Resolution 16238 CITY OF ALAMEDA RESOLUTION NO. 16238
RECOGNIZING MALIA VELLA'S EIGHT YEARS OF SERVICE
ON THE ALAMEDA CITY COUNCIL
WHEREAS, Malia Vella was born in Alameda, California, grew up in San Leandro,
and graduated from Wellesley College where she earned Bachelor of Arts Degrees in
Architecture and Political Science, and Santa Clara University School of Law where she
earned her Juris Doctorate. Malia formerly served as a staff member for several California
State Legislators, taught at Mills College in Oakland, worked as a labor and employment
attorney, and for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and currently works in the
field of literacy education; and
WHEREAS, Malia Vella was first elected to the Alameda City Council in 2016, re-
elected in 2020, and served as Vice Mayor from 2016 to 2018, and 2020 to 2022. Malia
and her husband are the proud parents of two young children, both of whom were born
while she served on the City Council, making Malia the first sitting Council member to
become a new mother while in office, and informing her request that City Council direct
staff to place lactation and diaper changing stations in City buildings; and
WHEREAS, prior to being elected to the City Council, Malia served on the City's
Historical Advisory Board for three years, on the Spectrum Community Services Board,
Alameda Sister City Association, Philippine Independence Day Committee, and on the
Alameda Family Services (AFS) Board, Co-Chairing, with her mother, AFS's Annual
Holiday Home Tour fundraiser; and
WHEREAS, as a City Councilmember, Malia Vella served on the League of
California Cities (League) Board of Directors and Housing, Community and Economic
Development policy committee, and was a member of the League's Asian Pacific Islander
Caucus. Councilmember Vella also represented Alameda on the Alameda County Lead
Abatement JPA Board, and City Council Subcommittees with the East Bay Regional
Parks District and City of Alameda Healthcare District; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, Vice Mayor Vella and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft introduced a
Council Referral to consider directing the City Manager to take immediate action
regarding the Alameda Police Department's (APD) response to 911 calls, prepare a
compendium of all mental health resources currently available to APD, revise APD's Use
of Force policies, and create a mental health-oriented response model, which the City
Council approved, laying the foundation for the creation in July, 2021 of the CARE Team,
Alameda's well-regarded alternative crisis intervention program; and
WHEREAS, in 2022, Vice Mayor Vella and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft introduced a
Council Referral to Consider Directing Staff to Bring the Rent Program "In-House" to the
City Attorney's Office, which Council approved, and which resulted in the successful
"Hearing Officer" model of resolving landlord-tenant disputes; and
WHEREAS, throughout her eight years of service on the City Council, Malia Vella
has prioritized racial justice, tenant protections, production of low- and middle-income
housing, pedestrian and bicyclist safety, support for local businesses, and sea level rise
protection.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Alameda City Council and City
staff do hereby thank Malia Vella for her eight years of service on the Alameda City
Council, including two years as Vice Mayor, and wish her well in all her future endeavors.
I, the undersigned, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly and regularly
adopted and passed by the Council of the City of Alameda in a regular meeting assembled
on the 17th day of December 2024, by the following vote to wit:
AYES: Councilmembers Daysog, Herrera Spencer, Jensen, Vella
and Mayor Ezzy Ashcraft — 5.
NOES: None.
ABSENT: None.
ABSTENTIONS: None.
IN WITNESS, WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of
said City this 18th day of December 2024.
li J1—
Lara Weisiger, City erk
City of Alameda
Approved as to form:
Yibin Sh , i torney
City lam