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Angie:Welcome to the Island City Beat podcast. I'm your host, Angie Watson-Hajjem. On today's podcast, I am talking to city council member Greg Bowler, who was elected to a seat in November 2024. Greg brings a wealth of experience to his new role. He has been very actively involved in our community, serving on multiple nonprofit boards and subcommittees.
Greg:He also spent twenty three years as an Alameda County Prosecutor. Today, we'll get to learn a little more about Greg and hear about his vision for Alameda and how he hopes to use his time on the city council to make Alameda a better place for all of us. Greg Bowler, welcome to the Island City Beat podcast. Thank you so much for being here.
Angie:Oh, thanks, Andy. Yeah, it's great to be here today.
Greg:Wonderful. Now you are fifth generation Alamedan. So you have some deep roots here in the city.
Angie:I know. It's great, right? Yeah, Ida Randall was my great great grandmother. She came in 1923 to Alameda, believe it or not.
Greg:Wow, wow. So Greg, what was it like growing up in Alameda? What are your cherished memories about growing up here?
Angie:I just think it's the sense of community. It's just a special place. Know, the schools were terrific. I had so many people that took an extra interest in just, you know, doing well. I felt I felt like it was it could have been a really small town even though it wasn't, you know?
Angie:As a kid, you have a sense that it the Alameda is just so small, and you are anxious to sometimes to get away, but then you learn later as you grow older how special it is. That's why I think so many people spend so much time here.
Greg:Yeah, it's in this a lot of times people they grow up here and they do want to move out, they come back because of the specialness of this island. Yeah. Yeah.
Angie:Yeah. I ended up moving away for school of course but also for work at one point. I mean, I started my legal career. I was taking the ferry over to San Francisco and then just decided to go into public service full time, but and that led me to to travel, to go to different places. But, ultimately, I always, you know, wanted to be back in Alameda.
Angie:I'm pretty excited to be have been able to be here in the last so many years and being able to get involved again and thanks to Alameda.
Greg:Yeah, wonderful. So growing up, were you interested in politics or did that interest come later in life?
Angie:I would say that I probably started to get a little bit interested when I was in college. I went to UC Davis, and I remember going over to the capital and kinda just being curious about government, and I'd gone to school without any particular major. I thought maybe at the time I might wanna do computer science, or something, you know, that was a lot more, you know, just based in numbers, and and science and technology, but I I really got interested in in the humanities and became a political science major. So, it was it was really about those conversations with other students and professors in that time period. I think the seeds were kind of planted.
Greg:Yes, brought you on your political walk. So tell me, what made you run for city council? What motivated you? Because this is your first publicly elected office, right?
Angie:It is. And I kind of just there's always just like one thing that sort of pushes you in a direction. And in the case of in my in my story, least, in the case of city council, I think it was public safety, just having been a prosecutor for over twenty years, and getting a sense that, you know, right now, it's such an important topic, not just in Alameda, but throughout the Bay Area. And that was in combination with so it's the timing of it, but but basically four years earlier, with the start of the pandemic, and having one parent in particular that was quite vulnerable, like wanting to get involved. And Lia Tan, who was our county supervisor in most recent term reappointed me, but it was originally Will Machan, who our late supervisor, and who put me on the public health commission.
Angie:You know, that was another thing, another factor, of course, being involved with that county level on looking at the overall health of a community. And of course Alameda, the city of Alameda was part of part of that work too.
Greg:No, I know that, you know, you spent many years as a prosecutor, you still work as a prosecutor, right? Is that correct?
Angie:Are you still Yeah. I actually, I specialize in human trafficking cases right now. I've been doing that for a little over two years, and I work over at the Lake Merritt Courthouse. So the Renee C. Davidson Courthouse, right, by Lake Merritt in Oakland.
Greg:So I want to go back to just your role as a prosecutor and talking about crime, because everyone talks about crime. And we're very fortunate here. We don't have as much crime in our community as other cities do. But it is still here. And I know when I go to the local Walgreens and local CVS, everything's locked up now.
Greg:You have to push the button and ask for the clerk to come and open it up. And I do hear stories about people getting robbed. And they're at the ATM and this and that. So you hear about these stories and people have gone through them. Is your sense about crime here?
Greg:How do you think city council can address the public safety concerns that people have here in Alameda?
Angie:You know, I mentioned the pandemic, and I can't help but think about that again. And just when you have hard times, it unfortunately often leads to crime, right? And we saw the rising of some really extreme commercial theft type activities during the pandemic in the Bay Area, and, you know, people that were taking really brazen acts to to really do better in a in a in a hard time. I think that, you know, we've had some really important conversations about crime and policing in Alameda over the years, and the public now that I talk to, like, you know, when I when I was campaigning door to door and on people's doorsteps, like, are quite concerned and really wanna make it a priority. Of course, just budget wise, it's number one priority for the city.
