Who Is Going To Be Oakland’s Next Mayor?
While Sheng Thao is potentially facing up to 95 years in prison for federal corruption charges, one has to wonder what is next for Oakland?
At a forum in downtown Oakland on Tuesday, candidates for mayor and an open City Council seat shared their visions for the city’s future, touching on housing, transit, and public safety. The discussion even got a little heated between some of the mayoral hopefuls.
During the mayoral portion of the forum, three out of the seven candidates—former Rep. Barbara Lee, former Oakland City Councilmember Loren Taylor, and former city staffer Renia Webb—spoke about the city’s challenges.
When asked about how to address homelessness and drug addiction, Lee suggested piloting a universal basic income program for unsheltered residents who need jobs. She also talked about reviewing Oakland’s city charter, which many believe limits the mayor’s power to make real change. Lee emphasized the need for citizens to decide whether they want a strong mayor or another form of government. Lee, with over 25 years of experience in Congress, said Oakland needs someone who can unite the city and form strong public-private partnerships to address its challenges.
Taylor, who lost to Thao in the 2022 mayoral race, didn’t hold back in his opening remarks. “Oakland is broken,” he said. “We have a lot of tough issues that have been around for years. We can’t just keep doing the same thing and expect different results.”
Meanwhile, Webb, who served as Thao’s chief of staff and continued working with her after Thao became mayor, pointed out what she saw as unethical behavior during her time in office. “We need a complete overhaul,” she said, adding that the city has wasted millions of dollars in the past few years.
Webb also took the opportunity to criticize Taylor for his role in a 2020 task force aimed at rethinking Oakland’s public safety system. One of the goals of the task force, which Taylor co-led, was to cut funding to the Oakland Police Department by 50%. That is unlikely to happen as it appears the country and many Bay Area cities have shifted to the right. Including nearby cities like Fremont making homelessness effectively illegal.
Whoever Oakland picks for their next Mayor, they certainly have their work cut out for them as the city faces a budget deficit and cuts to essential services like the fire department.
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