Alejandro Soto-Vigil, city Rent Board commissioner and aide to Councilman Kriss Worthington, has filed to run for Berkeley City Council in District 1. He is the sole challenger to incumbent Linda Maio, who has occupied the seat since 1992. Soto-Vigil said he is running to burst what he calls the “bubble” of the current council. “I think I could take the bubble out, and bridge people who are on the ground to council,” said Soto-Vigil, who grew up in Richmond and graduated from UC Berkeley and the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law in Washington, D.C. “I want to know what the pulse is of the people.” If elected, Soto-Vigil said he would continue to advocate for the policies he has supported as a member of the Rent Board’s tenant slate for two years — a “Robin Hood” tax on landlords’ gross rent to boost the Housing Trust Fund, and an increase of the affordable housing mitigation fee — but would have a better chance of realizing them at the dais, he said. “You have a limited scope of power to do things” on the Rent Board, he said. Soto-Vigil’s platform also emphasizes environmental responsibility. In June he worked […]
Alejandro Soto-Vigil, city Rent Board commissioner and aide to Councilman Kriss Worthington, has filed to run for Berkeley City Council in District 1. He is the sole challenger to incumbent Linda Maio, who has occupied the seat since 1992. Soto-Vigil said he is running to burst what he calls the “bubble” of the current council. “I think I could take the bubble out, and bridge people who are on the ground to council,” said Soto-Vigil, who grew up in Richmond and graduated from UC Berkeley and the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law in Washington, D.C. “I want to know what the pulse is of the people.” If elected, Soto-Vigil said he would continue to advocate for the policies he has supported as a member of the Rent Board’s tenant slate for two years — a “Robin Hood” tax on landlords’ gross rent to boost the Housing Trust Fund, and an increase of the affordable housing mitigation fee — but would have a better chance of realizing them at the dais, he said. “You have a limited scope of power to do things” on the Rent Board, he said. Soto-Vigil’s platform also emphasizes environmental responsibility. In June he worked […]