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"content": "\u003cp>Attorneys for Oakland businessman David Duong, one of four defendants charged in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022612/ex-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-3-others-charged-with-bribery-sprawling-corruption-probe\">a federal pay-to-play corruption case\u003c/a> involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, are asking a judge to throw out evidence seized in a raid last year, arguing that the FBI relied on an informant with a history of fraud and dishonesty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duong was indicted in January on bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges, along with Thao, her longtime partner Andre Jones, and Duong’s son, Andy Duong. Federal prosecutors have accused the group of engaging in a corrupt relationship in which Thao allegedly agreed to use her power as mayor to commit the city of Oakland to purchase housing units from the Duongs’ company,\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052003/san-leandro-lawsuit-documents-shed-light-on-company-at-center-of-oakland-fbi-probe\"> Evolutionary Homes\u003c/a>, and provide other favors in exchange for money and negative campaign mailers targeting her opponents in the 2022 mayoral race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All four defendants have pleaded not guilty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a filing late Friday in federal court, David Duong’s attorneys accused the FBI of failing to disclose material information about the informant in an affidavit used to secure a search warrant to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991426/oakland-fbi-raids-also-targeted-this-powerful-family-heres-what-we-know\">raid Duong’s home, cars and business.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The informant, identified in a Jan. 9 indictment as “Co-Conspirator 1,” is widely believed to be businessman and former Oakland City Council candidate Mario Juarez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government failed to disclose that Co-Conspirator 1, the central figure in this supposed scheme, has a decades-long history of fraud and has been repeatedly found liable for fraud in lawsuits,” the filing reads. “The affidavit did not reveal that Co-Conspirator 1 has repeatedly falsely accused business partners of crimes and other wrongdoings in efforts to escape liability for his own actions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duong’s attorneys are asking a federal judge to hold a hearing where they can question the FBI agent who wrote the nearly 80-page sealed affidavit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government built its case against David Duong almost entirely on allegations from a known fraudster with a grudge against the Duong family,” Duong’s attorneys said in a statement to KQED Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government violated Mr. Duong’s constitutional rights when it failed to disclose its cooperator’s full background and false statements in the warrant applications.”A spokesperson for the FBI’s San Francisco field office did not respond to a request for comment Saturday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11629977\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11629977\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Duong is founder and CEO of California Waste Solutions and Vietnam Waste Solutions. \u003ccite>(Brian Watt/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Evolutionary Homes is no longer in business, but David Duong remains CEO of California Waste Solutions, Oakland’s curbside recycling provider. His attorneys are also seeking to exclude some evidence obtained from David Duong’s cell phone provider through an earlier warrant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to David Duong’s lawyers, the June 2024 affidavit said that agents came across information about the alleged scheme while investigating Juarez’s suspected defrauding of an Oakland print shop he hired to produce and mail the campaign mailers.\u003cbr />\nThe Alameda District Attorney’s Office last year charged Juarez with passing bad checks in connection to the mailers, but the case was later dismissed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Duong’s lawyers, who viewed the sealed affidavit, it also shows that federal investigators alleged a shooting in front of Juarez’s house last year may have been an attempt by the Duongs to orchestrate Juarez’s murder in retaliation for cooperating with law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Based on my training and experience, and knowledge of the investigation,” an FBI agent wrote, according to Duong’s filing, “given that the shooter or shooters were waiting at [Co-Conspirator 1] home, and the shooting occurred three days after [Co-Conspirator 1] spoke with FBI agents, I believe that the shooting was targeted and may have been coordinated by the Duong family in an attempt to kill or harm [Co-Conspirator 1] to prevent him from cooperating with the investigation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for Duong said that allegation was based on Juarez’s “lies to law enforcement” about what happened the night of the shooting. On the contrary, they allege, evidence shows Juarez initiated the shooting himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Evidence that was available to the agent but was omitted from the affidavit shows the shooting had nothing to do with David Duong and his family,” the filing reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the shooting, law enforcement provided funds to Juarez for relocation, according to the document.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The affidavit indicates Juarez likely cooperated in the case in the hopes of obtaining leniency, according to Duong’s attorneys, and that he “appears to be motivated by revenge against the Duongs and a desire to obtain protection from law enforcement from the Duongs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the affidavit notes that Juarez has been charged with theft-related crimes, it said there were no convictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The affidavit does not disclose readily available, public information that Co-Conspirator 1 has a decades-long track record of defrauding business partners, like David Duong, including situations where Co-Conspirator 1 accused his creditors of crimes to try to prevent them from being able to recoup debts he owed,” the filing reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public records show Juarez has been sued about 33 times between 1992 and 2022, including numerous fraud cases involving former business partners, according to the filing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Juarez’s claims are rendered fundamentally unreliable by his history of fraud, lies and attacking his former business partners,” Duongs’ attorneys wrote. “The failure to disclose this history was reckless at best.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Attorneys for Oakland businessman David Duong, one of four defendants charged in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022612/ex-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-3-others-charged-with-bribery-sprawling-corruption-probe\">a federal pay-to-play corruption case\u003c/a> involving former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, are asking a judge to throw out evidence seized in a raid last year, arguing that the FBI relied on an informant with a history of fraud and dishonesty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duong was indicted in January on bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges, along with Thao, her longtime partner Andre Jones, and Duong’s son, Andy Duong. Federal prosecutors have accused the group of engaging in a corrupt relationship in which Thao allegedly agreed to use her power as mayor to commit the city of Oakland to purchase housing units from the Duongs’ company,\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052003/san-leandro-lawsuit-documents-shed-light-on-company-at-center-of-oakland-fbi-probe\"> Evolutionary Homes\u003c/a>, and provide other favors in exchange for money and negative campaign mailers targeting her opponents in the 2022 mayoral race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All four defendants have pleaded not guilty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a filing late Friday in federal court, David Duong’s attorneys accused the FBI of failing to disclose material information about the informant in an affidavit used to secure a search warrant to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991426/oakland-fbi-raids-also-targeted-this-powerful-family-heres-what-we-know\">raid Duong’s home, cars and business.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The informant, identified in a Jan. 9 indictment as “Co-Conspirator 1,” is widely believed to be businessman and former Oakland City Council candidate Mario Juarez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government failed to disclose that Co-Conspirator 1, the central figure in this supposed scheme, has a decades-long history of fraud and has been repeatedly found liable for fraud in lawsuits,” the filing reads. “The affidavit did not reveal that Co-Conspirator 1 has repeatedly falsely accused business partners of crimes and other wrongdoings in efforts to escape liability for his own actions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Duong’s attorneys are asking a federal judge to hold a hearing where they can question the FBI agent who wrote the nearly 80-page sealed affidavit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government built its case against David Duong almost entirely on allegations from a known fraudster with a grudge against the Duong family,” Duong’s attorneys said in a statement to KQED Saturday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The government violated Mr. Duong’s constitutional rights when it failed to disclose its cooperator’s full background and false statements in the warrant applications.”A spokesperson for the FBI’s San Francisco field office did not respond to a request for comment Saturday afternoon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11629977\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11629977\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27957_IMG_8020-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Duong is founder and CEO of California Waste Solutions and Vietnam Waste Solutions. \u003ccite>(Brian Watt/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Evolutionary Homes is no longer in business, but David Duong remains CEO of California Waste Solutions, Oakland’s curbside recycling provider. His attorneys are also seeking to exclude some evidence obtained from David Duong’s cell phone provider through an earlier warrant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to David Duong’s lawyers, the June 2024 affidavit said that agents came across information about the alleged scheme while investigating Juarez’s suspected defrauding of an Oakland print shop he hired to produce and mail the campaign mailers.