Inevitable: Nadia Lockyer Resigns

Alameda's long countial nightmare is over. Nadia Lockyer has resigned from her seat on the county's Board of Supervisors:

Battling addiction and the humiliation of a highly publicized altercation in a Newark hotel room with a former lover she met in a rehab program, Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer abruptly resigned Friday. 

Despite Lockyer's tumultuous last few months and increasingly bizarre behavior, her announcement Friday surprised even her chief of staff, who learned about the resignation from news reports as he worked in her office at the Alameda County administration building. 

Lockyer, the wife of state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, was a political unknown in the Bay Area before her influential husband funded most of the record $1.6 million spent on her 2010 supervisorial campaign. 

Lockyer's resignation is the latest chapter in a lurid and murky tale involving the high-profile political couple from Hayward and allegations of sex tapes, blackmail, drug use and violence. It started with a Feb. 3 incident in a Newark hotel room in which she called police saying her former boyfriend, Stephen Chikhani, assaulted her. She checked into an inpatient rehab center shortly afterward. 

Chikhani remains under investigation by the state attorney general's office in connection with the alleged assault.

Lockyer's resignation letter hints at the personal wreckage she has left in her wake:

In her resignation letter Friday addressed to "constituents, colleagues and friends," Nadia Lockyer, 40, said she could be a "great mom" and a good supervisor but not while dealing with "early recovery from addiction and the aftermath of interpersonal violence." 

"In AA and NA, days of sobriety are counted," Lockyer wrote. "In motherhood, the number of days with a healthy level of stress and tears should be too. While I can boast 77 days of sobriety to this day, I can barely count to ten in the latter category. For this, I owe my family, constituents, staff and colleagues a huge apology."

That poor kid. This really should have happened weeks ago, but became inevitable when she started sending emails accusing her 70-year old husband, and State Treasurer, of getting her addicted to drugs. When it come to rationalizing bad behavior, pretty women are often working at a much higher level than the rest of us. 


There's some brave talk about how Lockyer can try to resume her career after getting sober in the manner of John Burton, but that's crazy. When Burton left Congress over raging cocaine use, he was already a well known pol, and member of a family of well known pols. Lockyer may have married one of the state governing class's lifers, but she has nowhere near the stature of Burton, or a 100 other "second acts" you could name. We're never going to hear from her again. 

Nadia Lockyer Train Wreck Keeps A-Rollin'

The SF Chronicle had the headline "Bizarre Twist In Nadia Lockyer Saga," which was a dog whistle to start blogging since her "saga" (it's a sex/meth/DV scandal) has been one bizarre turn after another. Turned out, the latest twist wasn't all that bizarre, given the high bar she has established for herself. Still it probably is worth noting that she is accusing her husband, State Treasurer Bill Lockyer, of feeding her drugs: 

More drama involving Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer - this time concerning an e-mail from her Web address that was sent to the San Jose Mercury News suggesting she was in serious distress and blaming her husband, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, for hooking her on drugs. 

After receiving the e-mail Wednesday, the Mercury News called police in Hayward, where officers and paramedics were promptly dispatched to the Lockyers' home to check on her. 

According to law enforcement and other sources, Nadia Lockyer insisted she was fine and denied sending the e-mail. 

However, she did tell a Mercury News reporter who showed up at her door that she had in fact drafted part of the e-mail - but that "everything in regards to my husband was all added." 

Tom Dresslar, spokesman for Bill Lockyer, called any suggestion that the treasurer had given his wife drugs "100 percent false."

Nadia claims that the email was planted by her bete noir, Steve Chikhai, which makes total sense (snort). Really what we're dealing with here is a woman who has simply lost her faculties. It's incredible that she hasn't resigned, at least to stop the never-ending disclosures of her frankly sleazy double life. It's even more incredible that no one in California's one-party political apparatus hasn't called for her resignation. Instead, everyone's talking about how high-profile addicts can make a come back if they are willing to deal with their problems. I don't think that would be the standard if Lockyer had a (R) after her name.   

