voter ID.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s something that’s already state law; this enshrined it in the state constitution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/02/07/bipartisan-support-for-early-in-person-voting-voter-id-election-day-national-holiday/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pew poll\u003c/a> last year found 81% in favor of requiring people to show government-issued photo ID to vote. That included 69% of Democrats. Few things get that level of bipartisan support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, yes, Democrats can take Tuesday as one of the first bits of good news they’ve had since the 2024 presidential election. But they also have to be aware that there are lots of issues that are still center-right, including voter ID and many measures meant to curb immigration — especially when the party is seeing \u003ca href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/16/politics/cnn-poll-democrats/index.html\">record\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/5224072-democrats-low-approval-rating/\">lows\u003c/a> in \u003ca href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/democratic-party-hits-new-polling-low-voters-want-fight-trump-harder-rcna196161\">favorability\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "democracy-in-the-dark-how-california-lawmakers-are-trying-to-shield-themselves-from-public-view",
"title": "Democracy in the Dark: How California Lawmakers Are Trying to Shield Themselves From Public View",
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"headTitle": "Democracy in the Dark: How California Lawmakers Are Trying to Shield Themselves From Public View | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At town halls across the nation, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/fear-anger-california-democrat-town-halls-20238638.php\">in California\u003c/a>, residents have confronted their members of Congress face-to-face to voice their fears and frustrations over Trump administration policies, from cuts to overseas aid to Medicare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, lawmakers in the state Legislature have introduced about a dozen proposals that would make it harder to confront your local officials at public meetings and would shield more information from the public eye, according to an analysis of CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bills follow a streak of California officials’ attempts to shroud themselves in secrecy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/gov-newsom-bat-phones-ceos-california-businesses/64213359\">recently sent burner phones\u003c/a> to major California business leaders with his number preprogrammed — paid for by his nonprofit, allowing him to communicate with executives without having to disclose the content publicly. Lawmakers and government employees\u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/california-non-disclosure-agreements-capitol-annex-project/62376142\"> signed non-disclosure agreements\u003c/a> preventing them from sharing details about taxpayer-funded renovations to the state Capitol. The Legislature refused to say \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/03/california-legislative-transparency-public-corruption/\">whether federal search warrants\u003c/a> and subpoenas were served to lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The largely Democratic efforts have raised alarms among ethics advocates and an outcry from some Republican lawmakers, such as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/carl-demaio-161014\">Assemblymember Carl DeMaio\u003c/a> of San Diego, who has introduced two bills to require lawmakers and government agencies to disclose more to the public, not less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He announced them during \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20050331085059/http:/www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/launch\">National Sunshine Week\u003c/a>, an annual campaign to promote government transparency that the Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article137321978.html\">quit observing eight years ago\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is the one time throughout the year where we pause and we ask the question: Are decisions in government being made in the public light? Can the people know what’s going on?” DeMaio said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Looking decision-makers in the eye\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/roger-niello-165442\">Roger Niello,\u003c/a> a Republican from Roseville, has contended that interacting with constituents in-person makes a difference: There’s nothing more thrilling for a local elected official than having constituents exercise their right to yell and scream at you, he said in 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/256703?t=465&f=7df9245729b5b21e4fec3274a24fafe4\">opposing a proposal\u003c/a> that allows neighborhood councils in Los Angeles to meet remotely until 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just much more impactful,” he said. “It’s like the difference between a text message and a phone call. Text messages are useful for quick communication of something, but not for something more complicated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11996191 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-2161853402-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless that proposal was signed into law — one of many over the past few years that have increasingly allowed state and local officials to participate remotely. This year, various legislators are pushing at least six different measures that aim to make them permanent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the pandemic, California has relaxed its once-strict rules that required officials to be physically present at public meetings. Instead they’ve carved out more exceptions so that advisory board members can meet remotely, and public officials can avoid disclosing their whereabouts when they appear virtually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of these efforts say they “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/258613?t=1707&f=c47df9713448f33eb3a9e44a990fd543\">modernize\u003c/a>” the state’s open meetings rules, arguing that allowing members more remote access boosts public participation, cuts costs, protects officials’ privacy and grants more flexibility in emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the relaxed guidelines, 41 state boards reported increased attendance among board members, according to a June 2021 report by the \u003ca href=\"https://lhc.ca.gov/report/government-tomorrow-online-meetings/\">Little Hoover Commission\u003c/a>, a state oversight agency that focuses on government efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But good government advocates argue that it shields officials from their constituents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Public officials must be accountable: They should be required to attend in person, ensuring that the public can see them, speak to them directly, hold them responsible for decisions that impact their communities,” Dora Rose, deputy director of the League of Women Voters of California, told legislators at a recent hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034088\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Assembly floor at the state Capitol on May 31, 2022. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of this year’s pending bills is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb707\">SB 707\u003c/a> by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/maria-elena-durazo-165445\">Sen. María Elena Durazo\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Los Angeles who last year \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/06/california-remote-meetings-local-boards/\">opposed an effort\u003c/a> to let local advisory boards meet remotely. This year she’s proposing \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb707\">an overarching measure \u003c/a>that would include exemptions for different groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Durazo told CalMatters she was compelled by testimony from groups who had to cancel meetings because they couldn’t gather enough members in person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her bill would also require city and county governments to provide a call-in option to all public meetings. But during \u003ca href=\"https://www.senate.ca.gov/media-archive\">a recent hearing\u003c/a>, representatives of city officials argued that would hamstring local governments’ ability to manage \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/258613?t=1857&f=c47df9713448f33eb3a9e44a990fd543\">“Zoom bombing,”\u003c/a> where participants disrupt meetings with “hate speech.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Keeping donors secret\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission — the state agency policing ethics and campaign finance violations — is sponsoring \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab775\">AB755\u003c/a> to give officials more time to disclose funds they raised for other groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those funds are called “behested payments,” typically donations to a nonprofit or government agency that come at a politician’s behest. Critics say the donations allow \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/02/california-campaign-finance-violations-evan-low/\">special interests to curry favor\u003c/a> with politicians. Since 2011, state officials have reported raising more than $505 million in behested payments, with Newsom single-handedly raising more than $200 million from corporations in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Current law requires elected officials to disclose these payments within 30 days once they raise more than $5,000 from the same donor within a year. But violations are commonplace: \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/show-your-work/2024/10/how-we-reported-on-california-campaign-violations/\">Six out of eight\u003c/a> of California’s constitutional officers have reported their payments late, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/10/campaign-finance-california-fppc-enforcement/\">including Newsom\u003c/a>, who was fined $13,000 for failing to disclose $14 million on time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation introduced by Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/mike-fong-165455\">Mike Fong\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Alhambra, would give lawmakers up to roughly 120 days to disclose the payments, making it harder for voters to know who is influencing their lawmakers in real time. Commission spokesperson Shery Yang told CalMatters the current filing period is too short and extending it “improves efficiency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After meeting the initial $5,000 threshold for disclosure, officials would be allowed to receive up to $999 from that same donor without ever disclosing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A related bill — \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb760\">SB 760\u003c/a> by Sen. Ben Allen, an El Segundo Democrat — would let elected officials stop reporting funds they raised for nonprofits on TV or radio, or even in speeches like private fundraisers, if they don’t benefit financially from those payments or don’t know their efforts led to the contribution. Allen said the change is needed so officials aren’t afraid to name specific groups to donate to, especially after a disaster like the Los Angeles fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also seeking to relax the state’s campaign ethics rules is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb300\">SB 300\u003c/a> by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/steve-padilla-165435\">Sen. Steve Padilla\u003c/a>, a Chula Vista Democrat. Public officials wouldn’t have to recuse themselves if they are making policies that would boost the membership of organizations they’re part of, such as unions or chambers of commerce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034089\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The state Capitol in Sacramento, on Aug. 22, 2022. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other proposed legislation would also reduce the amount of information disclosed to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab950\">AB 950\u003c/a> by Lakewood Democrat José Solache would allow campaigns to stop disclosing their top funders on printed ads and refer to a website instead.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab359\">AB 359\u003c/a> by San Bernardino Democrat James Ramos would allow the state campaign finance commission to stop reporting on its enforcement of local ethics rules.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>‘What they want is carte blanche authority to police in secret’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the state’s public records laws already are riddled with exemptions, politicians are still trying to create more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the biggest exception the Legislature created is for itself. In 1975, it \u003ca href=\"https://www.assembly.ca.gov/public-services/legislative-process/legislative-open-records-act\">wrote its own rules\u003c/a> that vastly restrict what it must release to the public, shielding notes to members or staff, records of complaints or investigations, and anything else it deems not in the public’s interest to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year — after a 2018 law\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_201720180sb1421\"> forced police \u003c/a>agencies to be more transparent about their records — Downey Democratic Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/blanca-pacheco-165430\">Blanca Pacheco\u003c/a> wants to roll some of that back. Her bill would give \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1178\">law enforcement agencies more leeway \u003c/a>to keep some information private, such as the ranks, names and photos of officers who work undercover, are part of a state or federal task force, or who received death threats in the last decade due to their work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to protect these undercover officers so that they can continue doing their work and keeping our communities safe,” she told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tiffany Bailey, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the legislation undermines the progress made on police transparency. Police agencies already have ways to redact information, she said, but law enforcement agencies must explain why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What they want is carte blanche authority to police in secret, to shield from the public eye really egregious police misconduct, like sexually assaulting civilians and serious uses of force,” Bailey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, said California already lags behind other, more conservative states in what is released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s all kinds of qualifications and exemptions and opportunities to put sand in the gears and delay disclosure, and it’s still a pretty limited set of documents you get,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often, local and state agencies have \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/inside-the-newsroom/2025/01/secret-homeless-shelter-complaints/\">only released records\u003c/a> when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11982270/kqed-wins-legal-victory-against-california-department-of-corrections-over-public-records\">a court forced them to do so\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loy’s group is also concerned about a proposal from Long Beach Democrat \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/josh-lowenthal-164206\">Josh Lowenthal\u003c/a> that would make it a misdemeanor for someone to “knowingly” post an elected or appointed official’s home address or telephone number, if they intend the posting to cause harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lowenthal declined an interview with CalMatters, but said in a statement that elected and appointed officials have faced harassment or violence in recent years and this would “allow them to limit the proliferation of their information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loy countered that the bill, while still in its early stages, is overly broad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are controversies over whether someone is a resident of the jurisdiction that they are elected to represent, and the press and public have a right to know the relevant information,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034090\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Legislators convene during a session at the state Capitol in Sacramento, on Aug. 22, 2022. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Let the sunshine peek in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are a few glimmers of hope for public access, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Democratic Assemblymember Avelino Valencia’s proposed \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/CA_202520260AB1029\">AB 1029\u003c/a>, elected officials would have to report if they own cryptocurrency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DeMaio, the San Diego Republican, is also reintroducing an idea to create an independent office to help people fight public records denials. Newsom vetoed a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/09/california-public-records-2/\">similar bill\u003c/a> in 2023, saying it was unnecessary and costly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the only way to appeal a rejected Public Records Act request is to sue — something not everyone can afford to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let a neutral third party determine whether a document is so sensitive that the public interest would be benefited by keeping it a secret,” DeMaio said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also introduced a bill to make the Legislature follow the same California records act as other public agencies and touted his Rocklin Republican colleague Joe Patterson’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/CA_202520260AB1370\">AB 1370\u003c/a>, which would prohibit state lawmakers from entering into most non-disclosure agreements related to their decision-making, such as the Capitol renovation project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no justification for an elected official signing an NDA with a special interest, full stop,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/04/california-lawmakers-transparency/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "State lawmakers have introduced at least a dozen proposals that would make it harder to confront local officials at public meetings, shield more information from the public and relax rules on financial reports.",
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"title": "Democracy in the Dark: How California Lawmakers Are Trying to Shield Themselves From Public View | KQED",