\u003cbr />\nThe Alameda District Attorney’s Office last year charged Juarez with passing bad checks in connection to the mailers, but the case was later dismissed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Duong’s lawyers, who viewed the sealed affidavit, it also shows that federal investigators alleged a shooting in front of Juarez’s house last year may have been an attempt by the Duongs to orchestrate Juarez’s murder in retaliation for cooperating with law enforcement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Based on my training and experience, and knowledge of the investigation,” an FBI agent wrote, according to Duong’s filing, “given that the shooter or shooters were waiting at [Co-Conspirator 1] home, and the shooting occurred three days after [Co-Conspirator 1] spoke with FBI agents, I believe that the shooting was targeted and may have been coordinated by the Duong family in an attempt to kill or harm [Co-Conspirator 1] to prevent him from cooperating with the investigation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for Duong said that allegation was based on Juarez’s “lies to law enforcement” about what happened the night of the shooting. On the contrary, they allege, evidence shows Juarez initiated the shooting himself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Evidence that was available to the agent but was omitted from the affidavit shows the shooting had nothing to do with David Duong and his family,” the filing reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the shooting, law enforcement provided funds to Juarez for relocation, according to the document.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The affidavit indicates Juarez likely cooperated in the case in the hopes of obtaining leniency, according to Duong’s attorneys, and that he “appears to be motivated by revenge against the Duongs and a desire to obtain protection from law enforcement from the Duongs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the affidavit notes that Juarez has been charged with theft-related crimes, it said there were no convictions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The affidavit does not disclose readily available, public information that Co-Conspirator 1 has a decades-long track record of defrauding business partners, like David Duong, including situations where Co-Conspirator 1 accused his creditors of crimes to try to prevent them from being able to recoup debts he owed,” the filing reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public records show Juarez has been sued about 33 times between 1992 and 2022, including numerous fraud cases involving former business partners, according to the filing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Juarez’s claims are rendered fundamentally unreliable by his history of fraud, lies and attacking his former business partners,” Duongs’ attorneys wrote. “The failure to disclose this history was reckless at best.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "East Bay City Council Member Caught Up in Federal Investigation That Targeted Sheng Thao",
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"content": "\u003cp>Federal prosecutors have charged \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-leandro\">San Leandro\u003c/a> City Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, alleging he agreed to use his power as an elected official to benefit a company in exchange for his own personal financial gain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a document filed in federal court on Tuesday, Azevedo is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of making false statements to a government agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The charges come after months of speculation about the extent of Azevedo’s connection to an ongoing FBI corruption investigation that saw the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022612/ex-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-3-others-charged-with-bribery-sprawling-corruption-probe\">indictment of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao\u003c/a>, her partner Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong in January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. attorneys allege in the filing that Azevedo and two unnamed individuals conspired to obtain a contract from the city of San Leandro for a housing company in exchange for cash and kickback payments to Azevedo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also accuse Azevedo of creating an LLC in his wife’s name and opening a bank account for the purpose of receiving illegal payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a meeting with reporters Tuesday afternoon, San Leandro Mayor Juan Gonzalez said he had not yet spoken with Azevedo and that, as of now, he is not requesting that the council member step down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If he pleads guilty to a felony, the (San Leandro City) Charter makes clear how we proceed. Namely, he may not be a felon and be a member of the city council,” Gonzalez said. “But if he were to plead to something else that did not rise to the level of felony, then we will cross that bridge when we get there. And of course he might be exonerated by a jury of his peers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzalez declined to comment on whether he had been interviewed by the FBI, saying only that the city of San Leandro cooperates with all investigations. He also referred to the situation as a “private matter” between Azevedo and the U.S. Department of Justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12054535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12054535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-8-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-8-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-8-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-8-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, San Leandro City Council members Fred Simon (District 4), Victor Aguilar (District 3) and Bryan Azevedo (District 2) listen as residents voice concerns during public comment about a federal investigation into Azevedo and recent lawsuits involving city leadership, at a council meeting on Aug. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the filing, Azevedo attended a 2023 trip to Vietnam sponsored by a business association. Upon returning from the trip, prosecutors allege, Azevedo agreed to use his power as a San Leandro city council member to help obtain a contract for an Oakland-based housing company that aimed to manufacture modular homes made from shipping containers. In exchange, Azevedo would receive a percentage of the sales from units the city purchased, the filing alleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Azevedo has acknowledged his participation in a 2023 Vietnam trip that Thao and other East Bay officials also attended. The trip was sponsored by the Vietnamese American Business Association, led by David Duong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The housing company described in the court filing is not explicitly named.[aside postID=news_12022612 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00005-1020x680.jpg'] A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052003/san-leandro-lawsuit-documents-shed-light-on-company-at-center-of-oakland-fbi-probe\">lawsuit filed by former San Leandro City Manager\u003c/a> Francis Robustelli in June alleges Azevedo and fellow San Leandro City Councilmember Victor Aguilar invited her to the Oakland showroom of Evolutionary Homes in 2023. The visit was part of an effort by members of the Duong family, which owned the company, to lobby San Francisco Bay Area politicians to promote the establishment of tiny home developments in the area, Robustelli alleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli’s lawsuit claims a representative of Evolutionary Homes pitched an emergency homelessness ordinance to San Leandro officials that would allow the city to more quickly purchase homes like the ones the company aimed to sell. It was never enacted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the document filed Tuesday, during the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024, Azevedo advocated for an emergency shelter ordinance that would benefit the unnamed housing company, advocated for the city to purchase units from the company and took San Leandro city officials to tour the company’s model units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, prosecutors allege, one of the unnamed co-conspirators gave Azevedo $2,000 in cash at a dinner in Alameda in exchange for using his position as an elected official to benefit the housing company. Several days later, he allegedly deposited the money into the recently opened bank account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12054537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12054537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-13-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-13-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-13-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-13-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Leandro City Hall, pictured on Aug. