Andy fights every day for workers impacted by discrimination, retaliation, wage theft, and unsafe workplaces. He led negotiations to overcome dueling ballot measures and to pass Berkeley’s $15 minimum wage and paid sick leave ordinance.
As an EBMUD Director, Andy has fought to provide a safety net for low-income households, so the most vulnerable among us can afford access to water, which Andy considers a civil right.
Andy successfully worked to expand eligibility for affordable lifeline rates for working families, and to pass legislation (authored by Senator Loni Hancock) to change state law in order to keep the water on for tenants in foreclosed apartment buildings. Even though Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed this bill twice, Andy kept fighting, and eventually it was signed into law.
Andy’s work at EBMUD also helped make needed infrastructure repairs that kept crucial biotechnology companies and jobs in the East Bay, and he has developed partnerships with our community colleges to expand job training programs.