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"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/sameea-kamal/\">Sameea Kamal\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/yue-yu/\">Yue Stella Yu\u003c/a>, CalMatters",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was originally published by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/\">CalMatters\u003c/a>. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/subscribe-to-calmatters/\">Sign up\u003c/a> for their newsletters.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At town halls across the nation, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/fear-anger-california-democrat-town-halls-20238638.php\">in California\u003c/a>, residents have confronted their members of Congress face-to-face to voice their fears and frustrations over Trump administration policies, from cuts to overseas aid to Medicare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, lawmakers in the state Legislature have introduced about a dozen proposals that would make it harder to confront your local officials at public meetings and would shield more information from the public eye, according to an analysis of CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bills follow a streak of California officials’ attempts to shroud themselves in secrecy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom \u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/gov-newsom-bat-phones-ceos-california-businesses/64213359\">recently sent burner phones\u003c/a> to major California business leaders with his number preprogrammed — paid for by his nonprofit, allowing him to communicate with executives without having to disclose the content publicly. Lawmakers and government employees\u003ca href=\"https://www.kcra.com/article/california-non-disclosure-agreements-capitol-annex-project/62376142\"> signed non-disclosure agreements\u003c/a> preventing them from sharing details about taxpayer-funded renovations to the state Capitol. The Legislature refused to say \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/03/california-legislative-transparency-public-corruption/\">whether federal search warrants\u003c/a> and subpoenas were served to lawmakers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The largely Democratic efforts have raised alarms among ethics advocates and an outcry from some Republican lawmakers, such as \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/carl-demaio-161014\">Assemblymember Carl DeMaio\u003c/a> of San Diego, who has introduced two bills to require lawmakers and government agencies to disclose more to the public, not less.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He announced them during \u003ca href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20050331085059/http:/www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/launch\">National Sunshine Week\u003c/a>, an annual campaign to promote government transparency that the Legislature \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article137321978.html\">quit observing eight years ago\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is the one time throughout the year where we pause and we ask the question: Are decisions in government being made in the public light? Can the people know what’s going on?” DeMaio said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Looking decision-makers in the eye\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/roger-niello-165442\">Roger Niello,\u003c/a> a Republican from Roseville, has contended that interacting with constituents in-person makes a difference: There’s nothing more thrilling for a local elected official than having constituents exercise their right to yell and scream at you, he said in 2023 \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/256703?t=465&f=7df9245729b5b21e4fec3274a24fafe4\">opposing a proposal\u003c/a> that allows neighborhood councils in Los Angeles to meet remotely until 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s just much more impactful,” he said. “It’s like the difference between a text message and a phone call. Text messages are useful for quick communication of something, but not for something more complicated.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonetheless that proposal was signed into law — one of many over the past few years that have increasingly allowed state and local officials to participate remotely. This year, various legislators are pushing at least six different measures that aim to make them permanent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the pandemic, California has relaxed its once-strict rules that required officials to be physically present at public meetings. Instead they’ve carved out more exceptions so that advisory board members can meet remotely, and public officials can avoid disclosing their whereabouts when they appear virtually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters of these efforts say they “\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/258613?t=1707&f=c47df9713448f33eb3a9e44a990fd543\">modernize\u003c/a>” the state’s open meetings rules, arguing that allowing members more remote access boosts public participation, cuts costs, protects officials’ privacy and grants more flexibility in emergencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the relaxed guidelines, 41 state boards reported increased attendance among board members, according to a June 2021 report by the \u003ca href=\"https://lhc.ca.gov/report/government-tomorrow-online-meetings/\">Little Hoover Commission\u003c/a>, a state oversight agency that focuses on government efficiency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But good government advocates argue that it shields officials from their constituents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Public officials must be accountable: They should be required to attend in person, ensuring that the public can see them, speak to them directly, hold them responsible for decisions that impact their communities,” Dora Rose, deputy director of the League of Women Voters of California, told legislators at a recent hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034088\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034088\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/053122-Capitol-Assembly-File-MG-CM-01-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Assembly floor at the state Capitol on May 31, 2022. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One of this year’s pending bills is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb707\">SB 707\u003c/a> by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/maria-elena-durazo-165445\">Sen. María Elena Durazo\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Los Angeles who last year \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol/2024/06/california-remote-meetings-local-boards/\">opposed an effort\u003c/a> to let local advisory boards meet remotely. This year she’s proposing \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb707\">an overarching measure \u003c/a>that would include exemptions for different groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Durazo told CalMatters she was compelled by testimony from groups who had to cancel meetings because they couldn’t gather enough members in person.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her bill would also require city and county governments to provide a call-in option to all public meetings. But during \u003ca href=\"https://www.senate.ca.gov/media-archive\">a recent hearing\u003c/a>, representatives of city officials argued that would hamstring local governments’ ability to manage \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/hearings/258613?t=1857&f=c47df9713448f33eb3a9e44a990fd543\">“Zoom bombing,”\u003c/a> where participants disrupt meetings with “hate speech.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Keeping donors secret\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The California Fair Political Practices Commission — the state agency policing ethics and campaign finance violations — is sponsoring \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab775\">AB755\u003c/a> to give officials more time to disclose funds they raised for other groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those funds are called “behested payments,” typically donations to a nonprofit or government agency that come at a politician’s behest. Critics say the donations allow \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/02/california-campaign-finance-violations-evan-low/\">special interests to curry favor\u003c/a> with politicians. Since 2011, state officials have reported raising more than $505 million in behested payments, with Newsom single-handedly raising more than $200 million from corporations in 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Current law requires elected officials to disclose these payments within 30 days once they raise more than $5,000 from the same donor within a year. But violations are commonplace: \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/show-your-work/2024/10/how-we-reported-on-california-campaign-violations/\">Six out of eight\u003c/a> of California’s constitutional officers have reported their payments late, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/elections/2024/10/campaign-finance-california-fppc-enforcement/\">including Newsom\u003c/a>, who was fined $13,000 for failing to disclose $14 million on time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The legislation introduced by Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/mike-fong-165455\">Mike Fong\u003c/a>, a Democrat from Alhambra, would give lawmakers up to roughly 120 days to disclose the payments, making it harder for voters to know who is influencing their lawmakers in real time. Commission spokesperson Shery Yang told CalMatters the current filing period is too short and extending it “improves efficiency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After meeting the initial $5,000 threshold for disclosure, officials would be allowed to receive up to $999 from that same donor without ever disclosing it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A related bill — \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb760\">SB 760\u003c/a> by Sen. Ben Allen, an El Segundo Democrat — would let elected officials stop reporting funds they raised for nonprofits on TV or radio, or even in speeches like private fundraisers, if they don’t benefit financially from those payments or don’t know their efforts led to the contribution. Allen said the change is needed so officials aren’t afraid to name specific groups to donate to, especially after a disaster like the Los Angeles fires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also seeking to relax the state’s campaign ethics rules is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb300\">SB 300\u003c/a> by \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/steve-padilla-165435\">Sen. Steve Padilla\u003c/a>, a Chula Vista Democrat. Public officials wouldn’t have to recuse themselves if they are making policies that would boost the membership of organizations they’re part of, such as unions or chambers of commerce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034089\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-08-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The state Capitol in Sacramento, on Aug. 22, 2022. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Other proposed legislation would also reduce the amount of information disclosed to the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab950\">AB 950\u003c/a> by Lakewood Democrat José Solache would allow campaigns to stop disclosing their top funders on printed ads and refer to a website instead.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab359\">AB 359\u003c/a> by San Bernardino Democrat James Ramos would allow the state campaign finance commission to stop reporting on its enforcement of local ethics rules.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>‘What they want is carte blanche authority to police in secret’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While the state’s public records laws already are riddled with exemptions, politicians are still trying to create more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps the biggest exception the Legislature created is for itself. In 1975, it \u003ca href=\"https://www.assembly.ca.gov/public-services/legislative-process/legislative-open-records-act\">wrote its own rules\u003c/a> that vastly restrict what it must release to the public, shielding notes to members or staff, records of complaints or investigations, and anything else it deems not in the public’s interest to know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year — after a 2018 law\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_201720180sb1421\"> forced police \u003c/a>agencies to be more transparent about their records — Downey Democratic Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/blanca-pacheco-165430\">Blanca Pacheco\u003c/a> wants to roll some of that back. Her bill would give \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260ab1178\">law enforcement agencies more leeway \u003c/a>to keep some information private, such as the ranks, names and photos of officers who work undercover, are part of a state or federal task force, or who received death threats in the last decade due to their work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I just want to protect these undercover officers so that they can continue doing their work and keeping our communities safe,” she told CalMatters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tiffany Bailey, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, said the legislation undermines the progress made on police transparency. Police agencies already have ways to redact information, she said, but law enforcement agencies must explain why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What they want is carte blanche authority to police in secret, to shield from the public eye really egregious police misconduct, like sexually assaulting civilians and serious uses of force,” Bailey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, said California already lags behind other, more conservative states in what is released.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s all kinds of qualifications and exemptions and opportunities to put sand in the gears and delay disclosure, and it’s still a pretty limited set of documents you get,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Often, local and state agencies have \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/inside-the-newsroom/2025/01/secret-homeless-shelter-complaints/\">only released records\u003c/a> when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11982270/kqed-wins-legal-victory-against-california-department-of-corrections-over-public-records\">a court forced them to do so\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loy’s group is also concerned about a proposal from Long Beach Democrat \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/legislators/josh-lowenthal-164206\">Josh Lowenthal\u003c/a> that would make it a misdemeanor for someone to “knowingly” post an elected or appointed official’s home address or telephone number, if they intend the posting to cause harm.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lowenthal declined an interview with CalMatters, but said in a statement that elected and appointed officials have faced harassment or violence in recent years and this would “allow them to limit the proliferation of their information.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Loy countered that the bill, while still in its early stages, is overly broad.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are controversies over whether someone is a resident of the jurisdiction that they are elected to represent, and the press and public have a right to know the relevant information,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034090\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034090\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/082222-CA-Capitol-08-22-RL-CM-07-copy-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Legislators convene during a session at the state Capitol in Sacramento, on Aug. 22, 2022. \u003ccite>(Rahul Lal/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Let the sunshine peek in?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There are a few glimmers of hope for public access, though.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under Democratic Assemblymember Avelino Valencia’s proposed \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/CA_202520260AB1029\">AB 1029\u003c/a>, elected officials would have to report if they own cryptocurrency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>DeMaio, the San Diego Republican, is also reintroducing an idea to create an independent office to help people fight public records denials. Newsom vetoed a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/09/california-public-records-2/\">similar bill\u003c/a> in 2023, saying it was unnecessary and costly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, the only way to appeal a rejected Public Records Act request is to sue — something not everyone can afford to do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Let a neutral third party determine whether a document is so sensitive that the public interest would be benefited by keeping it a secret,” DeMaio said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He also introduced a bill to make the Legislature follow the same California records act as other public agencies and touted his Rocklin Republican colleague Joe Patterson’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/CA_202520260AB1370\">AB 1370\u003c/a>, which would prohibit state lawmakers from entering into most non-disclosure agreements related to their decision-making, such as the Capitol renovation project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no justification for an elected official signing an NDA with a special interest, full stop,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This article was \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2025/04/california-lawmakers-transparency/\">originally published on CalMatters\u003c/a> and was republished under the \u003ca href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives\u003c/a> license.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Many of the country’s most contested issues and hottest partisan politics are playing out in a race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The election is Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the state level, abortion rights, voting rights and the powers of public employee unions could all be in \u003ca href=\"https://www.wuwm.com/meet-the-candidates-running-in-the-2025-wisconsin-supreme-court-election\">the balance in future court rulings.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And impacting the national scene, the court could determine whether the state redraws its congressional districts along lines that end up narrowing or ending the majority that Republicans hold in the U.S. House of Representatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Money is pouring in from around the country, with millions of dollars in support of the conservative candidate coming from billionaire Elon Musk, who visited the state Sunday night for a rally donning a cheesehead hat. \u003ca href=\"https://www.wpr.org/news/elon-musk-wisconsin-supreme-court-race-green-bay-visit-million-dollar-checks\">He handed out $1 million\u003c/a> to two people after a legal back-and-forth on whether the money amounted to bribing voters. The liberal candidate has received millions in support from billionaire George Soros, Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, a Wisconsin philanthropist and others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spending on both sides is expected to reach $100 million, \u003ca href=\"https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/most-expensive-races\">which is more than all but a few U.S. Senate \u003c/a>races each cost last year. It’s the most \u003ca href=\"https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/most-expensive-judicial-election-ever\">expensive state judge race ever\u003c/a>, says The Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan think tank and democracy advocacy group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wisconsin’s a swing state where President Trump narrowly defeated Kamala Harris in 2024. There’s a Democratic governor, Tony Evers, and a Republican-controlled legislature. Tuesday’s vote could be the first measure of Trump’s popularity and Democrats’ energy after the election five months ago. It could also be a referendum on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/03/nx-s1-5300147/why-elon-musk-is-pouring-money-into-a-state-supreme-court-race-in-wisconsin\">Trump’s close adviser, Musk.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034030\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034030\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford shake hands before a debate Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Milwaukee. \u003ccite>(Morry Gash/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Two county judges face off for a seat opening on the court\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Supreme Court races are non-partisan in Wisconsin, so there won’t be a “D” or an “R” next to the justices’ names on the ballot, but they are generally described as either liberal or conservative. This race would replace one of the four liberal-leaning judges on the seven-judge court for a 10-year term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wuwm.com/meet-the-candidates-running-in-the-2025-wisconsin-supreme-court-election\">Both candidates are county judges\u003c/a>. Brad Schimel is a Waukesha County judge and former Republican Wisconsin attorney general. He’s endorsed by Trump. Dane County Judge Susan Crawford was endorsed by former President Barack Obama last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crawford worked as an assistant state attorney general and as chief legal counsel for former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. Schimel was Waukesha’s district attorney and was elected state attorney general but lost a bid for a second term in that position in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wpr.org/news/campaign-finance-wisconsin-supreme-court-crawford-schimel-100m\">With the heavy spending,\u003c/a> voters are being barraged with ads on television, websites and mail by both campaigns and independent groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034033\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034033\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1205\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-800x603.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-1020x768.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-1536x1157.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel speaks to supporters in Waukesha, Wis., before boarding his campaign bus on March 22. \u003ccite>(Chuck Quirmbach/WUWM)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The issues: Abortion rights, voter ID, unions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The race has teed up many of the same issues as the last presidential election. On abortion rights, Crawford accuses Schimel of supporting an 1849 state law that is still on the books and before the court. It was used to block abortion in Wisconsin for over a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion in 2022. Currently, abortion is legal up to about 20 weeks of pregnancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12033066 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/paypal-mafia_web-img-1020x574.png']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schimel acknowledges he has said the 1849 law is valid but says that abortion should be up to “\u003ca href=\"https://www.wuwm.com/government-politics/2025-03-13/crawford-schimel-square-off-over-abortion-trump-and-musk-in-wisconsin-supreme-court-debate\">the will of the people.