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Leandro City Councilmember Victor Aguilar, reached by phone on Tuesday, declined to comment on the charges against Azevedo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, FBI agents raided Azevedo’s San Leandro home, two days before Thao, Jones, and Andy and David Duong were charged with conspiracy, bribery and fraud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May, officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office notified Azevedo via a target letter that he, too, was the subject of a federal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The document filed Tuesday alleges federal investigators in January asked Azevedo whether he had received cash payments from one of the co-conspirators in November 2023 and that Azevedo responded that he had not. Agents also allegedly asked Azevedo whether the co-conspirator’s family had business interests before the city of San Leandro, and he responded that it did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These statements AZEVEDO made to the agents were false and AZEVEDO knew they were false,” the document reads.\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Federal prosecutors have charged \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-leandro\">San Leandro\u003c/a> City Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, alleging he agreed to use his power as an elected official to benefit a company in exchange for his own personal financial gain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a document filed in federal court on Tuesday, Azevedo is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of making false statements to a government agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The charges come after months of speculation about the extent of Azevedo’s connection to an ongoing FBI corruption investigation that saw the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022612/ex-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-3-others-charged-with-bribery-sprawling-corruption-probe\">indictment of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao\u003c/a>, her partner Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong in January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>U.S. attorneys allege in the filing that Azevedo and two unnamed individuals conspired to obtain a contract from the city of San Leandro for a housing company in exchange for cash and kickback payments to Azevedo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They also accuse Azevedo of creating an LLC in his wife’s name and opening a bank account for the purpose of receiving illegal payments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a meeting with reporters Tuesday afternoon, San Leandro Mayor Juan Gonzalez said he had not yet spoken with Azevedo and that, as of now, he is not requesting that the council member step down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If he pleads guilty to a felony, the (San Leandro City) Charter makes clear how we proceed. Namely, he may not be a felon and be a member of the city council,” Gonzalez said. “But if he were to plead to something else that did not rise to the level of felony, then we will cross that bridge when we get there. And of course he might be exonerated by a jury of his peers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzalez declined to comment on whether he had been interviewed by the FBI, saying only that the city of San Leandro cooperates with all investigations. He also referred to the situation as a “private matter” between Azevedo and the U.S. Department of Justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12054535\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12054535\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-8-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-8-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-8-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-8-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">From left, San Leandro City Council members Fred Simon (District 4), Victor Aguilar (District 3) and Bryan Azevedo (District 2) listen as residents voice concerns during public comment about a federal investigation into Azevedo and recent lawsuits involving city leadership, at a council meeting on Aug. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to the filing, Azevedo attended a 2023 trip to Vietnam sponsored by a business association. Upon returning from the trip, prosecutors allege, Azevedo agreed to use his power as a San Leandro city council member to help obtain a contract for an Oakland-based housing company that aimed to manufacture modular homes made from shipping containers. In exchange, Azevedo would receive a percentage of the sales from units the city purchased, the filing alleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Azevedo has acknowledged his participation in a 2023 Vietnam trip that Thao and other East Bay officials also attended. The trip was sponsored by the Vietnamese American Business Association, led by David Duong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The housing company described in the court filing is not explicitly named.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12052003/san-leandro-lawsuit-documents-shed-light-on-company-at-center-of-oakland-fbi-probe\">lawsuit filed by former San Leandro City Manager\u003c/a> Francis Robustelli in June alleges Azevedo and fellow San Leandro City Councilmember Victor Aguilar invited her to the Oakland showroom of Evolutionary Homes in 2023. The visit was part of an effort by members of the Duong family, which owned the company, to lobby San Francisco Bay Area politicians to promote the establishment of tiny home developments in the area, Robustelli alleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli’s lawsuit claims a representative of Evolutionary Homes pitched an emergency homelessness ordinance to San Leandro officials that would allow the city to more quickly purchase homes like the ones the company aimed to sell. It was never enacted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the document filed Tuesday, during the fall of 2023 and spring of 2024, Azevedo advocated for an emergency shelter ordinance that would benefit the unnamed housing company, advocated for the city to purchase units from the company and took San Leandro city officials to tour the company’s model units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, prosecutors allege, one of the unnamed co-conspirators gave Azevedo $2,000 in cash at a dinner in Alameda in exchange for using his position as an elected official to benefit the housing company. Several days later, he allegedly deposited the money into the recently opened bank account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12054537\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12054537\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-13-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-13-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-13-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/09/250902_SANLEANDROCITYHALL_GH-13-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Leandro City Hall, pictured on Aug. 2, 2025. \u003ccite>(Gustavo Hernandez/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Leandro City Councilmember Victor Aguilar, reached by phone on Tuesday, declined to comment on the charges against Azevedo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January, FBI agents raided Azevedo’s San Leandro home, two days before Thao, Jones, and Andy and David Duong were charged with conspiracy, bribery and fraud.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May, officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office notified Azevedo via a target letter that he, too, was the subject of a federal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The document filed Tuesday alleges federal investigators in January asked Azevedo whether he had received cash payments from one of the co-conspirators in November 2023 and that Azevedo responded that he had not. Agents also allegedly asked Azevedo whether the co-conspirator’s family had business interests before the city of San Leandro, and he responded that it did not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These statements AZEVEDO made to the agents were false and AZEVEDO knew they were false,” the document reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "San Leandro Lawsuit, Documents Shed Light on Company at Center of Oakland FBI Probe",
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"headTitle": "San Leandro Lawsuit, Documents Shed Light on Company at Center of Oakland FBI Probe | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>It was late 2023 when Frances Robustelli found herself in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> waterfront showroom of Evolutionary Homes. The company was converting shipping containers into housing for homeless people and attempting to sell them to local governments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli, who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-leandro\">San Leandro\u003c/a>’s city manager at the time, had been invited by two San Leandro city council members, Victor Aguilar and Bryan Azevedo, according to a lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit alleges the visit was part of an effort by members of the Duong family, who owned Evolutionary Homes, to lobby San Francisco Bay Area politicians to promote the establishment of tiny home developments in Bay Area cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli told Aguilar and Azevedo that the city had neither the funding nor the land for a tiny homes project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company, the lawsuit claims, pitched an ordinance that would allow the city to more quickly purchase homes like the ones the company aimed to sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli filed the lawsuit in Alameda County in June, alleging that when she opposed the proposal, Azevedo and Aguilar voiced their unhappiness. Together with another council member, they would harass and intimidate her that year and the following, the lawsuit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city has denied the allegations and, on July 28, filed a motion to have the complaint in the case thrown out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12052137\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12052137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/SanLeandroGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/SanLeandroGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/SanLeandroGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/SanLeandroGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Downtown San Leandro on Sept. 13, 2022. \u003ccite>(Matt Gush/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The City will respond through the appropriate legal channels,” San Leandro Mayor Juan González said in a statement to KQED. “While we cannot comment on the specifics of pending litigation, I want to reaffirm our commitment to transparency, accountability, and the continued service to our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli declined to comment, citing the advice of her attorney. Aguilar also declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Azevedo was seen at the federal building in Oakland Thursday morning, where he said he was meeting with an attorney. But he declined to comment further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the months since former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991242/fbi-agents-raid-home-of-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao\">Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao\u003c/a>, her partner, Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong were indicted on bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges, questions have circulated around whether the FBI’s corruption probe extends to Azevedo, whose home was raided by federal agents in January.