The Disappearer: Nadia Lockyer Emerges From Rehab

Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer has emerged from rehab, attending a Board of Supervisors "retreat" in glamorous Oakland. Obviously, it's going to take more than a deranged sex/meth/drug/adultery scandal to keep her away from her official duties. 

A little more than a month after enrolling in a substance-abuse program following a violent clash with an ex-boyfriend in a Newark hotel, Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer unexpectedly showed up for work Tuesday at a board retreat - and stepped right back into a controversy. 

Her husband, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, accompanied her to the Alameda County Conference Center in downtown Oakland and returned later in the day to pick her up.

The linked article mentions that Lockyer "stepped back into controversy." That controversy was the revelation that she visited her meth-addict boyfriend when he was in jail last summer, apparently telling jail staff that she was working as the guy's pro bono attorney:

The supervisor's return, however, was marred by a new report that she had visited her ex-boyfriend, Stephen Chikhani, three times last summer while he was in lockup on drug-related charges in Santa Clara County Jail - representing herself as his attorney. 

"She did not misrepresent herself," her aide Rubén Briones told us Tuesday. "She was providing pro bono legal advice as requested by Mr. Chikhani's father." 

"Not true," Chikhani's attorney, Adrienne Dell, fired back. "Mr. Chikhani's father has never spoken to Nadia Lockyer regarding representation of his son. ... I think this is an abuse of power."

As with Ross Mirkarimi across the Bay, it's hard to imagine how Lockyer can get through the next month, let alone seek re-election. But, for now she seems determined to try.

Asking the Dumb Questions: SF Chronicle Wonders "Where's Nadia Lockyer?"

The SF Chronicle has tread a discrete and circumspect line on the Nadia Lockyer sex and drugs scandal. While reporting the details of a leading Bay Area politico descent into drug addiction and degrading affairs, the Chron has also gone out of its way to leave out details such as the identity of the guy who allegedly beat her up at a Newark motel. The Chron continues the act with a story titled (at least on-line) "Where's Nadia Lockyer?" Uh, I think she's in rehab:

Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer, whose election cost her and her supporters a record-shattering $1.6 million, has missed 43 percent of the board's regular meetings since she took office in January 2011, according to records. 

But despite her absences, officials say county business is on track 

"We haven't missed a beat," said Supervisor Nate Miley. 

Her absences, however, could hinder the business of the five-member board because budgetary items require four votes for passage, and a fifth vote is necessary for breaking ties. 

Lockyer entered a rehabilitation center for chemical dependency in mid-February and last attended a regular supervisors meeting Nov. 1, according to the county clerk. 

Since then, she has missed seven meetings, including one Tuesday that included a significant issue in her district: a $2 million vote to bail out St. Rose Hospital in Hayward.

Honestly, the truth isn't that hard to figure out. She's in rehab, which is why she is presently not attending meetings, or much of anything else. As for why she missed meetings pre-rehab, well, it's now clear she was struggling with a serious drug problem, as well as carrying on a sleazy affair with a meth addict. That will tend to crowd out other agenda items on the schedule. 


The Chron, and Lockyer's staff, rhapsodize over how they are keeping abreast of things, and that she's staying informed, and that no one's missed a beat. That's nice. But, at least for the sake of her mental health, Lockyer should not be focusing on a job she is clearly unsuited to do. She should do the honorable thing and resign, so that someone will be able to look after her constituents interests, rather then those of her demons. 

Downfall: Nadia Lockyer Story Reaches Its Nadir

When Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer's sex-drugs-motel-beatdown first broke, I fearlessly predicted that the story would get a lot uglier. Since then, Lockyer has entered a substance abuse program, while the sordid details of her depraved sexual relationship with a meth addict (whom she met in a previous rehab stint) have surfaced, along with some frankly deranged texts and emails. And now, the surest sign that we are close to rock bottom is here: there is a sex tape. What can you say but "Jesus Christ?"