\u003c/a>” Democrats note he’s \u003ca href=\"https://archive.jsonline.com/blogs/news/280308632.html\">opposed abortion in the past\u003c/a>. Crawford talks about how she represented Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin when she was a private attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wisconsin is also home to one of the country’s biggest battles over labor rights. As an attorney, Crawford worked for teachers opposed to a 2011 law prohibiting most public employees from collective bargaining. A judge\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/12/07/nx-s1-5217931/wisconsin-court-strikes-down-controversial-law-in-a-win-for-labor\"> recently blocked that law,\u003c/a> which could be headed to the state supreme court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Schimel has said he’ll vote yes on a measure also on the ballot Tuesday to place voter ID requirements in the state constitution. Crawford says she doesn’t think a judicial candidate should take a public position on something that could end up being interpreted by the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Schimel campaign has also deployed an issue that GOP candidates say worked for them in 2024 — opposition to transgender rights. One campaign ad features a woman saying Crawford “sides with” radicals in favor of allowing “transitioning male teachers” in girls’ bathrooms at school. Advocates for transgender rights say it’s an example of fearmongering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034034\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034034\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1205\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-800x603.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-1020x768.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-1536x1157.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, prepares to speak at a campaign stop at Racine County Democratic Party headquarters. \u003ccite>(Chuck Quirmbach/WUWM)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Musk’s millions, his paid petition and the outside money\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Elon Musk and groups linked to him have reportedly spent at least $20 million in support of Schimel. The Associated Press reports that they have run misleading \u003ca href=\"https://www.wokv.com/news/politics/group-funded-by-elon/JBIAGCSPRNBF5OQFMTVOP3B4AU/\">ads that appear to be from the Crawford\u003c/a> camp and highlight controversial buzzwords. Musk has also offered $100 to anyone who signs a petition against “activist judges” and gave away \u003ca href=\"https://www.wpr.org/news/elon-musk-wisconsin-visit-giveaway-supreme-court-race-schimel-crawford\">$1 million to two petition signers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musk says he’s interested in the race because the court has power over redistricting for congressional elections and that if Crawford wins, “then the Democrats will attempt to \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/america/status/1903560997685891140\">redraw the districts\u003c/a> and cause Wisconsin to lose two Republican seats.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crawford supporters have highlighted Musk’s involvement. “Elon Musk is really trying to buy a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” \u003ca>Crawford says.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have no control over whatever any outside group does. I will enforce the law. I will apply the law the way the legislature has written it,” Schimel said in the one campaign debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musk has a matter in Wisconsin courts as CEO of Tesla. In January, the automaker sued seeking an \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/tesla-musk-wisconsin-supreme-court-dealerships-101d7608d69dda61aeaf6ebee7903d2b\">exemption from a state law \u003c/a>that bans car manufacturers from selling directly to consumers — as Tesla does — instead of going through dealers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crawford says his spending far exceeds her top donors. Her biggest financial backer appears to be Wisconsin philanthropist Lynde Uihlein, who the Brennan Center says has given $6.2 million. Soros has given $2 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was written by NPR’s Larry Kaplow with reporting from Chuck Quirmbach and Maayan Silver of WUWM and Rich Kremer and Anya van Wagtendonk of Wisconsin Public Radio.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Many of the country’s most contested issues and hottest partisan politics are playing out in a race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The election is Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the state level, abortion rights, voting rights and the powers of public employee unions could all be in \u003ca href=\"https://www.wuwm.com/meet-the-candidates-running-in-the-2025-wisconsin-supreme-court-election\">the balance in future court rulings.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And impacting the national scene, the court could determine whether the state redraws its congressional districts along lines that end up narrowing or ending the majority that Republicans hold in the U.S. House of Representatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Money is pouring in from around the country, with millions of dollars in support of the conservative candidate coming from billionaire Elon Musk, who visited the state Sunday night for a rally donning a cheesehead hat. \u003ca href=\"https://www.wpr.org/news/elon-musk-wisconsin-supreme-court-race-green-bay-visit-million-dollar-checks\">He handed out $1 million\u003c/a> to two people after a legal back-and-forth on whether the money amounted to bribing voters. The liberal candidate has received millions in support from billionaire George Soros, Illinois Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker, a Wisconsin philanthropist and others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Spending on both sides is expected to reach $100 million, \u003ca href=\"https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/most-expensive-races\">which is more than all but a few U.S. Senate \u003c/a>races each cost last year. It’s the most \u003ca href=\"https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/most-expensive-judicial-election-ever\">expensive state judge race ever\u003c/a>, says The Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan think tank and democracy advocacy group.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wisconsin’s a swing state where President Trump narrowly defeated Kamala Harris in 2024. There’s a Democratic governor, Tony Evers, and a Republican-controlled legislature. Tuesday’s vote could be the first measure of Trump’s popularity and Democrats’ energy after the election five months ago. It could also be a referendum on \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/03/nx-s1-5300147/why-elon-musk-is-pouring-money-into-a-state-supreme-court-race-in-wisconsin\">Trump’s close adviser, Musk.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034030\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034030\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford shake hands before a debate Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Milwaukee. \u003ccite>(Morry Gash/AP Photo)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Two county judges face off for a seat opening on the court\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Supreme Court races are non-partisan in Wisconsin, so there won’t be a “D” or an “R” next to the justices’ names on the ballot, but they are generally described as either liberal or conservative. This race would replace one of the four liberal-leaning judges on the seven-judge court for a 10-year term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wuwm.com/meet-the-candidates-running-in-the-2025-wisconsin-supreme-court-election\">Both candidates are county judges\u003c/a>. Brad Schimel is a Waukesha County judge and former Republican Wisconsin attorney general. He’s endorsed by Trump. Dane County Judge Susan Crawford was endorsed by former President Barack Obama last week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crawford worked as an assistant state attorney general and as chief legal counsel for former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. Schimel was Waukesha’s district attorney and was elected state attorney general but lost a bid for a second term in that position in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.wpr.org/news/campaign-finance-wisconsin-supreme-court-crawford-schimel-100m\">With the heavy spending,\u003c/a> voters are being barraged with ads on television, websites and mail by both campaigns and independent groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034033\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034033\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1205\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-800x603.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-1020x768.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1-1536x1157.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel speaks to supporters in Waukesha, Wis., before boarding his campaign bus on March 22. \u003ccite>(Chuck Quirmbach/WUWM)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>The issues: Abortion rights, voter ID, unions\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The race has teed up many of the same issues as the last presidential election. On abortion rights, Crawford accuses Schimel of supporting an 1849 state law that is still on the books and before the court. It was used to block abortion in Wisconsin for over a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion in 2022. Currently, abortion is legal up to about 20 weeks of pregnancy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schimel acknowledges he has said the 1849 law is valid but says that abortion should be up to “\u003ca href=\"https://www.wuwm.com/government-politics/2025-03-13/crawford-schimel-square-off-over-abortion-trump-and-musk-in-wisconsin-supreme-court-debate\">the will of the people.\u003c/a>” Democrats note he’s \u003ca href=\"https://archive.jsonline.com/blogs/news/280308632.html\">opposed abortion in the past\u003c/a>. Crawford talks about how she represented Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin when she was a private attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wisconsin is also home to one of the country’s biggest battles over labor rights. As an attorney, Crawford worked for teachers opposed to a 2011 law prohibiting most public employees from collective bargaining. A judge\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/12/07/nx-s1-5217931/wisconsin-court-strikes-down-controversial-law-in-a-win-for-labor\"> recently blocked that law,\u003c/a> which could be headed to the state supreme court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, Schimel has said he’ll vote yes on a measure also on the ballot Tuesday to place voter ID requirements in the state constitution. Crawford says she doesn’t think a judicial candidate should take a public position on something that could end up being interpreted by the court.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Schimel campaign has also deployed an issue that GOP candidates say worked for them in 2024 — opposition to transgender rights. One campaign ad features a woman saying Crawford “sides with” radicals in favor of allowing “transitioning male teachers” in girls’ bathrooms at school. Advocates for transgender rights say it’s an example of fearmongering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034034\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034034\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1205\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-800x603.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-1020x768.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-160x121.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1-1536x1157.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, candidate for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, prepares to speak at a campaign stop at Racine County Democratic Party headquarters. \u003ccite>(Chuck Quirmbach/WUWM)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Musk’s millions, his paid petition and the outside money\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Elon Musk and groups linked to him have reportedly spent at least $20 million in support of Schimel. The Associated Press reports that they have run misleading \u003ca href=\"https://www.wokv.com/news/politics/group-funded-by-elon/JBIAGCSPRNBF5OQFMTVOP3B4AU/\">ads that appear to be from the Crawford\u003c/a> camp and highlight controversial buzzwords. Musk has also offered $100 to anyone who signs a petition against “activist judges” and gave away \u003ca href=\"https://www.wpr.org/news/elon-musk-wisconsin-visit-giveaway-supreme-court-race-schimel-crawford\">$1 million to two petition signers\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musk says he’s interested in the race because the court has power over redistricting for congressional elections and that if Crawford wins, “then the Democrats will attempt to \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/america/status/1903560997685891140\">redraw the districts\u003c/a> and cause Wisconsin to lose two Republican seats.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crawford supporters have highlighted Musk’s involvement. “Elon Musk is really trying to buy a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court,” \u003ca>Crawford says.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have no control over whatever any outside group does. I will enforce the law. I will apply the law the way the legislature has written it,” Schimel said in the one campaign debate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Musk has a matter in Wisconsin courts as CEO of Tesla. In January, the automaker sued seeking an \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/tesla-musk-wisconsin-supreme-court-dealerships-101d7608d69dda61aeaf6ebee7903d2b\">exemption from a state law \u003c/a>that bans car manufacturers from selling directly to consumers — as Tesla does — instead of going through dealers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crawford says his spending far exceeds her top donors. Her biggest financial backer appears to be Wisconsin philanthropist Lynde Uihlein, who the Brennan Center says has given $6.2 million. Soros has given $2 million.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This story was written by NPR’s Larry Kaplow with reporting from Chuck Quirmbach and Maayan Silver of WUWM and Rich Kremer and Anya van Wagtendonk of Wisconsin Public Radio.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The Trump administration launched an investigation Thursday into the California Department of Education over a law that says districts can’t force teachers and staff to notify parents if a student changes their gender identity at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Education said the policy may violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a law allowing parents to access their child’s records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is not only immoral but also potentially in contradiction with federal law for California schools to hide crucial information about a student’s wellbeing from parents and guardians,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office defended the law, saying parents still have the right to access their child’s education records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the U.S. Department of Education still had staff, this would be a quick investigation — all they would need to do is read the law the Governor signed,” Newsom spokesperson Elana Ross said in a statement, referencing Trump’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-education-department-shutdown-b1d25a2e1bdcd24cfde8ad8b655b9843\">plans to dismantle the agency\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the Education Department says it could take away funding if it determines California’s school gender-identity law violates federal rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">What does the law do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It bans school districts from adopting or enforcing rules that require staff to disclose information about a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to any other person without the child’s consent, unless otherwise required by law. That means if a student wants to use different pronouns, the school can’t force teachers to tell the students’ parents. It does not prohibit teachers and school staff from choosing to share that information with parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom signed the law last year, making California the \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gender-identity-schools-california-law-af387bef5c25c14f51d1cf05a7e422eb\">first state to enact such a policy\u003c/a>. It took effect Jan. 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law also requires the state education department to develop resources to support LGBTQ+ students and their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">Why was it passed?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A nationwide battle is underway over transgender rights, with some states \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/politics-health-texas-state-government-tennessee-minnesota-878a9217fa434f3ecd83738a71e40572\">imposing bans on gender-affirming care\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/congress-transgender-women-sports-ban-athletes-1c58c20cac2b191e323e4376d7949a2d\">barring trans athletes\u003c/a> from girls and women’s sports, and requiring schools to share students’ gender identity with parents without the students’ consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12021521 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/GettyImages-1158696624-1020x681.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Republican Assemblymember Bill Essayli introduced a bill in 2023 that would have required schools to notify parents within three days of a school employee becoming aware of a child’s pronoun change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers in the Democratic-dominated Legislature blocked the bill from receiving a hearing, so school boards started to take up the issue and pass so-called parental notification policies of their own. The state \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-sues-chino-valley-parental-notification-transgender-students-03fd6e74c62054d9bb4ba85ee92e850d\">started a legal battle\u003c/a> with Chino Valley Unified School District, one of the first districts to enact such a rule, arguing the policy violated the rights of students and put the well-being of transgender children at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district later \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-chino-gender-pronouns-school-board-a8d3f17ec89b2ec8a2e946da37284e5c\">updated its rule\u003c/a> to remove any mention of gender identification and require staff broadly to notify parents of any request their child makes for a change to their records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward, chair of the legislative LGBTQ+ caucus, introduced the bill largely in response to the school district policies. It passed on party lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">What do supporters say?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The goal is to protect the privacy of students, some of whom may live in unaccepting households and are not ready to tell their parents, backers say. Teachers should not be required to get involved in family discussions about a student’s gender identity, they argue.[aside postID=forum_2010101908942 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2025/02/transrights-1020x574.jpg']“Requiring governmental school officials to expose them without their consent runs afoul of the US Constitution,” Ward said in a statement, calling such policies “immorally invasive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, said the law helps ensure students have a safe and supportive learning environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">What do opponents say?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Critics of the law say parents should be able to know if their child changes their gender identification at school. Chino Valley Unified \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-gender-identity-pronouns-schools-parents-teachers-4b4079dbd5a121f25fa05ff38785505f\">sued the state\u003c/a> over the policy, arguing it violated parents’ rights under the U.S. Constitution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would like to get very clear guidance to school districts that they absolutely should not have policies keeping secrets from parents,” said Jonathan Zachreson, a Roseville City School District board member.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration said children are at risk of falling victim to “radical transgender ideology” and medical interventions.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">Are other California policies at risk?