[aside postID=news_12022900 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001-1020x681.jpg']Those questions only intensified after federal prosecutors notified the council member in May that he is the target of a federal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the contents of Robustelli’s lawsuit, together with documents released by San Leandro in response to a federal grand jury subpoena, give clues as to what the FBI may have been looking for when they raided Azevedo’s home and shed light on where the ongoing investigation could be headed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Jan. 9 indictment charging Thao and the other three defendants describes an alleged pay-to-play scheme involving a housing company that is widely believed to be Evolutionary Homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The indictment alleges Thao promised Oakland would purchase housing units from the company, along with other favors, in exchange for payments to Jones and negative mailers targeting her opponents in the 2022 mayoral election. All four defendants have pleaded not guilty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A week after FBI agents raided Thao’s home in June 2024, Azevedo defended himself from “rumors” tying him to the scandal in a \u003ca href=\"https://0201.nccdn.net/1_2/000/000/0de/bc3/june-27--2024.pdf\">letter to the editor\u003c/a> of the \u003cem>San Leandro Times\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12022840\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12022840\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, leaves the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I want to set the record straight. I don’t know anything about this alleged corruption nor do I believe that we should assume that corruption has happened until the facts come out,” Azevedo wrote, adding that he had received and reported a $2,000 campaign contribution from Andy Duong in support of his unsuccessful 2022 mayoral run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors in May notified Azevedo that he was the target of a federal investigation regarding criminal violations of federal laws, including conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and false statements in a federal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you are interested in resolving this matter short of an indictment, please have your attorney contact the undersigned,” U.S. attorneys told Azevedo in a May 12 letter. “If no contact is made with our office prior to May 30, 2025, the matter will proceed in the ordinary course of prosecution.”[aside postID=news_11993390 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED-1020x680.jpg']To date, Azevedo has not been charged with a crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Robustelli’s lawsuit, in October 2023, while she was out sick with COVID-19, Aguilar moved to place an urgent item on the council’s agenda to discuss the potential of obtaining an emergency homelessness declaration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The draft emergency declaration, the lawsuit alleges, sought to expand the powers of the city manager and staff to bypass the city’s normally required purchasing procedures and more quickly procure tiny homes from the Duongs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suit alleges Robustelli told Aguilar and other supporters of the declaration that it was neither needed nor financially feasible for the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In her role as City Manager, Ms. Robustelli was well informed of the homelessness issues in San Leandro at the time, and there simply was no state of emergency as to homelessness in San Leandro,” the complaint reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city had also obtained funding through the state’s Project Homekey program to renovate a motel into permanent low-rent housing and establish a navigation center, according to the lawsuit, which would provide housing to the city’s homeless population. Aguilar and Azevedo were presumably aware of the funding, the lawsuit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11991432\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11991432\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. postal inspectors check documents at a home tied to David Duong, one of the multiple properties searched by law enforcement that included residences to members of a politically connected family who run the city’s contracted recycling company, California Waste Solutions, in Oakland on June 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Ms. Robustelli later learned, in or around 2024, that Councilmembers Azevedo and Aguilar were being pressured by the Evolutionary Homes vendor,” the lawsuit said. “Representatives for Evolutionary Homes not only pitched the proposed ordinance that would accelerate the City’s ability to purchase and install the container homes, but also wrote the proposed ordinance for City officials.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Leandro city records released in response to a Jan. 14 federal grand jury subpoena included emails from 2023 between an Evolutionary Homes representative and city staff about an ordinance like the one described in Robustelli’s lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thank you so much for chatting with me today,” Julie Wedge, a consultant working with the company, wrote to deputy city manager Eric Engelbart on Sept. 19. “Attached please find the San Leandro presentation, the Evolutionary Homes flyer, and the draft language for the ordinance based on what passed today in Alameda County and what we hope will pass in Oakland later today as well.”[aside postID=news_12022612 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00005-1020x680.jpg']“Please let me know when we can bring you and any other appropriate staff and Councilmembers to our showroom to see the two model units,” Wedge said. “Looking forward to meeting you in person and please reach out with any questions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attached to the email was a template for an emergency ordinance with fill-in-the-blank spaces for statistics on homelessness. Slides showing the interiors of shipping containers converted into apartments were also included.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an Aug. 11 phone interview, Wedge said her work with Evolutionary Homes, which is no longer in business, was unpaid. She said the company reached out to multiple California cities and counties, in addition to the California National Guard, to see if they would be interested in the homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was nothing illegal or improper about the proposed ordinance, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know why everybody seems to think that trying to do an emergency shelter ordinance was some shady deal or some problem or issue. It’s actually good public policy,” Wedge said. “Everything around the shelter ordinance was a public process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emails show other city employees were hesitant to approve the ordinance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m inclined to hold on passing a local emergency declaration until directed by the County to do so,” Human Services Director Jessica Lobedan responded to Engelbart and San Leandro’s Community Development Director Thomas Liao on Sept. 25. “My understanding of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961820/alameda-county-declares-state-of-emergency-on-homelessness-what-does-that-mean\">County’s declaration\u003c/a> was that it directs County staff to develop an emergency response plan. Until knowing more, it might be premature to do anything locally,” she wrote. Liao agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12052150\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12052150\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/DowntownSanLeandroGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/DowntownSanLeandroGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/DowntownSanLeandroGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/DowntownSanLeandroGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Downtown San Leandro, on Sept. 16, 2022. \u003ccite>(Matt Gush/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In an interview, Liao said he didn’t think the way the ordinance was brought forward by Evolutionary Homes seemed appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t farm out the drafting of ordinances, typically. We would want to have some touch on that as staff,” he said. “We don’t take things wholesale.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staff ultimately recommended that the city not move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted to give you a heads up that some significant changes had to be made to the resolution that you provided to us because the content was not applicable to the City,” Robustelli wrote to Aguilar on Oct. 26. “Staff does not recommend moving forward with this resolution. I did not want you to be surprised about the content of my message for the 11/6 council meeting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On June 17, 2024, the city council voted to take no action on the declaration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli eventually left the job, the lawsuit alleges, citing life-threatening health issues.