Alameda City Council

Thushan Amarasiriwardena finished third in Alameda's 2024 Council race. He is a multimedia journalist and digital/AI product manager who has worked for the Boston Globe, Google, and the U.S. Digital Service under the Biden administration, and holds a bachelor's degree from North Carolina State University. His ballot designation is Software Product Manager. He is a former Alameda Post board member who resigned earlier in 2026, a fact the Post itself disclosed when reporting on his candidacy. At the Aug. 22 forum, he argued that adding housing in commercial districts would create more customers for local businesses and backed strengthening the vacancy tax on long-empty storefronts. On housing, he said rising costs are driving families out of Alameda and called for accelerating construction. He supports Measure L, citing Bay Farm flooding and slow emergency response times, and was among the more skeptical candidates on Flock cameras, calling the current system "mass surveillance" and arguing any public-safety technology should stay under local control.

Maria L. Bondonno has practiced as a general-practice attorney for 37 years; her ballot designation is Public Service Attorney. The Alameda Post, which profiled every other candidate in this race in some depth, reported it had "no further information about this candidate at this time" beyond a listing as a board member of an LLC (Perfume for Latinas) whose website is inactive. At the Aug. 22 forum, she framed affordability around homeownership and housing costs, said the city should encourage landlords to negotiate with small businesses and first-time entrepreneurs rather than let big-box retailers dominate, and supported requiring below-market-rate units in new developments. She supports Measure L, citing flood protection and earthquake retrofits. On Flock cameras, she opposes the current system on mass-surveillance grounds but said she would reconsider it with effective auditing and privacy protections.

Marcie Johnson (also known as Marcie Soslau Johnson) previously worked for the City of Alameda as a Social Services manager on the Alameda Collaborative for Children, Youth and their Families, and most recently served as executive director of the Friends of the Alameda Free Library. She holds a Master of Social Work from Temple University. Her ballot designation is Social Worker. At the Aug. 22 forum, she proposed restoring a city "concierge" program to help businesses navigate permitting, and on housing cited her own direct experience on Dignity Village (a 47-unit interim supportive-housing development) and converting four vacant city-owned Alameda Point homes into emergency supportive housing. She supports Measure L, promising a transparent spending process. She was the most supportive Council candidate on Flock cameras, saying her understanding is that Alameda's network is closed and citing its use identifying suspects in a recent South Shore shooting, while still calling for concrete privacy boundaries.

Tyler Savage works in tech as a partner manager, currently at a firm called groundcover and previously at GitLab, after earlier work in business and sales operations at VMware. He holds a bachelor's degree from UC Davis and a master's in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University, and coaches youth baseball and basketball locally. His ballot designation is Technology Partner Manager. At the Aug. 22 forum, he called for stronger enforcement of rules against vacant and blighted storefronts, backed the city's existing below-market-rate housing requirements, and supported Measure L, citing Bay Farm lagoons and seawalls. On Flock cameras he gave no firm yes-or-no position: he said he is "not a fan of mass surveillance," but recounted a burglary at his own home where police knew the vehicle and time of the crime, yet Flock cameras did not solve the case.

Steve Slauson (also filed as Stephen Slauson) was born and raised in Alameda and holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California. He has run for office before -- previous bids for City Council, State Assembly District 18, and the U.S. House's 12th District -- and has completed contracts for the Alameda Unified School District, Alameda Municipal Power, and the City of Alameda. His ballot designation is Small Business Owner. He is a registered Republican, the only candidate in either Alameda race identified as such by the Alameda Post, and did not attend the Aug. 22 City of Alameda Democratic Club forum -- so, unlike the other five Council candidates, no forum-recorded positions exist for him in this dataset's sources.

Amos White founded 100K Trees for Humanity, an environmental nonprofit, and serves on the Alameda County Agricultural Advisory Committee and the California Urban Forest Advisory Committee; he is also a civil-rights activist affiliated with ACLU People Power. His ballot designation is Environmental Nonprofit Executive. This is not his first Council bid -- he previously ran in 2020. At the Aug. 22 forum, he called for enforcing the city's vacancy tax and engaging landlords on vacant storefronts, advocated workforce and affordable housing and more accessory dwelling units, and supported Measure L, pointing to Alameda's vulnerability as an island and shoreline erosion along South Shore. He was the most emphatic Council candidate opposed to Flock cameras, calling to "block Flock" and cancel the city's contract outright.