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Trump \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-transgender-order-passports-prisons-military-3c14ecbdd10f61618384e81624d090fb\">set the tone\u003c/a> on his administration’s stance on issues affecting transgender and nonbinary people during his first days back in office. He signed executive orders to restrict gender-affirming care for minors and transgender athletes’ participation in girls sports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has also been in the spotlight for his position on trans rights after he \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gavin-newsom-transgender-athletes-e28abfe4d507086633e5f83b94b095e6\">said on his podcast\u003c/a> that transgender athletes’ participation in girls sports was unfair. California has a state law, signed in 2013 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, allowing students to participate on a sex-segregated sports team that aligns with their gender identity, regardless of the gender listed on the student’s records. A Republican bill seeks to reverse it; Newsom hasn’t taken a position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration also sent a letter Thursday requesting the state to submit curricula and materials from a sexual health education program that receives federal funding. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will review whether the materials are “medically accurate” and “age-appropriate,” the letter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The Trump administration launched an investigation Thursday into the California Department of Education over a law that says districts can’t force teachers and staff to notify parents if a student changes their gender identity at school.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The U.S. Department of Education said the policy may violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a law allowing parents to access their child’s records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is not only immoral but also potentially in contradiction with federal law for California schools to hide crucial information about a student’s wellbeing from parents and guardians,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office defended the law, saying parents still have the right to access their child’s education records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If the U.S. Department of Education still had staff, this would be a quick investigation — all they would need to do is read the law the Governor signed,” Newsom spokesperson Elana Ross said in a statement, referencing Trump’s \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-education-department-shutdown-b1d25a2e1bdcd24cfde8ad8b655b9843\">plans to dismantle the agency\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the Education Department says it could take away funding if it determines California’s school gender-identity law violates federal rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">What does the law do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>It bans school districts from adopting or enforcing rules that require staff to disclose information about a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to any other person without the child’s consent, unless otherwise required by law. That means if a student wants to use different pronouns, the school can’t force teachers to tell the students’ parents. It does not prohibit teachers and school staff from choosing to share that information with parents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom signed the law last year, making California the \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gender-identity-schools-california-law-af387bef5c25c14f51d1cf05a7e422eb\">first state to enact such a policy\u003c/a>. It took effect Jan. 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law also requires the state education department to develop resources to support LGBTQ+ students and their families.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">Why was it passed?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A nationwide battle is underway over transgender rights, with some states \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/politics-health-texas-state-government-tennessee-minnesota-878a9217fa434f3ecd83738a71e40572\">imposing bans on gender-affirming care\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/congress-transgender-women-sports-ban-athletes-1c58c20cac2b191e323e4376d7949a2d\">barring trans athletes\u003c/a> from girls and women’s sports, and requiring schools to share students’ gender identity with parents without the students’ consent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Republican Assemblymember Bill Essayli introduced a bill in 2023 that would have required schools to notify parents within three days of a school employee becoming aware of a child’s pronoun change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers in the Democratic-dominated Legislature blocked the bill from receiving a hearing, so school boards started to take up the issue and pass so-called parental notification policies of their own. The state \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-sues-chino-valley-parental-notification-transgender-students-03fd6e74c62054d9bb4ba85ee92e850d\">started a legal battle\u003c/a> with Chino Valley Unified School District, one of the first districts to enact such a rule, arguing the policy violated the rights of students and put the well-being of transgender children at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district later \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-chino-gender-pronouns-school-board-a8d3f17ec89b2ec8a2e946da37284e5c\">updated its rule\u003c/a> to remove any mention of gender identification and require staff broadly to notify parents of any request their child makes for a change to their records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward, chair of the legislative LGBTQ+ caucus, introduced the bill largely in response to the school district policies. It passed on party lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">What do supporters say?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The goal is to protect the privacy of students, some of whom may live in unaccepting households and are not ready to tell their parents, backers say. Teachers should not be required to get involved in family discussions about a student’s gender identity, they argue.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Requiring governmental school officials to expose them without their consent runs afoul of the US Constitution,” Ward said in a statement, calling such policies “immorally invasive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, said the law helps ensure students have a safe and supportive learning environment.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">What do opponents say?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Critics of the law say parents should be able to know if their child changes their gender identification at school. Chino Valley Unified \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/california-gender-identity-pronouns-schools-parents-teachers-4b4079dbd5a121f25fa05ff38785505f\">sued the state\u003c/a> over the policy, arguing it violated parents’ rights under the U.S. Constitution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would like to get very clear guidance to school districts that they absolutely should not have policies keeping secrets from parents,” said Jonathan Zachreson, a Roseville City School District board member.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration said children are at risk of falling victim to “radical transgender ideology” and medical interventions.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 class=\"mb-0 pb-2 ap-font-bold\">Are other California policies at risk?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Trump \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-transgender-order-passports-prisons-military-3c14ecbdd10f61618384e81624d090fb\">set the tone\u003c/a> on his administration’s stance on issues affecting transgender and nonbinary people during his first days back in office. He signed executive orders to restrict gender-affirming care for minors and transgender athletes’ participation in girls sports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom has also been in the spotlight for his position on trans rights after he \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/gavin-newsom-transgender-athletes-e28abfe4d507086633e5f83b94b095e6\">said on his podcast\u003c/a> that transgender athletes’ participation in girls sports was unfair. California has a state law, signed in 2013 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, allowing students to participate on a sex-segregated sports team that aligns with their gender identity, regardless of the gender listed on the student’s records. A Republican bill seeks to reverse it; Newsom hasn’t taken a position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Trump administration also sent a letter Thursday requesting the state to submit curricula and materials from a sexual health education program that receives federal funding. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will review whether the materials are “medically accurate” and “age-appropriate,” the letter said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Austin is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>President Trump has signed \u003ca href=\"https://chcoc.gov/content/guidance-executive-order-exclusions-federal-labor-management-programs\">an executive order ending collective bargaining\u003c/a> for wide swaths of federal employees, as part of his broader campaign to reshape the U.S. government’s workforce. The largest federal employee union says the order affects over 1 million workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/03/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-exempts-agencies-with-national-security-missions-from-federal-collective-bargaining-requirements/\">a fact sheet\u003c/a>, the White House says the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (CSRA) gives him the authority to halt collective bargaining at agencies with national security missions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This provision has traditionally applied to certain employees at agencies such as the CIA, the FBI or the National Security Agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Trump’s order, signed late Thursday, is more far-reaching, and includes employees whose jobs touch on national defense, border security, foreign relations, energy security, pandemic preparedness, the economy, public safety and cybersecurity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It notably excludes law enforcement. “Police and firefighters will continue to collectively bargain,” the White House fact sheet states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unions are roundly condemning the move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This administration’s latest executive order is union busting, pure and simple,” said Irma Westmoreland, a registered nurse at a veterans hospital in Augusta, Ga., who spoke in her capacity as chair of Veterans Affairs for National Nurses United.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union represents nurses caring for patients’ physical and mental health at veterans facilities around the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=forum_2010101909033 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/43/2025/02/GettyImages-2201345449-1-1020x574.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to feel free as unionized nurses to speak up about patient safety issues,” said Westmoreland. “Veterans deserve nurses who are free to advocate for their care without fear of discipline or losing our jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump had previously issued executive actions eroding employee rights under union contracts. For example, one directive sought to invalidate collectively bargained telework provisions, declaring that they were in conflict with management rights. He’s also taken aim at the amount of time employees serving in union leadership positions could spend on collective bargaining and other union-related business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The administration had also already ended collective bargaining rights for Transportation Security Administration officers who run airport checkpoints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The executive order signed Thursday night covers all or some unionized employees at around 20 agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, State, Justice, Energy, Interior, Treasury, Defense and others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unions point out that the CSRA granted federal workers collective bargaining rights in order to provide them a way to address workplace issues without disrupting government operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Labor organizations and collective bargaining in the civil service are in the public interest,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OASAM/legacy/files/Civil-Service-Reform-Act-1978.pdf\">the CSRA states (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its fact sheet, the White House made clear it thought unions were standing in its way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Certain Federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda,” the fact sheet states. “The CSRA enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management.”[aside postID=news_12031166 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/DonaldTrumpEOGetty-1020x664.jpg']Federal employee unions have sued the Trump administration to block a number of its actions, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/27/nx-s1-5311445/federal-employees-firing-court-judge\">the mass firings of probationary employees\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/06/g-s1-46885/usaid-cuts-state-department-trump-rubio\">the dismantling of USAID\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/nx-s1-5339842/doge-data-access-privacy-act-social-security-treasury-opm-lawsuit\">access to sensitive data\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unions have also pushed back on the administration’s return-to-office demands, citing provisions in their contracts allowing for some telework, and were prepared to bargain over procedures related to upcoming reductions-in-force as their contracts allowed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, labor leaders are calling Trump’s new executive order a “retaliatory attack.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“President Trump’s latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants — nearly one-third of whom are veterans — simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,” wrote Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AFGE, which represents 800,000 civil servants, has vowed “immediate” legal action to fight it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“AFGE isn’t going anywhere,” wrote Kelley. “Our members have bravely served this nation, often putting themselves in harm’s way, and they deserve far better than this blatant attempt at political punishment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Have information you want to share about ongoing changes across the federal government? NPR’s Andrea Hsu can be contacted through encrypted communications on Signal at andreahsu.08.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Trump’s order, signed late Thursday, is more far-reaching, and includes employees whose jobs touch on national defense, border security, foreign relations, energy security, pandemic preparedness, the economy, public safety and cybersecurity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It notably excludes law enforcement. “Police and firefighters will continue to collectively bargain,” the White House fact sheet states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unions are roundly condemning the move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This administration’s latest executive order is union busting, pure and simple,” said Irma Westmoreland, a registered nurse at a veterans hospital in Augusta, Ga., who spoke in her capacity as chair of Veterans Affairs for National Nurses United.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union represents nurses caring for patients’ physical and mental health at veterans facilities around the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We need to feel free as unionized nurses to speak up about patient safety issues,” said Westmoreland. “Veterans deserve nurses who are free to advocate for their care without fear of discipline or losing our jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trump had previously issued executive actions eroding employee rights under union contracts. For example, one directive sought to invalidate collectively bargained telework provisions, declaring that they were in conflict with management rights. He’s also taken aim at the amount of time employees serving in union leadership positions could spend on collective bargaining and other union-related business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The administration had also already ended collective bargaining rights for Transportation Security Administration officers who run airport checkpoints.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The executive order signed Thursday night covers all or some unionized employees at around 20 agencies, including the departments of Agriculture, Veterans Affairs, Health and Human Services, State, Justice, Energy, Interior, Treasury, Defense and others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unions point out that the CSRA granted federal workers collective bargaining rights in order to provide them a way to address workplace issues without disrupting government operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Labor organizations and collective bargaining in the civil service are in the public interest,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/OASAM/legacy/files/Civil-Service-Reform-Act-1978.pdf\">the CSRA states (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its fact sheet, the White House made clear it thought unions were standing in its way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Certain Federal unions have declared war on President Trump’s agenda,” the fact sheet states. “The CSRA enables hostile Federal unions to obstruct agency management.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Federal employee unions have sued the Trump administration to block a number of its actions, including \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/27/nx-s1-5311445/federal-employees-firing-court-judge\">the mass firings of probationary employees\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/06/g-s1-46885/usaid-cuts-state-department-trump-rubio\">the dismantling of USAID\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/nx-s1-5339842/doge-data-access-privacy-act-social-security-treasury-opm-lawsuit\">access to sensitive data\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unions have also pushed back on the administration’s return-to-office demands, citing provisions in their contracts allowing for some telework, and were prepared to bargain over procedures related to upcoming reductions-in-force as their contracts allowed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, labor leaders are calling Trump’s new executive order a “retaliatory attack.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“President Trump’s latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants — nearly one-third of whom are veterans — simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,” wrote Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AFGE, which represents 800,000 civil servants, has vowed “immediate” legal action to fight it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“AFGE isn’t going anywhere,” wrote Kelley. “Our members have bravely served this nation, often putting themselves in harm’s way, and they deserve far better than this blatant attempt at political punishment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Have information you want to share about ongoing changes across the federal government? NPR’s Andrea Hsu can be contacted through encrypted communications on Signal at andreahsu.08.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Less than two days after a judge\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033248/vta-strike-will-end-after-judges-order\"> issued an injunction to force striking transit workers back to their jobs\u003c/a> with Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, bus service in the region has fully resumed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immediately following the court ruling, the agency said it might only be able to offer partial bus service by Friday, but VTA Spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross said all bus routes are now running.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency’s largest labor group, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 – which represents more than 1,500 bus drivers, train operators and maintenance workers – was on strike for 17 days over contract disputes, leaving tens of thousands of riders without critical public transit service, until the Wednesday injunction ended the work stoppage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for light rail trains, the agency expects at least partial service will be up and running by Monday, but more time may be needed for inspection and repairs to the system of tracks and overhead power cables before all three lines are back in operation, Hendler Ross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copper wire that’s integral to the operation of the trains appears to have been stolen from different sections of all three VTA light rail lines, but the green line that runs from Santa Clara to Campbell was hit the hardest, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032416\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12032416\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hundreds of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority workers and represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, raise fists during a second-day strike, in front of the VTA headquarters, on North First Street, in San José, demanding a better contract and an increase in wages, on March 11, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“As our crews continue to inspect the light rail system, they’re looking for any problems that may have arisen because we weren’t running service over the last two weeks and they’re checking the tracks and they are checking other equipment near the system,” Hendler Ross said Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crews found “increased incidences of copper wire missing in multiple locations along the system,” she said, which are under investigation. “We are working to replace that copper wire because the trains can’t run without it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the few days a ride-hailing voucher program was active from Monday night through Thursday night, Hendler Ross said 6,130 trips were taken with Uber between VTA transit stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program was a partnership between VTA and Uber, with the transit agency paying up to $5 per ride in the form of vouchers to help ease the burden on riders who were without bus and train service. The total cost to the agency was $30,405, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12033248 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While service has resumed, the agency and ATU still have not hammered out a new contract, despite more than six months of negotiations and ongoing mediation and swapping of proposals during the strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Negotiations can start any time ATU is willing to come back to the table with something that can help resolve the conflict,” Hendler Ross said. “So in the meantime, we’re focused on getting service back to our customers. But that doesn’t impede getting back to the negotiating table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raj Singh, the president of ATU Local 265, didn’t respond to calls for comment. The union said in a statement after the injunction was issued that the group intends to appeal the decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jean Cohen, the executive officer of the South Bay Labor Council, which has been helping ATU with negotiations, said in a statement that the council and ATU Local 265 “remain committed to negotiating with VTA management in good faith to secure a contract that guarantees transit workers a fair wage, as well as the dignity, due process and safety they deserve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will continue to put pressure on VTA Board members who engage in regressive bargaining or who retaliate against workers for exercising their constitutionally-protected rights,” Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Full bus service has resumed across Santa Clara County as VTA drivers returned to work after a judge ended their strike, but light rail service won’t begin until Monday. ",