[aside postID=news_12051947 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/GettyImages-1246387515-1020x680.jpg']In addition to the allegations surrounding Evolutionary Homes, Robustelli’s lawsuit claims Aguilar and San Leandro city council member Fred Simon repeatedly interfered with her duties as city manager and threatened her when she protested or refused to do their bidding. More often than not, they were assisted by Azevedo, the lawsuit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their actions, the lawsuit alleges, were in retaliation for her refusal to condone unethical behavior or support individual demands she viewed as unethical, improper or unlawful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli alleges Simon submitted for reimbursement for mileage to and from his home and city hall and for non-city travel. Despite having medical benefits from his public employer and one other public agency, Simon also made a claim for medical reimbursement with the city for not electing medical coverage, the lawsuit alleges, enabling him to collect health benefits from three separate public entities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Simon and Aguilar made increasingly obscure and demanding requests to Robustelli to force her to resign, the lawsuit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanleandro.org/DocumentCenter/View/11474/Former-CM-Complaint-Inv---1172024-Press-Release-?bidId=\">officially censured\u003c/a> council members Simon and Aguilar for interfering with Robustelli’s duties in violation of the city charter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simon did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pauline Cutter, who was San Leandro’s mayor from 2015 to 2022, recalled Robustelli being frequently upset.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11991244\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11991244\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">FBI agents are seen at 80 Maiden Lane in Oakland on June 20, 2024, carrying multiple boxes from a residence. After loading the boxes into their vehicles, the agents departed without commenting to reporters, only confirming that they had cleared the scene and no agents remained. \u003ccite>(Annelise Finney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There was pressure against Fran to do kind of the bidding of the three council members. And a city manager can’t do that. They can’t take sides,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June 2024, FBI agents raided Thao’s home and several other properties associated with the Duongs, including the Oakland offices of the recycling company, California Waste Solutions, which is owned by the Duongs and has contracts with the cities of Oakland and San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his letter to the \u003cem>San Leandro Times\u003c/em> that month, Azevedo denied that he said California Waste Solutions should be awarded a city contract with San Leandro and defended his participation in a 2023 Vietnam trip that Thao and other East Bay officials also attended.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wedge said she didn’t know Evolutionary Homes was falling apart until FBI agents showed up on her doorstep the same day as the raids in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They thought that I was going to be a witness,” Wedge said. “They thought I knew. They thought I was in those meetings,” she said, referring to meetings described in the indictment that allegedly took place between Thao, Jones and the Duongs about a pay-to-play scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was not in those meetings. I didn’t know any of that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around seven months later, agents raided Azevedo’s home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emails from that week, reviewed by KQED, show San Leandro city officials scrambling to nail down whether the city had ever done business with the Duongs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Can you please research the following business to see if the City has conducted business with them?” a city spokesperson wrote to the acting finance manager, adding: “Evolutionary Homes, LLC.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A review of payments to the city, business licenses and financial records turned up nothing, according to the emails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/bryan-azevedo-department-justice-targets-san-leandro-city-council-member-sheng-thao-corruption-investigation/16649211/\">interview\u003c/a> that was broadcast in June, Azevedo told ABC 7 that he had counted the days between when the FBI raided Thao’s home and when she was indicted. He said he was waiting to see if he would be arrested, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They shouldn’t have as much stuff on me,” Azevedo said. “Because I didn’t do nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked whether there was an arrangement between him and the Duongs, Azevedo said, “I don’t remember nothing, no.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He later added, “I don’t want to comment on that because no, there was no arrangement on that.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It was late 2023 when Frances Robustelli found herself in the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> waterfront showroom of Evolutionary Homes. The company was converting shipping containers into housing for homeless people and attempting to sell them to local governments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli, who was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/san-leandro\">San Leandro\u003c/a>’s city manager at the time, had been invited by two San Leandro city council members, Victor Aguilar and Bryan Azevedo, according to a lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuit alleges the visit was part of an effort by members of the Duong family, who owned Evolutionary Homes, to lobby San Francisco Bay Area politicians to promote the establishment of tiny home developments in Bay Area cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli told Aguilar and Azevedo that the city had neither the funding nor the land for a tiny homes project.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company, the lawsuit claims, pitched an ordinance that would allow the city to more quickly purchase homes like the ones the company aimed to sell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli filed the lawsuit in Alameda County in June, alleging that when she opposed the proposal, Azevedo and Aguilar voiced their unhappiness. Together with another council member, they would harass and intimidate her that year and the following, the lawsuit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city has denied the allegations and, on July 28, filed a motion to have the complaint in the case thrown out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12052137\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12052137\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/SanLeandroGetty2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/SanLeandroGetty2.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/SanLeandroGetty2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/SanLeandroGetty2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Downtown San Leandro on Sept. 13, 2022. \u003ccite>(Matt Gush/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The City will respond through the appropriate legal channels,” San Leandro Mayor Juan González said in a statement to KQED. “While we cannot comment on the specifics of pending litigation, I want to reaffirm our commitment to transparency, accountability, and the continued service to our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli declined to comment, citing the advice of her attorney. Aguilar also declined to comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Azevedo was seen at the federal building in Oakland Thursday morning, where he said he was meeting with an attorney. But he declined to comment further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the months since former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991242/fbi-agents-raid-home-of-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao\">Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao\u003c/a>, her partner, Andre Jones, and David and Andy Duong were indicted on bribery, conspiracy and fraud charges, questions have circulated around whether the FBI’s corruption probe extends to Azevedo, whose home was raided by federal agents in January.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Those questions only intensified after federal prosecutors notified the council member in May that he is the target of a federal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, the contents of Robustelli’s lawsuit, together with documents released by San Leandro in response to a federal grand jury subpoena, give clues as to what the FBI may have been looking for when they raided Azevedo’s home and shed light on where the ongoing investigation could be headed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Jan. 9 indictment charging Thao and the other three defendants describes an alleged pay-to-play scheme involving a housing company that is widely believed to be Evolutionary Homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The indictment alleges Thao promised Oakland would purchase housing units from the company, along with other favors, in exchange for payments to Jones and negative mailers targeting her opponents in the 2022 mayoral election. All four defendants have pleaded not guilty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A week after FBI agents raided Thao’s home in June 2024, Azevedo defended himself from “rumors” tying him to the scandal in a \u003ca href=\"https://0201.nccdn.net/1_2/000/000/0de/bc3/june-27--2024.pdf\">letter to the editor\u003c/a> of the \u003cem>San Leandro Times\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12022840\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12022840\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00009-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, leaves the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I want to set the record straight. I don’t know anything about this alleged corruption nor do I believe that we should assume that corruption has happened until the facts come out,” Azevedo wrote, adding that he had received and reported a $2,000 campaign contribution from Andy Duong in support of his unsuccessful 2022 mayoral run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Federal prosecutors in May notified Azevedo that he was the target of a federal investigation regarding criminal violations of federal laws, including conspiracy to commit bribery, bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds and false statements in a federal investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you are interested in resolving this matter short of an indictment, please have your attorney contact the undersigned,” U.S. attorneys told Azevedo in a May 12 letter. “If no contact is made with our office prior to May 30, 2025, the matter will proceed in the ordinary course of prosecution.