We're told that a sex tape of Nadia Lockyer and the man was given to her husband, state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, about six weeks before the Newark incident. The treasurer believed that the man, who has a history of arrests for alleged methamphetamine use, might make the tape public if forced to break off a romantic relationship with the supervisor.

Here's the story, as we've pieced it together from sources knowledgeable about the law enforcement investigation into the Newark incident and the events that preceded it.
After receiving the sex tape and viewing a string of text messages between his wife and the man over the past three months, Bill Lockyer privately contacted Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley - a personal and political friend of the treasurer and his wife. Lockyer was at wit's end as to what to do about his wife, and he hoped to persuade prosecutors to seek a court order barring the man from approaching Nadia Lockyer. 

Bill Lockyer's argument was that his wife was being stalked by the man, a 35-year-old San Jose resident whom he portrayed as a former boyfriend of Nadia Lockyer.
The investigation went nowhere, however, because prosecutors came to believe that Nadia Lockyer, 40, and the man were engaged in a consensual relationship, based partly on text messages and X-rated photos found on her computer.

Oh, and the sleazy boyfriend (whom the Chronicle resolutely refers to as an "ex-boyfriend" despite overwhelming evidence that these two drugstore cowboys are still together) says that whatever injuries Lockyer may have suffered were the result of self-defense; he says Nadia attacked him. 

The man, a construction worker, says his relationship with Nadia Lockyer has lasted more than a year, beginning when the two met at a Kaiser outpatient rehab program in 2010. Sources say she was enrolled for abusing alcohol and he for meth addiction. 

The man also says he and Nadia Lockyer have communicated with each other since the hotel incident. 

As he tells it, Nadia Lockyer invited him to visit her at the Homewood Suites on Feb. 3, where records show she had checked in. 

He also says it was Nadia Lockyer who instigated the fight that night, because she suspected he was involved with other women.

Also, Stephen Chikhani says that Nadia and Bill have been lying about their relationship to the police and Alameda DA. 


Nadia Lockyer and her husband are political figures, but it's hard to treat this as a political story, except to say this: there is no way people around Nadia - like, say, her husband and her staff - were not aware that she was a troubled soul with serious psychological problems. She was in rehab in 2010, the same year she was running for office (and spending $1M of her husband's campaign funds). A normal person would have difficulty balancing a demanding full-time public job with being a mother to a young boy and wife to the State Treasurer. An unbalanced drug addict? Forget it. 


Also, what is going on with the Chronicle? They are not only stubbornly continuing the charade of calling Chikhani an "ex-boyfriend;" they won't even identify him by name because he "has not been arrested" (although he just got out of jail on Santa Clara County...), a standard of discretion and circumspection I had not previously been aware and a courtesy that would certainly not have been extended to a member of, say, Sarah Palin's family. Also, one not shared by other Bay Area media who have identified Chikhani and given him a chance to talk, rather than repeat Lockyer's spin. 


This is a tragedy playing out in semi-public. Nadia Lockyer was living a double life, and now the two strands have irretrievably collided. I can understand the Lockyers' desire, shared it seems with the Chronicle, to try to sweep things under the rug, but that's not going to do anyone any good. Nadia Lockyer is, by any definition, unfit to serve in any capacity. It's questionable whether she can even be an effective wife and/or mother. But, trying to preserve her shattered political career will do no good for anyone, let alone her. 

Downward Spiral: Nadia Lockyer's Double Life

More information has emerged about how Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer ended up getting beaten up in a Newark motel room, but the slow pace of revelations and their scandalous nature make clear that the Lockyer family is trying desperately to cover up the complete breakdown of a life, not to mention political career. And, incredibly, some members of the local media continue to aid in the cover up through the sort of discretion and circumspection that would simply not be available to a Republican:  

The man described as the ex-boyfriend who allegedly assaulted Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer at a Newark hotel two weeks ago has a history of methamphetamine arrests dating back 15 years and is facing drug charges in a separate case in San Jose, law enforcement records show. 