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"title": "All VTA Bus Routes Rolling After Strike, Some Light Rail Returns Monday | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Less than two days after a judge\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033248/vta-strike-will-end-after-judges-order\"> issued an injunction to force striking transit workers back to their jobs\u003c/a> with Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, bus service in the region has fully resumed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Immediately following the court ruling, the agency said it might only be able to offer partial bus service by Friday, but VTA Spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross said all bus routes are now running.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency’s largest labor group, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 – which represents more than 1,500 bus drivers, train operators and maintenance workers – was on strike for 17 days over contract disputes, leaving tens of thousands of riders without critical public transit service, until the Wednesday injunction ended the work stoppage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for light rail trains, the agency expects at least partial service will be up and running by Monday, but more time may be needed for inspection and repairs to the system of tracks and overhead power cables before all three lines are back in operation, Hendler Ross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Copper wire that’s integral to the operation of the trains appears to have been stolen from different sections of all three VTA light rail lines, but the green line that runs from Santa Clara to Campbell was hit the hardest, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12032416\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12032416\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_VTAStrikeDay2_GC-6_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hundreds of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority workers and represented by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, raise fists during a second-day strike, in front of the VTA headquarters, on North First Street, in San José, demanding a better contract and an increase in wages, on March 11, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gina Castro/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“As our crews continue to inspect the light rail system, they’re looking for any problems that may have arisen because we weren’t running service over the last two weeks and they’re checking the tracks and they are checking other equipment near the system,” Hendler Ross said Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The crews found “increased incidences of copper wire missing in multiple locations along the system,” she said, which are under investigation. “We are working to replace that copper wire because the trains can’t run without it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the few days a ride-hailing voucher program was active from Monday night through Thursday night, Hendler Ross said 6,130 trips were taken with Uber between VTA transit stops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The program was a partnership between VTA and Uber, with the transit agency paying up to $5 per ride in the form of vouchers to help ease the burden on riders who were without bus and train service. The total cost to the agency was $30,405, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While service has resumed, the agency and ATU still have not hammered out a new contract, despite more than six months of negotiations and ongoing mediation and swapping of proposals during the strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Negotiations can start any time ATU is willing to come back to the table with something that can help resolve the conflict,” Hendler Ross said. “So in the meantime, we’re focused on getting service back to our customers. But that doesn’t impede getting back to the negotiating table.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Raj Singh, the president of ATU Local 265, didn’t respond to calls for comment. The union said in a statement after the injunction was issued that the group intends to appeal the decision.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jean Cohen, the executive officer of the South Bay Labor Council, which has been helping ATU with negotiations, said in a statement that the council and ATU Local 265 “remain committed to negotiating with VTA management in good faith to secure a contract that guarantees transit workers a fair wage, as well as the dignity, due process and safety they deserve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will continue to put pressure on VTA Board members who engage in regressive bargaining or who retaliate against workers for exercising their constitutionally-protected rights,” Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "vta-strike-will-end-after-judges-order",
"title": "Historic VTA Strike Will End After Judge’s Order, Some Service to Resume by Friday",
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"headTitle": "Historic VTA Strike Will End After Judge’s Order, Some Service to Resume by Friday | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 6 p.m. Wednesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032851/transit-standoff-continues-union-vta-blame-each-other-as-riders-struggle\">historic strike\u003c/a> by South Bay transit workers that has affected tens of thousands of people who rely on public transportation will come to an end after a Santa Clara County Judge issued a preliminary injunction to halt it Wednesday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The injunction, signed by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Daniel T. Nishigaya in a San José courtroom, means Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority employees will need to return to work immediately, but it wasn’t clear how long it would take for all transit services to resume.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaders of the union representing the workers, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, said they were disappointed in the outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ll determine what happens tomorrow shortly, but we believe that the judge got this wrong,” ATU President Raj Singh said outside a downtown courthouse on Wednesday. “At the end of the day, the workers lost today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>VTA spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross said the agency is pleased with the outcome for riders and for workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are appreciative of this ruling so that our employees can get back to work. They’ve been two weeks without paychecks and tens of thousands of people have been two weeks without affordable transportation,” Hendler Ross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033241\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033241\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Daniel T. Nishigaya listens to an attorney speak during a hearing in San José on March 26, 2025. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority asked the court to halt a strike by workers represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hendler Ross said Nishigaya’s injunction means striking VTA workers need to return to work right away. She said workers would be required to report to work on Thursday, and partial bus service would resume by Friday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t immediately clear when light rail trains will begin rolling again, as Hendler Ross said the tracks and overhead lines would need to be inspected before service can start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The VTA initiated the legal process on March 10, the first day of the strike, by filing a complaint asking for an injunction and a temporary restraining order to halt the strike, claiming it violated a “no-strike clause” of a collective bargaining agreement between the agency and the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nishigaya, on March 17, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031632/vtas-legal-challenge-ongoing-transit-strike-hits-snag\">denied the agency’s request for a restraining order\u003c/a> but required the parties to come back to court on Wednesday so ATU could argue why its strike was not a violation of the contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12032851 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/VTA-Day-15-Singh_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency’s attorneys alleged in court filings that the union never gave VTA proper notice that it wanted to end or change the agreement and said the no-strike conditions remain in “full force and effect” for another year while negotiations for a new contract continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agreement — which expired on March 3 — said the contract continues from “year to year” after its expiration and requires the two sides “continue to negotiate until there is a successor agreement,” the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The court does believe that there is at least a reasonable interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement that would lead to the conclusion that the agreement, including the no-strike provision, remains in full force in effect until agreement is reached,” Nishigaya said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ATU countered that the contract rules were no longer applicable because bargaining for a new contract had ended, and the union declared an impasse a few days before the strike began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union also pointed to instances in which the agency’s officials seemed to telegraph the potential for a strike, like in a Feb. 27, 2025, memo to employees from the VTA’s Chief People Officer Sonya Morrison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033250\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Attorneys for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, Xudong (Brian) Fan (left) and Benjamin K. Lunch. Right: Ruth M. Bond, an attorney for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, are seen during a hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San José on March 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Morrison’s memo said if a contract agreement was not reached by the expiration, “‘there is the potential for a work stoppage,’” the union’s attorneys wrote. “VTA thus acknowledged to all of its employees that the union may go on strike.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“None of that would be necessary if VTA truly believed the contract was not expiring,” Benjamin Lunch, an attorney for the union, said to Nishigaya during the hearing. “For them to then turn around and say that the contract somehow did not expire, is a wild about-face for the agency to take.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The VTA claimed Morrison’s statements do not change the rules of the contract agreement and disagrees that the two sides have reached an impasse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jenica Maldonado, an attorney for VTA, emphasized to Nishigaya that there was no impasse but noted that any impasse “would have evaporated by virtue of the fact that the parties continued to meet for bargaining sessions all last week to make additional proposals, and the union took votes on those proposals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lunch also argued that VTA’s interpretation of how the contract should be enforced would take away the union’s right to strike and would create “an indefinite contract.” The agency has consistently pushed back on that claim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While issuing his ruling, Nishigaya underscored that, in this case, it’s not the court’s role to litigate the entire case. His decision was based on the “reasonable probability of success” VTA has with its claim that the union is in breach of contract with its strike, and considering the harm that would occur if he did not issue the injunction, weighed against the harm to the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not a final decision on the merits of any claims or lawsuits, but only to determine whether there is at least a colorable and reasonable probability that plaintiffs’ claims have merit,” Nishigaya said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033237\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033237\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Deputy General Manager Greg Richardson is seen during a hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San José on March 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The ruling comes two days after ATU members \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032851/transit-standoff-continues-union-vta-blame-each-other-as-riders-struggle\">roundly rejected\u003c/a> the latest contract offer from the VTA, with more than 80% of those who voted shooting it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That contract offer was finalized in a special closed-session meeting by the VTA board of directors on Sunday and included an 11% raise for the union members over three years while also asking for some concessions from workers, such as potential restrictions on overtime pay in certain circumstances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Singh previously said Monday afternoon that VTA’s “aggressive bargaining” is part of why that offer was voted down, including the agency’s refusal to drop its lawsuit to stop the strike and to guarantee workers wouldn’t be disciplined for striking after returning to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The injunction represents a success for VTA, which has pursued multiple concurrent avenues to try and end the strike, including the legal challenge, as well as asking for the governor’s intervention and offering revised contract deals to the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency also announced late Monday a deal with Uber, in which people ordering rides between transit stops through the Uber app would get a $5 voucher during the strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency said the voucher would be paid for by VTA, up to two per day per person, and was aimed at reducing the cost of car transportation while transit services were unavailable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was unfortunate that lawyers had to get involved because we were doing this on behalf of the tens of thousands of people who rely on public transportation,” Hendler Ross said. “They need public transportation, there are so many people who have no other option.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The order means South Bay transit workers must return to work immediately — but it’s unclear how long it will take for all transit services to resume.",
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"title": "Historic VTA Strike Will End After Judge’s Order, Some Service to Resume by Friday | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 6 p.m. Wednesday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032851/transit-standoff-continues-union-vta-blame-each-other-as-riders-struggle\">historic strike\u003c/a> by South Bay transit workers that has affected tens of thousands of people who rely on public transportation will come to an end after a Santa Clara County Judge issued a preliminary injunction to halt it Wednesday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The injunction, signed by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Daniel T. Nishigaya in a San José courtroom, means Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority employees will need to return to work immediately, but it wasn’t clear how long it would take for all transit services to resume.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leaders of the union representing the workers, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, said they were disappointed in the outcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ll determine what happens tomorrow shortly, but we believe that the judge got this wrong,” ATU President Raj Singh said outside a downtown courthouse on Wednesday. “At the end of the day, the workers lost today.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>VTA spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross said the agency is pleased with the outcome for riders and for workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are appreciative of this ruling so that our employees can get back to work. They’ve been two weeks without paychecks and tens of thousands of people have been two weeks without affordable transportation,” Hendler Ross said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033241\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033241\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-09-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Daniel T. Nishigaya listens to an attorney speak during a hearing in San José on March 26, 2025. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority asked the court to halt a strike by workers represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Hendler Ross said Nishigaya’s injunction means striking VTA workers need to return to work right away. She said workers would be required to report to work on Thursday, and partial bus service would resume by Friday morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t immediately clear when light rail trains will begin rolling again, as Hendler Ross said the tracks and overhead lines would need to be inspected before service can start.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The VTA initiated the legal process on March 10, the first day of the strike, by filing a complaint asking for an injunction and a temporary restraining order to halt the strike, claiming it violated a “no-strike clause” of a collective bargaining agreement between the agency and the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nishigaya, on March 17, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12031632/vtas-legal-challenge-ongoing-transit-strike-hits-snag\">denied the agency’s request for a restraining order\u003c/a> but required the parties to come back to court on Wednesday so ATU could argue why its strike was not a violation of the contract.