Angie:I mean, public safety, the budget between the police and the fire is the, you know, number one biggest expenditure. But it's also about, you know, given that we have a really good police force and we've got now actually just this month, full staffing for at least the patrol side of things. You know, I'm hopeful that we can do more things. I've been pushing for stuff to happen in the business districts, more visibility with police.
Greg:Yes.
Angie:More innovative, yeah, crime prevention, better communications between the officers and the the community because there is a a level of cooperation. I mean, crime prevention is a lot more than just about arresting people. So, yeah. So I don't know. I just think it's a really important time to focus on the fundamentals of government and, you know, just keeping everyone safe and keeping, I mean, like, you know, the perfect place that everyone loves about it.
Angie:You know, the fact that it's the schools, the neighborhoods, the safety of it, that's what really attracts people to living here.
Greg:Right, right. So putting Prime aside, what would you say some of the major challenges that we are facing here in Alameda? And how would you like to go about addressing those challenges?
Angie:Yeah, outside of public safety, I would say it's really mostly economic development. And I would lump in that also housing as well. So the ability of our city to attract good small businesses to serve our residents so that we don't have to go out of town to shop most of the time so that we can have, you know, really nice community services and restaurants and places to hang out where we can, you know, get that sense of knowing our neighbors and friends better in our town. And bringing in some of these really key businesses to Alameda Pointe and some of the business parks. I mean, if you look at the last few years, there's really been some really exciting science and technology businesses, also that happen to really focus on the issue of resiliency and sustainability.
Angie:You know, I think Alameda is poised to become really a leader in technology and the environment, looking at that intersection. And I'd like to see the arts be part of that too. I just feel like there is a lot of excitement with what's been a long road. You know, it's been over thirty years since the Navy base closed. But you've got, you know, a third of your community, and yet opportunity to mold and shape that and develop that, that's gonna change and have a dramatic impact on the character of the town.
Angie:So I think that it's a real challenge, but it's also a huge opportunity.
Greg:Yeah. So do you think that maybe making it easier for folks to open up businesses might be something that city council might want to look into? Yeah.
Angie:Absolutely. Absolutely. I think too, in my role, I would like to be an ambassador to the recruiting that's going on. I mean, I've made that known through city staff and through, you know, our chamber of commerce and trying to take a real interest in that. I think, you know, at least once a month in our city government at the city council level, we should actually be seeing, you know, new businesses, new things.
Angie:We have one, you know, just next week, we have a company Pacific Fusion that's interested in our community that's that's on the agenda for the city council meeting. So there's I think you're going to see a lot of more energy around this, and we really need to invest in it too, because to the extent, you know, we're not in perfect economic times, does, it is a challenge, right, to find these opportunities.
Greg:Yeah. So are there other things that you would like to see the city council emerge themselves in as far as moving Alameda along?
Angie:Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think the infrastructure transportation issues and the environment are huge. Like we had an opportunity last year to possibly get an infrastructure bond on the ballot and we missed it. I I think we have to revisit that and look at other innovative funding ideas. I the city's already made some really good progress, has some really strong resiliency plan plans.
Angie:We just had a strategic planning meeting that was a public meeting that took place last Saturday. We were together as a council with all the department heads for over six hours, and we were looking at the city's strategic plans and trying to really hone in on how to make them even more impactful, what where the priorities were, and trying to come up with some new ideas. And I think those areas that I just highlighted are very prominent in these plans, which is really important. Know, being an island community, and having the development issues, the infrastructure, and just the sense of making sure we're well prepared for anything that could happen in the future, and making sure we have a community that really values the ability to, like I said before, like, be a leader in this in the area of the environment and everything. You know, it's I think I think, you know, yeah, you talked to Angie, you talked to our our friends, our neighbors, like, lot of people are really excited about that, and there's something about the climate, the culture of Alameda, being the center of the Bay Area, being an island, having the shoreline, having the that access around the island, the excitement of around the bikeability and walkability of our island and what that all means for the future going forward.
Angie:We're gonna have some tough times with there's gonna be some upgrades made to the posing Webster Tubes. So you can go right onto that freeway, which is amazing. But in the short term, it's gonna be tough because we're gonna have additional traffic when they are, temporary closing lanes and doing the work. When is that going
Greg:to start? When is the work on the Posey 2 slated to start?
Angie:It was supposed to start already, but I think we'll see it come online fairly soon. I don't know if there's a precise date yet. I'm not sure.
Greg:Yeah. It is such a privilege, I think, to be in public service and serving your community and city council. I'm just wondering, you look at your role, this new role that you have, what kind of a council member do you hope to be?