The 35-year-old San Jose resident is the focus of the investigation into the possible battering of Lockyer, wife of state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, at the Homewood Suites on Cedar Boulevard early Feb. 3, according to Newark police. We're withholding his name because he has not been arrested.

Can't be identified because he hasn't been arrested? That's a new standard I had not previously been aware. This guy is, supposedly, running around beating up public officials, yet he can remain anonymous? Luckily, other local media outlets are more hard-nosed. They are publishing the guy's name, and even the contents of some emails he provided to them. 

The seeming perfection of the couple's life in their modest split-level house high in the Hayward hills had masked addiction and deceit. Nadia Lockyer, a beautiful, ambitious woman who had hitched her star to an old political warhorse, apparently was anything but happy. In a text message sent the day after Christmas to the "other man" -- a fellow substance abuser from San Jose with whom she had her affair -- she came across as bitter and angry, all in uppercase. 

"THE LAST 3 MONTHS U PUT ME THRU HELL N BACK -- N MORE. YOU WILL SEE N FEEL THE PAIN YOUR LIES HAVE INFLICTED IN MY HEART SOUL EVERY MOMENT YOU FIND YOURSELF ALONE OR BORED WITH ANOTHER," she wrote to Stephen Chikhani in the text message.

There was also some panicked texting over a stolen Radio Shack gift card: 

An hour after sending the Dec. 26 text, Nadia Lockyer sent Chikhani another: "You stole my house key AND a radioshack giftcard," she wrote. "If you don't return both ASAP tonight (or the Iphone you got with card) by leaving them both at our front door TONIGHT -- Bill's security will have to take you into custody. Just leave it at door asap -- before its too late -- please. We're far away."

As you read through those ALL CAPS communications, try to recall that this the 40-year old County Supervisor and wife of the State Treasurer, and not a bi-polar college girl.   


Nadia Lockyer and the boyfriend met in a drug rehab program back in 2010, the same year Nadia was running for office. Amazing that the voters, and Nadia's opponents, did not learn this information until now. 


Bill Lockyer doesn't often obtain my sympathy, but you can't help feeling bad for the guy. He married into a hellish life. Nadia seems to have told him a story that she couldn't get pregnant because of a car accident injury to her pelvis. But, then, magically, she got pregnant and they married (their son was born two months after the wedding, and if I were Lockyer I would look into taking a paternity test). Whatever you might say about their 30 year age difference, Nadia was happy to use Bill's campaign treasury to bury her political opponents in advertising, and win a seat on the county board. And, all along, she was carrying on a frankly depraved double life of drug use and illicit sex. Bill's largely been silent, but some enterprising journalist managed to catch up with him:

Her husband, whose illustrious political career has spanned four decades, hunkered down in his home. The day after news of the scandal exploded, he answered the door at noon, unshaven and wearing a blue plaid bathrobe.

Can't say I would blame Lockyer if he kicked her to the curb. 

Rough Trade: What's Going On With Bill Lockyear's Wife?

Odd doings in the East Bay, as a member of the Board of Supervisors for Alameda County, who is married the State Treasurer (and former AG) was apparently beaten up when she met up with a former boyfriend at a Newark motel. Yes, you read that right:

Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer, wife of state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, was "violently assaulted" by an ex-boyfriend she met up with at a Newark motel after the Lockyers fought, her husband says. 

Newark police confirmed to us that they investigated a "politically sensitive" incident Feb. 3 after receiving a late-night 911 call from the motel on Newark Boulevard. When police arrived, they found a woman who was "despondent," a police spokesman said Friday. 

Police would not identify the woman, but Bill Lockyer confirmed that it was his wife.
He said he and Nadia Lockyer had recently been separated but had gotten back together before the Feb. 3 incident. 