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency’s attorneys alleged in court filings that the union never gave VTA proper notice that it wanted to end or change the agreement and said the no-strike conditions remain in “full force and effect” for another year while negotiations for a new contract continue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agreement — which expired on March 3 — said the contract continues from “year to year” after its expiration and requires the two sides “continue to negotiate until there is a successor agreement,” the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The court does believe that there is at least a reasonable interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement that would lead to the conclusion that the agreement, including the no-strike provision, remains in full force in effect until agreement is reached,” Nishigaya said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ATU countered that the contract rules were no longer applicable because bargaining for a new contract had ended, and the union declared an impasse a few days before the strike began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union also pointed to instances in which the agency’s officials seemed to telegraph the potential for a strike, like in a Feb. 27, 2025, memo to employees from the VTA’s Chief People Officer Sonya Morrison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033250\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033250\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-14-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Attorneys for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, Xudong (Brian) Fan (left) and Benjamin K. Lunch. Right: Ruth M. Bond, an attorney for Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, are seen during a hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San José on March 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Morrison’s memo said if a contract agreement was not reached by the expiration, “‘there is the potential for a work stoppage,’” the union’s attorneys wrote. “VTA thus acknowledged to all of its employees that the union may go on strike.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“None of that would be necessary if VTA truly believed the contract was not expiring,” Benjamin Lunch, an attorney for the union, said to Nishigaya during the hearing. “For them to then turn around and say that the contract somehow did not expire, is a wild about-face for the agency to take.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The VTA claimed Morrison’s statements do not change the rules of the contract agreement and disagrees that the two sides have reached an impasse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jenica Maldonado, an attorney for VTA, emphasized to Nishigaya that there was no impasse but noted that any impasse “would have evaporated by virtue of the fact that the parties continued to meet for bargaining sessions all last week to make additional proposals, and the union took votes on those proposals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lunch also argued that VTA’s interpretation of how the contract should be enforced would take away the union’s right to strike and would create “an indefinite contract.” The agency has consistently pushed back on that claim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While issuing his ruling, Nishigaya underscored that, in this case, it’s not the court’s role to litigate the entire case. His decision was based on the “reasonable probability of success” VTA has with its claim that the union is in breach of contract with its strike, and considering the harm that would occur if he did not issue the injunction, weighed against the harm to the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is not a final decision on the merits of any claims or lawsuits, but only to determine whether there is at least a colorable and reasonable probability that plaintiffs’ claims have merit,” Nishigaya said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12033237\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12033237\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250326-VTACOURT.-JG-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority Deputy General Manager Greg Richardson is seen during a hearing in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San José on March 26, 2025. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The ruling comes two days after ATU members \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032851/transit-standoff-continues-union-vta-blame-each-other-as-riders-struggle\">roundly rejected\u003c/a> the latest contract offer from the VTA, with more than 80% of those who voted shooting it down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That contract offer was finalized in a special closed-session meeting by the VTA board of directors on Sunday and included an 11% raise for the union members over three years while also asking for some concessions from workers, such as potential restrictions on overtime pay in certain circumstances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Singh previously said Monday afternoon that VTA’s “aggressive bargaining” is part of why that offer was voted down, including the agency’s refusal to drop its lawsuit to stop the strike and to guarantee workers wouldn’t be disciplined for striking after returning to work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The injunction represents a success for VTA, which has pursued multiple concurrent avenues to try and end the strike, including the legal challenge, as well as asking for the governor’s intervention and offering revised contract deals to the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency also announced late Monday a deal with Uber, in which people ordering rides between transit stops through the Uber app would get a $5 voucher during the strike.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency said the voucher would be paid for by VTA, up to two per day per person, and was aimed at reducing the cost of car transportation while transit services were unavailable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was unfortunate that lawyers had to get involved because we were doing this on behalf of the tens of thousands of people who rely on public transportation,” Hendler Ross said. “They need public transportation, there are so many people who have no other option.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "DOGE Says It Needs to Know the Government's Most Sensitive Data, but Can't Say Why",
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"content": "\u003cp>Fewer than 50 people have access to Social Security Administration databases containing hundreds of millions of people’s private financial and personal information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But only one also has access to the government’s human resources and student loan files.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Akash Bobba is one of many \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/07/nx-s1-5288988/doge-elon-musk-staff-trump\">Department of Government Efficiency staffers\u003c/a> who have embedded in federal agencies the last few months with virtually unfettered access to the sensitive, compartmentalized sources of data collected by the government. The team, which is steered by billionaire Elon Musk, says it’s scouring government records for signs of waste, fraud and abuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bobba is also one of many DOGE employees who, according to several federal judges, were inappropriately given that access in violation of privacy laws and without proper training to handle the personally identifiable information the agencies collect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one order last week \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/\">blocking DOGE’s access to Social Security data\u003c/a>, U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander of Maryland said the government “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/#document/p135\">never identified or articulated even a single reason for which the DOGE Team needs unlimited access to SSA’s entire record systems, thereby exposing personal, confidential, sensitive, and private information that millions of Americans entrusted to their government\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of a more narrow approach to data access and work to “modernize the system and uncover fraud,” Hollander wrote that DOGE’s unprecedented access to protected data “is tantamount to hitting a fly with a sledgehammer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/?mode=document#document/p136/a2629336\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12033143\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1673\" height=\"482\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466.jpg 1673w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466-800x230.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466-1020x294.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466-160x46.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466-1536x443.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1673px) 100vw, 1673px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An NPR review of thousands of pages of records across more than a dozen lawsuits in federal court finds an alarming pattern across agencies, where DOGE has given conflicting information about what data it has accessed, who has that access, and most importantly — why.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘No need to know’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When President Trump signed an order creating the DOGE initiative, it directed agencies to create dedicated teams that would have “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems” that would also “adhere to rigorous data protection standards.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Numerous court filings and affidavits paint a picture of agencies rushing to give DOGE access without accompanying rigor of protecting data or documenting the scope of its work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, a federal judge in Maryland temporarily halted DOGE from accessing data of millions of union members in a lawsuit against the Office of Personnel Management, the Treasury Department and Education Department after finding the agencies shared private information with DOGE affiliates “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868347-aft-v-bessent-memorandum-opinion/#document/p51/a2629335\">who had no need to know the vast amount of sensitive personal information to which they were granted access\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No matter how important or urgent the President’s DOGE agenda may be, federal agencies must execute it in accordance with the law,” Judge Deborah L. Boardman wrote. “That likely did not happen in this case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868347-aft-v-bessent-memorandum-opinion/?mode=document#document/p68/a2629333\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12033144\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1668\" height=\"1242\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397.jpg 1668w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397-800x596.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397-1020x759.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397-1536x1144.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1668px) 100vw, 1668px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Social Security Administration lawsuit, Hollander found several DOGE staffers “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/#document/p70/a2629340\">were granted access to SSA systems before their background checks were completed or their inter-agency detail agreements were finalized\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those is Bobba, who was given access to the master data warehouse at SSA that includes the Master Beneficiary Record, Supplemental Security Record and Numident files containing “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/#document/p33/a2629341\">extensive information about anyone with a social security number\u003c/a>,” according to filings in the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a memorandum of understanding detailing Bobba’s work with SSA, the Office of Personnel Management and Education Department that was \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868464-opm-admin-record/#document/p17\">improperly redacted\u003c/a> by OPM, Bobba agreed to do any work on Social Security data from the agency headquarters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868464-opm-admin-record/?mode=document#document/p17/a2629347\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12033145\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE3-scaled-e1743018197838.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1067\" height=\"1420\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE3-scaled-e1743018197838.jpg 1067w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE3-scaled-e1743018197838-800x1065.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE3-scaled-e1743018197838-1020x1357.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE3-scaled-e1743018197838-160x213.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1067px) 100vw, 1067px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But an affidavit from former SSA chief of staff Tiffany Flick said that Bobba was working off-site from OPM where other people “may have also had access to this protected information,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/#document/p32/a2629339\">Flick wrote\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not even lawyers for the government can account for when and how DOGE staffers received access to sensitive databases. In a Labor Department lawsuit, Judge John D. Bates notes that “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868345-aflcio-v-labor-memorandum-opinion/#document/p14/a2629325\">defendants themselves acknowledge inconsistencies across their evidence\u003c/a>” regarding DOGE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marko Elez, a DOGE employee who \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/06/nx-s1-5289337/elon-musk-doge-treasury\">resigned from his post\u003c/a> at the Treasury Department in early February after racist social media posts resurfaced, “sent an email with a spreadsheet containing PII to two United States General Services Administration officials,” according to an \u003ca href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609.116.1.pdf\">audit (PDF)\u003c/a> of his email account submitted in one court filing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Government lawyers said Elez was “erroneously” and “mistakenly” given the ability to change data on Treasury’s Secure Payment System, which a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868443-nyt-v-treasury-order/\">judge said\u003c/a> demonstrates DOGE access was “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868443-nyt-v-treasury-order/#document/p28/a2629338\">rushed and undertaken by political pressure\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a ruling blocking DOGE access to Treasury systems, Judge Jeannette Vargas \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868443-nyt-v-treasury-order/\">warned\u003c/a> that “a real possibility exists that sensitive information has already been shared outside of the Treasury Department, in potential violation of federal law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868443-nyt-v-treasury-order/?mode=document#document/p46/a2629337\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12033146\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1590\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681.jpg 1590w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681-1020x670.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681-1536x1010.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1590px) 100vw, 1590px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Congress warned against this — a half-century ago\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When Congress passed the Privacy Act of 1974, lawmakers expressed concerns about personal information amassed in digital databases by the “omnivorous fact collectors” of federal agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the debate about the bill, Arizona Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater was worried about the possibility “that every detail of our personal lives can be assembled instantly for use by a single bureaucrat or institution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12033066 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/paypal-mafia_web-img-1020x574.png']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope that we never see the day when a bureaucrat in Washington or Chicago or Los Angeles can use his organization’s computer facilities to assemble a complete dossier or all known information about an individual,” Republican Sen. Charles Percy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifty years later, the Department of Government Efficiency effort headed by Musk appears to be doing just that, bypassing the Privacy Act, agency security protocols and training for handling the most sensitive data maintained by federal agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The White House did not respond to questions about DOGE following privacy laws, or whether Americans should be concerned about the level of DOGE’s access.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government maintains a large amount of sensitive data, from health records of veterans and Medicare recipients to troves of information about companies being investigated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Labor Relations Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rapid insertion of DOGE employees into the system is raising alarm bells for privacy and security advocates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government has also repeatedly failed to articulate a clear purpose for the unprecedented access it seeks to deeply sensitive information, and why the data it wants access to is necessary for that purpose,” said Kristin Woelfel, a lawyer with the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology. “If the government cannot answer those questions, then DOGE has no business accessing that data.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Part of what is unnerving and is scary both to companies whose data is involved and also Americans whose most sensitive financial information is at risk, is that we don’t know what they’re doing,” former CFPB chief technologist Erie Meyer \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/nx-s1-5305054/doge-elon-musk-security-data-information-privacy\">previously told NPR\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anne Weismann, a George Washington University Law School professor who focuses on government accountability and transparency, said DOGE and its employees have control over a “staggering” amount of data about Americans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so ironic because Trump supporters are so worried about ‘Big Brother’ and government, and they are allowing this entity to amass that data,” Weismann said. “I mean, I don’t think there’s another entity in the federal government that collectively has access to that kind of data.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weismann is also outside counsel for the nonprofit Project On Government Oversight, which is suing DOGE over access to records about how it operates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, Trump signed an \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/\">executive action\u003c/a> that appears to continue to push agencies toward “eliminating information silos” and sharing more sensitive data across federal agencies, including ensuring that the government has “unfettered access to all unemployment data and related payment records.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It encourages federal agency leaders to find ways to rescind existing regulations and guidance about information sharing within and between agencies — with no mention of privacy or data security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Have information you want to share about DOGE access to government databases and IT systems? Reach out to these authors through encrypted communication on Signal. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1219684807/stephen-fowler\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Stephen Fowler\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>\u003cem> is at stphnfwlr.25, \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1038324514/jenna-mclaughlin\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Jenna McLaughlin\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>\u003cem> is at JennaMcLaughlin.54\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "NPR reviewed thousands of pages of records across more than a dozen lawsuits in federal court and found an alarming pattern across agencies, where DOGE has given conflicting information about what data it has accessed, who has that access, and why.",