Angie:I think just somebody who is really open, has the ability to listen to everyone carefully and sort of bring people together. Like, just I see it as a leadership challenge because there's a lot of things that happen in city government that sometimes, you know, appear quite as divisive and all that. But a lot of that is based in just not doing the work ahead of time to really have the conversations and to get to the facts on things. Sometimes you'll hear things in the dialogue that are really distorted from where the real facts are. So I like to think of myself as someone who's open minded, tries to listen to all viewpoints, and tries to come to a reasonable resolution that involves pulling people together and using our experts too.
Angie:A city staff of some really talented people that have specialized in a lot of areas, and we have consultants that we work with too. And then of course there's people in the community that have amazing talents that are constantly volunteering for things. So we have people who really know their stuff, and we need to be able to bring them to the table, work together as a community, and have, you know, good communications. That's, I just want to be part of that. That's my main goal.
Greg:Wonderful. Well, you're certainly not going to be very busy being city council and working, you know, your nine to five job. What do you like to do for fun? How do you, you know, enjoy your, I'm sure your limited leisure time.
Angie:Oh yeah, you know, nature is huge for me, like that's a place to reset. So I'm out walking and now I meet it daily. I love to run. I love to hike. I'm a big skier.
Angie:I I spend a lot of time on the snow. It's just really being in nature really helps helps me a lot. But I also just love to be out in the community, meeting with people. I love going to Alameda restaurants and traveling too. I like to get away.
Angie:Those are a few of my hobbies.
Greg:That sounds like a lot of fun. Your mom, Bonnie Bowler, she was a well known artist, respected artist here at LMVD. And she passed away recently. I just wanted to ask you, how are you doing? I know it was a heart loss being your family.
Angie:Yeah. It's been really tough. So, you know, as you know, Angie, election day was November 5, and it took a little while for the county to count votes. We had several rounds and but the city council race only took a few days. It was really November 8 was the day that we had a definitive result.
Angie:Well, my mom passed away on November 9. So it has been a rough time. We have right now a two month exhibit going on at Rhythmics Cultural Works of Summer of Her Art. My mom was an artist who really believed in bringing community together to, you know, increase opportunities for people of all ages to have the benefits of art in their lives. And she was a terrific community leader in terms of promoting the arts in Alameda, went to lots of council meetings, was trying to get an art center, and was part of some of those attempts over the years.
Angie:She herself had several art centers private, but she was also in the schools, teaching kids, and
Greg:My mom was a student of your mom. My mom took a service class years ago from your mom.
Angie:Oh, so cool. So cool. Yeah. Well, my mom taught at Massock Senior Center for the She was part time for thirteen years, and you know, that kind of came full circle, because she had, you know, like I said, started with the schools, and these studios, but then really working with people in our senior center. I think the nice thing about that exhibit is that it shows the full array of her work, because she started in pottery and ceramics, but went through phases of all types of mixed media, and printmaking, and eventually in the encaustic, which is the ancient Greek art using beeswax and resin.
Angie:And her work basically was all about the personal, and trying to bring in the outdoors, and, you know, it had very abstract qualities. But a lot of people relate to it, and we're hoping that this exhibit can help inspire more people to be involved in the arts. I really think the city I mentioned the arts in our conversation before, because I think going forward, it's going to be a really important part of this community.
Greg:Yeah, it really is a way bringing people together at the arts. It's something brings people together more than I think art, you know. I just want to ask you, what was the impact of your mom on your life?
Angie:She was everything to me, and she was my best friend. And she was a huge support. She was very devoted to me and my brother and basically inspired us to do everything we do.
Greg:Are you artistic at all? She wrote some of that creativity on you and your brother?
Angie:I like to be creative in in my work. I like to sing. I like music. I don't have the same, you know, capacity for visual arts. My brother is a little better there, and he too he's he teaches rhetoric and debate over at University of San Francisco.
Angie:So, you know, I I guess there's bit of an art to my work in the courtroom as a trial lawyer, and I just know, though, how important art is. I love to learn about it, and, you know, I feel pretty lucky that my mom instilled that in me.
Greg:Yeah, that's wonderful. Well, Greg, it's been a pleasure to spend this time with you, get to talk to you, learn a little bit more about you and your vision and your work. And thank you so much for joining us.
Angie:Thank you, Angie. I really enjoyed the conversation. Thank you. Want to wish you the best as this podcast moves forward. I think it's exciting to have these conversations.
Greg:I do too. Thank you so much. And thank all of you for listening in to our podcast. And please come back and join us again for another edition of the Island City Beat podcast. Well, I'll be talking to local Alameda mom, artist, and trans activist Theo Hopeskil, who'll be talking about what it means to be transgender and what their experience has been living as a person who's transgender in our community, next on the Island City Beat podcast.
Greg:Until then, I'm your host, Angie Watson-Hajjem Take care. Goodbye.