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>To date, Azevedo has not been charged with a crime.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Robustelli’s lawsuit, in October 2023, while she was out sick with COVID-19, Aguilar moved to place an urgent item on the council’s agenda to discuss the potential of obtaining an emergency homelessness declaration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The draft emergency declaration, the lawsuit alleges, sought to expand the powers of the city manager and staff to bypass the city’s normally required purchasing procedures and more quickly procure tiny homes from the Duongs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suit alleges Robustelli told Aguilar and other supporters of the declaration that it was neither needed nor financially feasible for the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In her role as City Manager, Ms. Robustelli was well informed of the homelessness issues in San Leandro at the time, and there simply was no state of emergency as to homelessness in San Leandro,” the complaint reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city had also obtained funding through the state’s Project Homekey program to renovate a motel into permanent low-rent housing and establish a navigation center, according to the lawsuit, which would provide housing to the city’s homeless population. Aguilar and Azevedo were presumably aware of the funding, the lawsuit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11991432\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11991432\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. postal inspectors check documents at a home tied to David Duong, one of the multiple properties searched by law enforcement that included residences to members of a politically connected family who run the city’s contracted recycling company, California Waste Solutions, in Oakland on June 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Ms. Robustelli later learned, in or around 2024, that Councilmembers Azevedo and Aguilar were being pressured by the Evolutionary Homes vendor,” the lawsuit said. “Representatives for Evolutionary Homes not only pitched the proposed ordinance that would accelerate the City’s ability to purchase and install the container homes, but also wrote the proposed ordinance for City officials.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Leandro city records released in response to a Jan. 14 federal grand jury subpoena included emails from 2023 between an Evolutionary Homes representative and city staff about an ordinance like the one described in Robustelli’s lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Thank you so much for chatting with me today,” Julie Wedge, a consultant working with the company, wrote to deputy city manager Eric Engelbart on Sept. 19. “Attached please find the San Leandro presentation, the Evolutionary Homes flyer, and the draft language for the ordinance based on what passed today in Alameda County and what we hope will pass in Oakland later today as well.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Please let me know when we can bring you and any other appropriate staff and Councilmembers to our showroom to see the two model units,” Wedge said. “Looking forward to meeting you in person and please reach out with any questions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attached to the email was a template for an emergency ordinance with fill-in-the-blank spaces for statistics on homelessness. Slides showing the interiors of shipping containers converted into apartments were also included.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an Aug. 11 phone interview, Wedge said her work with Evolutionary Homes, which is no longer in business, was unpaid. She said the company reached out to multiple California cities and counties, in addition to the California National Guard, to see if they would be interested in the homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was nothing illegal or improper about the proposed ordinance, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t know why everybody seems to think that trying to do an emergency shelter ordinance was some shady deal or some problem or issue. It’s actually good public policy,” Wedge said. “Everything around the shelter ordinance was a public process.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emails show other city employees were hesitant to approve the ordinance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m inclined to hold on passing a local emergency declaration until directed by the County to do so,” Human Services Director Jessica Lobedan responded to Engelbart and San Leandro’s Community Development Director Thomas Liao on Sept. 25. “My understanding of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961820/alameda-county-declares-state-of-emergency-on-homelessness-what-does-that-mean\">County’s declaration\u003c/a> was that it directs County staff to develop an emergency response plan. Until knowing more, it might be premature to do anything locally,” she wrote. Liao agreed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12052150\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12052150\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/DowntownSanLeandroGetty.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/DowntownSanLeandroGetty.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/DowntownSanLeandroGetty-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/08/DowntownSanLeandroGetty-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Downtown San Leandro, on Sept. 16, 2022. \u003ccite>(Matt Gush/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In an interview, Liao said he didn’t think the way the ordinance was brought forward by Evolutionary Homes seemed appropriate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t farm out the drafting of ordinances, typically. We would want to have some touch on that as staff,” he said. “We don’t take things wholesale.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Staff ultimately recommended that the city not move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted to give you a heads up that some significant changes had to be made to the resolution that you provided to us because the content was not applicable to the City,” Robustelli wrote to Aguilar on Oct. 26. “Staff does not recommend moving forward with this resolution. I did not want you to be surprised about the content of my message for the 11/6 council meeting.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On June 17, 2024, the city council voted to take no action on the declaration.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli eventually left the job, the lawsuit alleges, citing life-threatening health issues.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In addition to the allegations surrounding Evolutionary Homes, Robustelli’s lawsuit claims Aguilar and San Leandro city council member Fred Simon repeatedly interfered with her duties as city manager and threatened her when she protested or refused to do their bidding. More often than not, they were assisted by Azevedo, the lawsuit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their actions, the lawsuit alleges, were in retaliation for her refusal to condone unethical behavior or support individual demands she viewed as unethical, improper or unlawful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Robustelli alleges Simon submitted for reimbursement for mileage to and from his home and city hall and for non-city travel. Despite having medical benefits from his public employer and one other public agency, Simon also made a claim for medical reimbursement with the city for not electing medical coverage, the lawsuit alleges, enabling him to collect health benefits from three separate public entities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Simon and Aguilar made increasingly obscure and demanding requests to Robustelli to force her to resign, the lawsuit said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.sanleandro.org/DocumentCenter/View/11474/Former-CM-Complaint-Inv---1172024-Press-Release-?bidId=\">officially censured\u003c/a> council members Simon and Aguilar for interfering with Robustelli’s duties in violation of the city charter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simon did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pauline Cutter, who was San Leandro’s mayor from 2015 to 2022, recalled Robustelli being frequently upset.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11991244\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11991244\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">FBI agents are seen at 80 Maiden Lane in Oakland on June 20, 2024, carrying multiple boxes from a residence. After loading the boxes into their vehicles, the agents departed without commenting to reporters, only confirming that they had cleared the scene and no agents remained. \u003ccite>(Annelise Finney/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There was pressure against Fran to do kind of the bidding of the three council members. And a city manager can’t do that. They can’t take sides,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In June 2024, FBI agents raided Thao’s home and several other properties associated with the Duongs, including the Oakland offices of the recycling company, California Waste Solutions, which is owned by the Duongs and has contracts with the cities of Oakland and San Jose.