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"title": "DOGE Says It Needs to Know the Government's Most Sensitive Data, but Can't Say Why | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Fewer than 50 people have access to Social Security Administration databases containing hundreds of millions of people’s private financial and personal information.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But only one also has access to the government’s human resources and student loan files.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Akash Bobba is one of many \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/07/nx-s1-5288988/doge-elon-musk-staff-trump\">Department of Government Efficiency staffers\u003c/a> who have embedded in federal agencies the last few months with virtually unfettered access to the sensitive, compartmentalized sources of data collected by the government. The team, which is steered by billionaire Elon Musk, says it’s scouring government records for signs of waste, fraud and abuse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bobba is also one of many DOGE employees who, according to several federal judges, were inappropriately given that access in violation of privacy laws and without proper training to handle the personally identifiable information the agencies collect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one order last week \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/\">blocking DOGE’s access to Social Security data\u003c/a>, U.S. District Judge Ellen Lipton Hollander of Maryland said the government “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/#document/p135\">never identified or articulated even a single reason for which the DOGE Team needs unlimited access to SSA’s entire record systems, thereby exposing personal, confidential, sensitive, and private information that millions of Americans entrusted to their government\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of a more narrow approach to data access and work to “modernize the system and uncover fraud,” Hollander wrote that DOGE’s unprecedented access to protected data “is tantamount to hitting a fly with a sledgehammer.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/?mode=document#document/p136/a2629336\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12033143\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1673\" height=\"482\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466.jpg 1673w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466-800x230.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466-1020x294.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466-160x46.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE1-1-scaled-e1743018030466-1536x443.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1673px) 100vw, 1673px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An NPR review of thousands of pages of records across more than a dozen lawsuits in federal court finds an alarming pattern across agencies, where DOGE has given conflicting information about what data it has accessed, who has that access, and most importantly — why.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘No need to know’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When President Trump signed an order creating the DOGE initiative, it directed agencies to create dedicated teams that would have “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, software systems, and IT systems” that would also “adhere to rigorous data protection standards.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Numerous court filings and affidavits paint a picture of agencies rushing to give DOGE access without accompanying rigor of protecting data or documenting the scope of its work.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Monday, a federal judge in Maryland temporarily halted DOGE from accessing data of millions of union members in a lawsuit against the Office of Personnel Management, the Treasury Department and Education Department after finding the agencies shared private information with DOGE affiliates “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868347-aft-v-bessent-memorandum-opinion/#document/p51/a2629335\">who had no need to know the vast amount of sensitive personal information to which they were granted access\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No matter how important or urgent the President’s DOGE agenda may be, federal agencies must execute it in accordance with the law,” Judge Deborah L. Boardman wrote. “That likely did not happen in this case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868347-aft-v-bessent-memorandum-opinion/?mode=document#document/p68/a2629333\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12033144\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1668\" height=\"1242\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397.jpg 1668w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397-800x596.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397-1020x759.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397-160x119.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE2-1-scaled-e1743018116397-1536x1144.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1668px) 100vw, 1668px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Social Security Administration lawsuit, Hollander found several DOGE staffers “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/#document/p70/a2629340\">were granted access to SSA systems before their background checks were completed or their inter-agency detail agreements were finalized\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of those is Bobba, who was given access to the master data warehouse at SSA that includes the Master Beneficiary Record, Supplemental Security Record and Numident files containing “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/#document/p33/a2629341\">extensive information about anyone with a social security number\u003c/a>,” according to filings in the case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to a memorandum of understanding detailing Bobba’s work with SSA, the Office of Personnel Management and Education Department that was \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868464-opm-admin-record/#document/p17\">improperly redacted\u003c/a> by OPM, Bobba agreed to do any work on Social Security data from the agency headquarters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868464-opm-admin-record/?mode=document#document/p17/a2629347\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12033145\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE3-scaled-e1743018197838.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1067\" height=\"1420\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE3-scaled-e1743018197838.jpg 1067w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE3-scaled-e1743018197838-800x1065.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE3-scaled-e1743018197838-1020x1357.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE3-scaled-e1743018197838-160x213.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1067px) 100vw, 1067px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But an affidavit from former SSA chief of staff Tiffany Flick said that Bobba was working off-site from OPM where other people “may have also had access to this protected information,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868348-afscme-v-ssa-memorandum-order/#document/p32/a2629339\">Flick wrote\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not even lawyers for the government can account for when and how DOGE staffers received access to sensitive databases. In a Labor Department lawsuit, Judge John D. Bates notes that “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868345-aflcio-v-labor-memorandum-opinion/#document/p14/a2629325\">defendants themselves acknowledge inconsistencies across their evidence\u003c/a>” regarding DOGE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marko Elez, a DOGE employee who \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/02/06/nx-s1-5289337/elon-musk-doge-treasury\">resigned from his post\u003c/a> at the Treasury Department in early February after racist social media posts resurfaced, “sent an email with a spreadsheet containing PII to two United States General Services Administration officials,” according to an \u003ca href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609/gov.uscourts.nysd.636609.116.1.pdf\">audit (PDF)\u003c/a> of his email account submitted in one court filing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Government lawyers said Elez was “erroneously” and “mistakenly” given the ability to change data on Treasury’s Secure Payment System, which a \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868443-nyt-v-treasury-order/\">judge said\u003c/a> demonstrates DOGE access was “\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868443-nyt-v-treasury-order/#document/p28/a2629338\">rushed and undertaken by political pressure\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a ruling blocking DOGE access to Treasury systems, Judge Jeannette Vargas \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868443-nyt-v-treasury-order/\">warned\u003c/a> that “a real possibility exists that sensitive information has already been shared outside of the Treasury Department, in potential violation of federal law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25868443-nyt-v-treasury-order/?mode=document#document/p46/a2629337\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-12033146\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1590\" height=\"1045\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681.jpg 1590w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681-800x526.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681-1020x670.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/IMAGE4-scaled-e1743018254681-1536x1010.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1590px) 100vw, 1590px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Congress warned against this — a half-century ago\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When Congress passed the Privacy Act of 1974, lawmakers expressed concerns about personal information amassed in digital databases by the “omnivorous fact collectors” of federal agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the debate about the bill, Arizona Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater was worried about the possibility “that every detail of our personal lives can be assembled instantly for use by a single bureaucrat or institution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I hope that we never see the day when a bureaucrat in Washington or Chicago or Los Angeles can use his organization’s computer facilities to assemble a complete dossier or all known information about an individual,” Republican Sen. Charles Percy said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifty years later, the Department of Government Efficiency effort headed by Musk appears to be doing just that, bypassing the Privacy Act, agency security protocols and training for handling the most sensitive data maintained by federal agencies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The White House did not respond to questions about DOGE following privacy laws, or whether Americans should be concerned about the level of DOGE’s access.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal government maintains a large amount of sensitive data, from health records of veterans and Medicare recipients to troves of information about companies being investigated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the National Labor Relations Board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rapid insertion of DOGE employees into the system is raising alarm bells for privacy and security advocates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government has also repeatedly failed to articulate a clear purpose for the unprecedented access it seeks to deeply sensitive information, and why the data it wants access to is necessary for that purpose,” said Kristin Woelfel, a lawyer with the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology. “If the government cannot answer those questions, then DOGE has no business accessing that data.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Part of what is unnerving and is scary both to companies whose data is involved and also Americans whose most sensitive financial information is at risk, is that we don’t know what they’re doing,” former CFPB chief technologist Erie Meyer \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/11/nx-s1-5305054/doge-elon-musk-security-data-information-privacy\">previously told NPR\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anne Weismann, a George Washington University Law School professor who focuses on government accountability and transparency, said DOGE and its employees have control over a “staggering” amount of data about Americans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s so ironic because Trump supporters are so worried about ‘Big Brother’ and government, and they are allowing this entity to amass that data,” Weismann said. “I mean, I don’t think there’s another entity in the federal government that collectively has access to that kind of data.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Weismann is also outside counsel for the nonprofit Project On Government Oversight, which is suing DOGE over access to records about how it operates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week, Trump signed an \u003ca href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/\">executive action\u003c/a> that appears to continue to push agencies toward “eliminating information silos” and sharing more sensitive data across federal agencies, including ensuring that the government has “unfettered access to all unemployment data and related payment records.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It encourages federal agency leaders to find ways to rescind existing regulations and guidance about information sharing within and between agencies — with no mention of privacy or data security.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Have information you want to share about DOGE access to government databases and IT systems? Reach out to these authors through encrypted communication on Signal. \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1219684807/stephen-fowler\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Stephen Fowler\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>\u003cem> is at stphnfwlr.25, \u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/people/1038324514/jenna-mclaughlin\">\u003cstrong>\u003cem>Jenna McLaughlin\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>\u003cem> is at JennaMcLaughlin.54\u003c/em>\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "embattled-san-francisco-tow-truck-operators-new-arson-charges-may-be-tip-of-the-iceberg",
"title": "Embattled San Francisco Tow Truck Operator’s New Arson Charges May Be ‘Tip of the Iceberg’",
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"headTitle": "Embattled San Francisco Tow Truck Operator’s New Arson Charges May Be ‘Tip of the Iceberg’ | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Calling it an unorthodox business strategy is an understatement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A federal grand jury indicted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11999844/sf-tow-operator-accused-of-scamming-drivers-pleads-not-guilty-to-federal-charges\">San Francisco tow truck operator\u003c/a> this week for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to set fire to trucks owned by his competitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors charged Jose Vicente Badillo on Thursday with conspiracy to commit arson, saying he collaborated with at least four “co-conspirators” in 2023 to torch at least six tow trucks operated by other businesses. All of the incidents occurred in San Francisco, except one in East Palo Alto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Badillo, 29, sought to literally drive more business to his three primary Bay Area towing companies — Auto Towing, Specialty Towing and Jose’s Towing — by “impeding their competitors’ business prospects” and retaliating against “perceived wrongs,” according \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/media/1393391/dl?inline\">to the federal indictment.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation is being conducted by a federal organized crime task force aimed at dismantling “the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to explain why organized crime investigators are prosecuting Badillo’s case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11997008\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11997008\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1675\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-800x524.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-1020x668.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-1536x1005.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-2048x1340.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-1920x1257.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tow truck is seen towing a vehicle to the Auto Return on 7th Street on Dec. 1, 2015, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Lea Suzuki/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If convicted, Badillo faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is scheduled to be arraigned on March 20.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Badillo, 29, also faces unrelated criminal charges of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11999449/sf-tow-operator-faces-insurance-fraud-more-charges-after-fbi-probe\">money laundering and insurance fraud\u003c/a> in two pending federal cases, as well as one case of welfare fraud brought by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allen Sawyer, a Stockton-based attorney representing Badillo in all three cases, said his client maintains his innocence.[aside postID=news_11997360 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/240724-SAMMY-HALLAQ-1-KQED-1020x680.jpg']“There’s been a catastrophic impact on his businesses from this,” Sawyer said. “He’s looking forward to working through this and getting on with his life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Badillo and his business partner, Jessica Elizabeth Najarro, were first arrested in August 2024 — on the same day that the FBI raided his San Francisco office — and charged with conspiracy and mail and wire fraud in connection with two schemes to defraud auto insurance companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Badillo and his wife, Abigail T. Fuentes, with whom he owned his towing businesses, also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12002311/charges-pile-up-for-sf-tow-operator-now-accused-of-staging-accident-faking-tow\">face multiple felony charges\u003c/a> brought in 2023 by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office in connection with an alleged welfare fraud scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors say Fuentes, who worked for San Francisco’s Human Services Agency, approved Badillo’s applications for public welfare programs without disclosing her relationship to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors alleged the couple falsely claimed they were earning only $1,000 a month while actually netting $2 million a year to qualify for public benefits, including Medi-Cal and CalWorks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there’s more.[aside postID=news_12031189 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250303-ANTIOCHPOLICE-11-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg']In early 2024, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996890/predatory-san-francisco-towing-company-barred-from-city-business-for-5-years\">suspended Badillo’s towing operations\u003c/a> from bidding on or receiving city contracts after determining that its workers had illegally towed the cars of non-English speaking residents from a private commercial parking lot, restricted the times vehicles could be retrieved and pressured owners to pay in cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several months later, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqvDedeuCl0\">video\u003c/a> that went viral showed one of Badillo’s Specialty Towing workers attempting to tow a car stuck in traffic on a San Francisco street as the frantic driver tried to escape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to Badillo’s federal indictment this week, Chiu told KQED he thinks it may be just “the tip of the iceberg” for someone who has repeatedly “demonstrated a clear pattern of predatory behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wish I could say that I’m surprised, but I’m not surprised at all,” he said. “From arson to fraud to money laundering, to towing people while they’re in their cars. … We keep learning more about this guy every few months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I can say is in [Badillo’s] case, truth is stranger than fiction,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Jose Vicente Badillo, the tow company operator already barred from doing business in San Francisco, allegedly plotted to set fire to trucks owned by his competitors.\r\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Calling it an unorthodox business strategy is an understatement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A federal grand jury indicted a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11999844/sf-tow-operator-accused-of-scamming-drivers-pleads-not-guilty-to-federal-charges\">San Francisco tow truck operator\u003c/a> this week for allegedly orchestrating a scheme to set fire to trucks owned by his competitors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors charged Jose Vicente Badillo on Thursday with conspiracy to commit arson, saying he collaborated with at least four “co-conspirators” in 2023 to torch at least six tow trucks operated by other businesses. All of the incidents occurred in San Francisco, except one in East Palo Alto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Badillo, 29, sought to literally drive more business to his three primary Bay Area towing companies — Auto Towing, Specialty Towing and Jose’s Towing — by “impeding their competitors’ business prospects” and retaliating against “perceived wrongs,” according \u003ca href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndca/media/1393391/dl?inline\">to the federal indictment.