Malia Vella

Councilmember Malia Vella has been the most reliable vote for housing on the Alameda City Council, and her record is why we are endorsing her for Mayor. First elected in 2016 and twice Vice Mayor, she defended Alameda's renter protections when others tried to chip away at them. In her own words, she is the only candidate in this race who has stood by those protections. She has supported every housing project that came before the council, and she carried Alameda's housing fights to the state level as a member of the League of California Cities Housing, Community, and Economic Development Committee. She entered politics out of those brutal late-night debates over skyrocketing rents, and she rarely lost those fights. Alameda needs 5,353 new homes by 2031, and Councilmember Vella has shown she will say yes to building them.

Malia Vella is an attorney and educator who served on the Alameda City Council from 2016 to 2024, including two terms as Vice Mayor (2016-2018 and 2020-2022). She was a Deputy Superintendent at the California Department of Education, has worked as a labor and employment attorney and policy director, and taught governance and public policy at Mills College and CSU East Bay. She holds a B.A. from Wellesley College and a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law.