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his letter to the \u003cem>San Leandro Times\u003c/em> that month, Azevedo denied that he said California Waste Solutions should be awarded a city contract with San Leandro and defended his participation in a 2023 Vietnam trip that Thao and other East Bay officials also attended.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wedge said she didn’t know Evolutionary Homes was falling apart until FBI agents showed up on her doorstep the same day as the raids in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They thought that I was going to be a witness,” Wedge said. “They thought I knew. They thought I was in those meetings,” she said, referring to meetings described in the indictment that allegedly took place between Thao, Jones and the Duongs about a pay-to-play scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was not in those meetings. I didn’t know any of that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Around seven months later, agents raided Azevedo’s home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Emails from that week, reviewed by KQED, show San Leandro city officials scrambling to nail down whether the city had ever done business with the Duongs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Can you please research the following business to see if the City has conducted business with them?” a city spokesperson wrote to the acting finance manager, adding: “Evolutionary Homes, LLC.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A review of payments to the city, business licenses and financial records turned up nothing, according to the emails.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://abc7news.com/post/bryan-azevedo-department-justice-targets-san-leandro-city-council-member-sheng-thao-corruption-investigation/16649211/\">interview\u003c/a> that was broadcast in June, Azevedo told ABC 7 that he had counted the days between when the FBI raided Thao’s home and when she was indicted. He said he was waiting to see if he would be arrested, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They shouldn’t have as much stuff on me,” Azevedo said. “Because I didn’t do nothing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked whether there was an arrangement between him and the Duongs, Azevedo said, “I don’t remember nothing, no.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He later added, “I don’t want to comment on that because no, there was no arrangement on that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Oakland’s Interim Mayor Shakes Up City Hall With Move to Fire Thao Staffers",
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"content": "\u003cp>Most of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-mayor\">Oakland mayor’s office\u003c/a> staff will be let go at the end of the week, interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins said Monday, a day after he fired his chief of staff following the release of a note in which she appeared to refer to Black people as “tokens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jenkins, Deputy Mayor Burt Jones, Deputy Mayor LaNiece Jones and the office’s executive assistant and scheduler will remain in the office, with Burt Jones serving as chief of staff, the mayor’s office said in a statement on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to thank everyone who is leaving the office for their service,” Jenkins said in the statement. “It has always been our intention to allow our next Mayor to choose their own staff after the April 15 special election.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The handwritten note by chief of staff Leigh Hanson was included among records the city made public last week related to the FBI’s probe of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, whose recall in November led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032042/oakland-special-election-candidate-guide-and-how-to-vote\">this month’s special mayoral election\u003c/a>. Hanson was chief of staff for Thao and stayed on after her recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the note, which KQED obtained last week, the word “Recall” appears at the top with people and groups known to have financially backed or opposed the recall campaign against Thao jotted down below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1522\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf-800x609.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf-1020x776.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf-160x122.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf-1536x1169.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf-1920x1461.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This handwritten note by chief of staff Leigh Hanson was included among records the city made public last week related to the FBI’s probe of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the upper right-hand corner, “CM Fife can outreach to NAACP” is written, seemingly referring to Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Underneath that, the words “use BP as tokens” appear, set off by dashes. Hanson \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/leigh-hanson-oakland-20261051.php\">told the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, which first reported her firing, that “BP” referred to Black people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a text message to KQED on Monday, Hanson said the note was taken out of context.[aside postID=news_12033381 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250218_Oak-Mayoral_DMB_00156_qed-1020x680.jpg']“These handwritten meeting notes record a group discussion that included proposed messaging points that the anti-recall campaign wanted to provide to potential surrogates,” Hanson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hanson said the notes were a reference to recall organizer Seneca Scott, who she said was hired by wealthy white \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998651/a-hedge-fund-manager-is-funding-bid-to-oust-oaklands-mayor-and-its-not-his-first-recall\">funders of the effort\u003c/a> to obscure the public’s understanding of the campaign’s political origins. According to Hanson, Thao and her political team believed that the paid involvement of Scott, who is Black, in the recall campaign constituted tokenization — when a member of an underrepresented group is used to create the appearance of diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I regret that my short-hand note-taking has been taken out of context on social media and inadvertently harmed close friends, colleagues and members of my community who have been marginalized by our political system,” Hanson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference on Monday morning, the Oakland chapter of the NAACP thanked Jenkins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never dreamed in Oakland, California, that we would be called a token,” said Cynthia Adams, president of the chapter. “I just want to thank our interim mayor Kevin Jenkins for having courage to do what he did, to make a stand for the people of Oakland and for his Black community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12012869\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12012869 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cynthia Adams, president of the Oakland NAACP chapter, smiles at the election watch party organized by the Oakland NAACP chapter pro-recall group at Scott’s Seafood Grill and Bar in Jack London Square in Oakland on election night, Nov. 5, 2024. \u003ccite>(Camille Cohen for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Standing behind Adams at the press conference were Scott and fellow Thao recall organizer Brenda Harbin-Forte; Brenda Grisham and Carl Chan, organizers of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017506/these-maps-show-where-pamela-price-lost-the-most-support-from-voters-in-the-recall-election\">recall of former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price\u003c/a>; and Oakland mayoral candidate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033381/fake-news-oakland-election-ads-raise-concerns-over-misleading-headlines\">Loren Taylor\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about the note’s reference to Fife reaching out to the NAACP, Adams said the chapter had not heard from the councilmember for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s darkness what’s in that City Hall. I was wondering why it was so dark over there. It was dark because it was a lot of darkness going on. But now, it’s light,” Adams said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fife did not respond to a request for comment Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brandon Harami, another staffer in the mayor’s office who served under Thao, told KQED he was informed in a meeting on Monday morning that he was being placed on leave and would be terminated Friday. Deputy Mayor Burt Jones and City Administrator Jestin Johnson were both in the meeting, he said.