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The investigation is being conducted by a federal organized crime task force aimed at dismantling “the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to explain why organized crime investigators are prosecuting Badillo’s case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11997008\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11997008\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1675\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-800x524.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-1020x668.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-1536x1005.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-2048x1340.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/07/GettyImages-1322125500-1920x1257.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tow truck is seen towing a vehicle to the Auto Return on 7th Street on Dec. 1, 2015, in San Francisco. \u003ccite>(Lea Suzuki/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>If convicted, Badillo faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He is scheduled to be arraigned on March 20.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Badillo, 29, also faces unrelated criminal charges of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11999449/sf-tow-operator-faces-insurance-fraud-more-charges-after-fbi-probe\">money laundering and insurance fraud\u003c/a> in two pending federal cases, as well as one case of welfare fraud brought by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Allen Sawyer, a Stockton-based attorney representing Badillo in all three cases, said his client maintains his innocence.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“There’s been a catastrophic impact on his businesses from this,” Sawyer said. “He’s looking forward to working through this and getting on with his life.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Badillo and his business partner, Jessica Elizabeth Najarro, were first arrested in August 2024 — on the same day that the FBI raided his San Francisco office — and charged with conspiracy and mail and wire fraud in connection with two schemes to defraud auto insurance companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Badillo and his wife, Abigail T. Fuentes, with whom he owned his towing businesses, also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12002311/charges-pile-up-for-sf-tow-operator-now-accused-of-staging-accident-faking-tow\">face multiple felony charges\u003c/a> brought in 2023 by the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office in connection with an alleged welfare fraud scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors say Fuentes, who worked for San Francisco’s Human Services Agency, approved Badillo’s applications for public welfare programs without disclosing her relationship to him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Prosecutors alleged the couple falsely claimed they were earning only $1,000 a month while actually netting $2 million a year to qualify for public benefits, including Medi-Cal and CalWorks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But there’s more.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In early 2024, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11996890/predatory-san-francisco-towing-company-barred-from-city-business-for-5-years\">suspended Badillo’s towing operations\u003c/a> from bidding on or receiving city contracts after determining that its workers had illegally towed the cars of non-English speaking residents from a private commercial parking lot, restricted the times vehicles could be retrieved and pressured owners to pay in cash.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several months later, a \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqvDedeuCl0\">video\u003c/a> that went viral showed one of Badillo’s Specialty Towing workers attempting to tow a car stuck in traffic on a San Francisco street as the frantic driver tried to escape.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to Badillo’s federal indictment this week, Chiu told KQED he thinks it may be just “the tip of the iceberg” for someone who has repeatedly “demonstrated a clear pattern of predatory behavior.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wish I could say that I’m surprised, but I’m not surprised at all,” he said. “From arson to fraud to money laundering, to towing people while they’re in their cars. … We keep learning more about this guy every few months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All I can say is in [Badillo’s] case, truth is stranger than fiction,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>An unhoused man was seen alive on the morning he was crushed to death during a city-run trash cleanup in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/vallejo\">Vallejo\u003c/a> on Christmas Eve, according to a death investigation report released to KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Solano County Coroner’s Office late last month identified the man as 58-year-old James Edward Oakley II, originally of American Canyon. Local advocates for unhoused residents \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12028660/unhoused-man-killed-vallejo-trash-cleanup-christmas-eve-city-acknowledges\">said they knew him\u003c/a> as a longtime member of the homeless community who had for some time lived in the area bordering Vallejo and American Canyon, where he was killed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New details revealed by the death investigation report shed light on what happened that day and raise questions about how city workers handled the cleanup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just shows more and more the ineptitude of the city, how they just botched the whole thing,” said Sean O’Malley, an unhoused Vallejo resident who was a friend of Oakley’s. “It’s just crazy. It’s horrible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Vallejo City Manager Andrew Murray said the city is “deeply saddened by this tragic accident” and is in the process of reviewing its policies and procedures. The mayor and council members did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment, but at a Tuesday meeting of the City Council, Mayor Andrea Sorce called for a special session on homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031110\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031110\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Friends and supporters of James Oakley deliver speeches during a demonstration outside of Vallejo City Hall on March 11th, 2025. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031115\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031115\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A participant of a rally outside of Vallejo City Hall for James Oakley holds up a homemade sign on March 11, 2025. Right: Kathryn Salm delivers words of support to a small crowd gathered in front of Vallejo City Hall to protest the death of Oakley on March 11th, 2025. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the report prepared by Solano County Sheriff’s Deputy Jessica Dew, who responded to the scene, waste collection workers with the company Recology told police they had approached the site to pick up trash earlier that morning but opted against it when they saw a man among the items.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City officials described the area as an “illegal dumping” site. People who knew Oakley said he was living there after being asked to leave a nearby shed.[aside postID=news_12028660 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20241217_UnhousedDemonstration_GC-19_qed-1020x680.jpg']When a Vallejo public works crew arrived to clear the trash later that morning, they reported seeing a mattress covered with a “tarp,” along with several tote bags, a shopping cart and bags of trash. Workers reported kicking the mattress and calling out, asking if anyone was there, according to the death investigation. When they didn’t get a response, they started clearing the items without lifting the “tarp” covering the mattress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dew clarified in her report that she did not see a tarp but noted that blankets and clothing were piled on the mattress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The backhoe operator then used the machine’s front bucket to crush the mattress before scooping it up. As the driver moved it toward a nearby dump truck, another worker spotted a human leg hanging from the bucket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Dew got to the site, Oakley’s body had been taken out of the backhoe bucket and Dew noted blood inside. Oakley and the mattress were both in the roadway, next to a dump truck. Dew noted the trash pile “appeared to have a void where the mattress was previously sitting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031107\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031107\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Muteado Silencio performs a traditional dance in honor of James Oakley on March 11, 2025. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dew wrote in her report that she found a wallet next to Oakley containing his California ID card. In his back pocket, he had $1.59.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An autopsy and death investigation by the coroner’s office determined that Oakley died from multiple blunt force injuries caused by the backhoe crushing the mattress he was lying on. The toxicology report showed Oakley had methamphetamine but no alcohol in his system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a high school student in the ’80s, Oakley had been a celebrated athlete. He later served prison sentences for manslaughter and drug charges and struggled with drug addiction, according to court records and articles in the Napa Valley Register.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Malley first met Oakley a couple of years ago when his car broke down, and Oakley offered him a jump. “I thought it was really cool. I didn’t even know him,” he said, describing Oakley as “a gentle giant.” The two went on to play dice together regularly.[aside postID=news_12028502 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/Evelyn-Alfred-3-1020x765.jpg']“He said my dice were loaded because he always lost,” O’Malley said, laughing at the recollection. “That’s what I say, too, when I lose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the death investigation report, Oakley is survived by his father, sister and two adult children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Vallejo Police Department investigated the death and found no indication of “intent to cause harm, bodily injury or death,” city officials said, and the district attorney’s office found there wasn’t enough evidence to file criminal charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time of the incident, Vallejo officials said only that a dead body had been discovered during a cleanup at an illegal dumping site. Two months later, the city acknowledged Oakley had been crushed by city workers, calling it a “tragic accident.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a vigil for Oakley outside Vallejo City Hall on Tuesday, O’Malley and other activists called on the city to reconsider its approach to clearing homeless encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re out here saying James should never have died,” said Tiny Gray-Garcia, co-founder of POOR Magazine. “We have to change [this] policy of hate because more of us are going to die.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031106\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031106\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Participants of a rally outside of Vallejo City Hall for James Oakley hold homemade signs on March 11, 2025. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She suspects similar deaths often go unreported. “The case of James is just one that we saw, and they can’t deny it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Malley said he and other advocates are working on a slate of guidelines to give the city around handling encampment removals and debris cleanups. The recommendations include providing dumpsters so garbage doesn’t pile up and offering services before clearing camps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If anything comes from this, it’ll be them changing their policies,” O’Malley said. “How many more people need to die?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It just shows more and more the ineptitude of the city, how they just botched the whole thing,” said Sean O’Malley, an unhoused Vallejo resident who was a friend of Oakley’s. “It’s just crazy. It’s horrible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Vallejo City Manager Andrew Murray said the city is “deeply saddened by this tragic accident” and is in the process of reviewing its policies and procedures. The mayor and council members did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment, but at a Tuesday meeting of the City Council, Mayor Andrea Sorce called for a special session on homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031110\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031110\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-05-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Friends and supporters of James Oakley deliver speeches during a demonstration outside of Vallejo City Hall on March 11th, 2025. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031115\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2500px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031115\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2500\" height=\"833\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12.jpg 2500w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-800x267.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-1020x340.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-1536x512.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-2048x682.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/Copy-of-KQED-side-by-side-downpage-image-12-1920x640.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2500px) 100vw, 2500px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A participant of a rally outside of Vallejo City Hall for James Oakley holds up a homemade sign on March 11, 2025. Right: Kathryn Salm delivers words of support to a small crowd gathered in front of Vallejo City Hall to protest the death of Oakley on March 11th, 2025. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the report prepared by Solano County Sheriff’s Deputy Jessica Dew, who responded to the scene, waste collection workers with the company Recology told police they had approached the site to pick up trash earlier that morning but opted against it when they saw a man among the items.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City officials described the area as an “illegal dumping” site. People who knew Oakley said he was living there after being asked to leave a nearby shed.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>When a Vallejo public works crew arrived to clear the trash later that morning, they reported seeing a mattress covered with a “tarp,” along with several tote bags, a shopping cart and bags of trash. Workers reported kicking the mattress and calling out, asking if anyone was there, according to the death investigation. When they didn’t get a response, they started clearing the items without lifting the “tarp” covering the mattress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dew clarified in her report that she did not see a tarp but noted that blankets and clothing were piled on the mattress.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The backhoe operator then used the machine’s front bucket to crush the mattress before scooping it up. As the driver moved it toward a nearby dump truck, another worker spotted a human leg hanging from the bucket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Dew got to the site, Oakley’s body had been taken out of the backhoe bucket and Dew noted blood inside. Oakley and the mattress were both in the roadway, next to a dump truck. Dew noted the trash pile “appeared to have a void where the mattress was previously sitting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031107\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031107\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-02-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Muteado Silencio performs a traditional dance in honor of James Oakley on March 11, 2025. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Dew wrote in her report that she found a wallet next to Oakley containing his California ID card. In his back pocket, he had $1.59.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An autopsy and death investigation by the coroner’s office determined that Oakley died from multiple blunt force injuries caused by the backhoe crushing the mattress he was lying on. The toxicology report showed Oakley had methamphetamine but no alcohol in his system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a high school student in the ’80s, Oakley had been a celebrated athlete. He later served prison sentences for manslaughter and drug charges and struggled with drug addiction, according to court records and articles in the Napa Valley Register.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Malley first met Oakley a couple of years ago when his car broke down, and Oakley offered him a jump. “I thought it was really cool. I didn’t even know him,” he said, describing Oakley as “a gentle giant.” The two went on to play dice together regularly.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“He said my dice were loaded because he always lost,” O’Malley said, laughing at the recollection. “That’s what I say, too, when I lose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the death investigation report, Oakley is survived by his father, sister and two adult children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Vallejo Police Department investigated the death and found no indication of “intent to cause harm, bodily injury or death,” city officials said, and the district attorney’s office found there wasn’t enough evidence to file criminal charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time of the incident, Vallejo officials said only that a dead body had been discovered during a cleanup at an illegal dumping site. Two months later, the city acknowledged Oakley had been crushed by city workers, calling it a “tragic accident.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a vigil for Oakley outside Vallejo City Hall on Tuesday, O’Malley and other activists called on the city to reconsider its approach to clearing homeless encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re out here saying James should never have died,” said Tiny Gray-Garcia, co-founder of POOR Magazine. “We have to change [this] policy of hate because more of us are going to die.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12031106\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12031106\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/250311-VALLEJO-HOMELESS-DEATH-VIGIL-MD-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Participants of a rally outside of Vallejo City Hall for James Oakley hold homemade signs on March 11, 2025. \u003ccite>(Aryk Copley for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>She suspects similar deaths often go unreported. “The case of James is just one that we saw, and they can’t deny it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>O’Malley said he and other advocates are working on a slate of guidelines to give the city around handling encampment removals and debris cleanups. The recommendations include providing dumpsters so garbage doesn’t pile up and offering services before clearing camps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If anything comes from this, it’ll be them changing their policies,” O’Malley said. “How many more people need to die?”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe\n src='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true?embedded=true'\n title='https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ-ZKtuSHdeWqxooQwfEcr-oiOpdpJcf2RLZInU7aqjjQlRQ/viewform?embedded=true'\n width='760' height='500'\n frameborder='0'\n marginheight='0' marginwidth='0'>\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
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"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
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"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"order": 1
},
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
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"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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}
},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
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"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
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},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
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}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
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"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
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"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
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"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
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"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
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},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
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