The trouble that night began when they were arguing over the phone, he said. Nadia Lockyer hung up and headed off to the motel to meet with her former boyfriend, Bill Lockyer said.
She portrayed the boyfriend as "a troubled person," he said. "She thought he was having a crisis and she thought she could get him to calm down and to be OK and not to threaten suicide. 

"And he turned out to be angry ... and she was violently assaulted by someone she was trying to help," he said. 

But she wouldn't have gone to the motel, Bill Lockyer said, if he hadn't said "something to her that was unkind and hurt her feelings. ... That's what caused her to go."

I'm leaning on treating this less as a political story and more a psycho-sexual one. Nadia Lockyer made her name as an attorney with an interest in domestic violence issues, and yet here she is apparently getting beaten up herself by a romantic interest. I'm sure there are people out there who are just baffled that an  beautiful, accomplished wife and mother (and daughter of a prominent Latino civil rights attorney) would end up making her way to an anonymous motel to meet up with her ex-boyfriend with a criminal record. Attention bafflees: chicks dig jerks. It's just the way of the world. Don't make me expand on this any more than I need to. 


It's hard to know what effect this odd story will have on Lockyer's career, not to mention her marriage. I guess she's lucky that the police are treating this as a "politically sensitive" case, but don't seem to be turning over every stone looking for the ex-boyfriend who has conveniently vanished from the face of the earth. And, I guess she's lucky her husband* is loyally blaming himself from for driving her into the arms (and fists) of said boyfriend via some unkind comments made over the phone. 


Right now we are being carefully spoon-fed information, but what little we know is sordid enough. The fact is that members of the Board of Supervisors, whether of Alameda County or anywhere else, probably shouldn't be meeting up with their ex-boyfriends-with-criminal-records at motels, whether in Newark or anywhere else, if that is, indeed, what happened. And I kind of have my doubts. Isn't it odd that the wife of California's former AG would have a boyfriend with a criminal past? And isn't it odd that, though we know of the boyfriend, we don't know his name or have a picture? (the linked article lacks both) Doesn't anyone want to catch this guy? Or is he just a fall guy for the real story as to how Lockyer ended up getting roughed up at a motel, rather than staying at home with her husband and child?


Look for this story to get a lot uglier.


UPDATE: right on cue, Nadia Lockyer has announced she is entering a program to treat an unnamed chemical dependency. 

Lockyer, 40, the wife of state Treasurer Bill Lockyer, said in a statement that she entered a “wellness and recovery center” last week for treatment of the unspecified chemical dependency and “my injuries from the assault.” 

She also said she was being treated for “chronic pain from a past debilitating car accident,” without giving specifics. 

“Alcoholism and addiction are diseases from which many of us suffer, and unfortunately I have not been spared,” Nadia Lockyer said. “I understand that the public and the press have an interest in the health of their elected officials. That is why I am publicly disclosing my medical condition and that I am seeking treatment.” 

The statement did not say how long the treatment may take, only that she planned to continue “doing the work I was elected to do.” 

Few details have been released about the incident that apparently led Lockyer to enroll in the treatment center. 

According to Newark police logs, a 911 call came in at 2:40 a.m.  Feb. 3 from the Homewood Suites on Cedar Boulevard regarding an altercation involving a man and a woman.
“The male left prior to officers arriving,” the log said. “The female suffered injuries to her head and neck. She was medically treated.”

Again, it's all the fault of the evil ex-boyfriend who continues to go unnamed and unphotographed despite  everyone's professed desire to catch the SOB. And, you've gotta love the discretion and circumspection with which the media is treating this story. If a Republican politico's wife was beaten up by her drug dealer at a motel...


*who gained a degree of fame in his AG days by blustering that he wanted to prosecute Enron's Ken Lay and then introduce him to his cellmate "Spike." Haw! Haw! What an ineffectual little man.