[aside postID=news_12031370 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/03/20250311_Oakland-Budget_DMB_00061-1020x680.jpg']“This is clearly retaliatory action in response to an inaccurate and misleading release from the leadership of the Oakland NAACP, who has reason to dislike me after I landed a settlement with one of their officers for harassment,” Harami said in a statement, referring to Scott. “I am pursuing next steps with both my Union and other avenues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December, the city filed a petition for a workplace violence restraining order against Scott after he posted Harami’s address and cellphone number on social media and accused Harami of being a pedophile, according to court records. Scott agreed in a Feb. 6 settlement not to post Harami’s contact information or location, or accuse him of being a pedophile or of being abused by his parents. Harami also agreed not to post Scott’s contact information or home address, although the settlement notes he had not previously done so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adams declined to comment on Harami’s claim of retaliation, saying that she didn’t know anything about that. A city spokesperson also declined, saying the city does not comment on personnel matters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland City Councilmember Janani Ramachandran said she was glad to see Hanson go, criticizing her involvement in and defense of the decision to tie the city’s budget \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030157/supervisors-aim-to-finalize-coliseum-sale-offering-hope-for-oaklands-budget-woes\">to the sale of the Coliseum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do think that the office led by Leigh Hanson as a whole was responsible for some very destructive decisions in the city, and I’m glad she is gone,” Ramachandran said. “I fully stand by the mayor and his decisions to fire many of these people associated with two years of some really horrible decisions for the city – on many fronts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other council members did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hanson’s note appeared in a trove of documents released last week after the city produced them in response to Department of Justice subpoenas last year following the FBI’s raid of Thao’s home and addresses tied to the Duong family, which owns California Waste Solutions, Oakland’s recycling contractor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022612/ex-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-3-others-charged-with-bribery-sprawling-corruption-probe\">was indicted\u003c/a> in January on bribery and fraud charges, alongside her boyfriend, Andre Jones, California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong and his son, Andy Duong. All four have pleaded not guilty.\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Interim Oakland Mayor Kevin Jenkins announced the move a day after he fired his chief of staff following the release of a note in which she appeared to refer to Black people as “tokens.”",
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"title": "Oakland’s Interim Mayor Shakes Up City Hall With Move to Fire Thao Staffers | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Most of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-mayor\">Oakland mayor’s office\u003c/a> staff will be let go at the end of the week, interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins said Monday, a day after he fired his chief of staff following the release of a note in which she appeared to refer to Black people as “tokens.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jenkins, Deputy Mayor Burt Jones, Deputy Mayor LaNiece Jones and the office’s executive assistant and scheduler will remain in the office, with Burt Jones serving as chief of staff, the mayor’s office said in a statement on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I want to thank everyone who is leaving the office for their service,” Jenkins said in the statement. “It has always been our intention to allow our next Mayor to choose their own staff after the April 15 special election.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The handwritten note by chief of staff Leigh Hanson was included among records the city made public last week related to the FBI’s probe of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, whose recall in November led to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12032042/oakland-special-election-candidate-guide-and-how-to-vote\">this month’s special mayoral election\u003c/a>. Hanson was chief of staff for Thao and stayed on after her recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the note, which KQED obtained last week, the word “Recall” appears at the top with people and groups known to have financially backed or opposed the recall campaign against Thao jotted down below.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12034813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12034813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1522\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf.png 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf-800x609.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf-1020x776.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf-160x122.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf-1536x1169.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/04/OAK_PRA_0054921.pdf-1920x1461.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This handwritten note by chief of staff Leigh Hanson was included among records the city made public last week related to the FBI’s probe of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the upper right-hand corner, “CM Fife can outreach to NAACP” is written, seemingly referring to Oakland City Councilmember Carroll Fife.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Underneath that, the words “use BP as tokens” appear, set off by dashes. Hanson \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/leigh-hanson-oakland-20261051.php\">told the \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, which first reported her firing, that “BP” referred to Black people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a text message to KQED on Monday, Hanson said the note was taken out of context.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“These handwritten meeting notes record a group discussion that included proposed messaging points that the anti-recall campaign wanted to provide to potential surrogates,” Hanson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hanson said the notes were a reference to recall organizer Seneca Scott, who she said was hired by wealthy white \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998651/a-hedge-fund-manager-is-funding-bid-to-oust-oaklands-mayor-and-its-not-his-first-recall\">funders of the effort\u003c/a> to obscure the public’s understanding of the campaign’s political origins. According to Hanson, Thao and her political team believed that the paid involvement of Scott, who is Black, in the recall campaign constituted tokenization — when a member of an underrepresented group is used to create the appearance of diversity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I regret that my short-hand note-taking has been taken out of context on social media and inadvertently harmed close friends, colleagues and members of my community who have been marginalized by our political system,” Hanson said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a press conference on Monday morning, the Oakland chapter of the NAACP thanked Jenkins.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I never dreamed in Oakland, California, that we would be called a token,” said Cynthia Adams, president of the chapter. “I just want to thank our interim mayor Kevin Jenkins for having courage to do what he did, to make a stand for the people of Oakland and for his Black community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12012869\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-12012869 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTIONNIGHT-CC-7-KQED_1-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cynthia Adams, president of the Oakland NAACP chapter, smiles at the election watch party organized by the Oakland NAACP chapter pro-recall group at Scott’s Seafood Grill and Bar in Jack London Square in Oakland on election night, Nov. 5, 2024. \u003ccite>(Camille Cohen for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Standing behind Adams at the press conference were Scott and fellow Thao recall organizer Brenda Harbin-Forte; Brenda Grisham and Carl Chan, organizers of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12017506/these-maps-show-where-pamela-price-lost-the-most-support-from-voters-in-the-recall-election\">recall of former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price\u003c/a>; and Oakland mayoral candidate \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12033381/fake-news-oakland-election-ads-raise-concerns-over-misleading-headlines\">Loren Taylor\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked about the note’s reference to Fife reaching out to the NAACP, Adams said the chapter had not heard from the councilmember for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s darkness what’s in that City Hall. I was wondering why it was so dark over there. It was dark because it was a lot of darkness going on. But now, it’s light,” Adams said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fife did not respond to a request for comment Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brandon Harami, another staffer in the mayor’s office who served under Thao, told KQED he was informed in a meeting on Monday morning that he was being placed on leave and would be terminated Friday. Deputy Mayor Burt Jones and City Administrator Jestin Johnson were both in the meeting, he said.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This is clearly retaliatory action in response to an inaccurate and misleading release from the leadership of the Oakland NAACP, who has reason to dislike me after I landed a settlement with one of their officers for harassment,” Harami said in a statement, referring to Scott. “I am pursuing next steps with both my Union and other avenues.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In December, the city filed a petition for a workplace violence restraining order against Scott after he posted Harami’s address and cellphone number on social media and accused Harami of being a pedophile, according to court records. Scott agreed in a Feb. 6 settlement not to post Harami’s contact information or location, or accuse him of being a pedophile or of being abused by his parents. Harami also agreed not to post Scott’s contact information or home address, although the settlement notes he had not previously done so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adams declined to comment on Harami’s claim of retaliation, saying that she didn’t know anything about that. A city spokesperson also declined, saying the city does not comment on personnel matters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland City Councilmember Janani Ramachandran said she was glad to see Hanson go, criticizing her involvement in and defense of the decision to tie the city’s budget \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12030157/supervisors-aim-to-finalize-coliseum-sale-offering-hope-for-oaklands-budget-woes\">to the sale of the Coliseum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I do think that the office led by Leigh Hanson as a whole was responsible for some very destructive decisions in the city, and I’m glad she is gone,” Ramachandran said. “I fully stand by the mayor and his decisions to fire many of these people associated with two years of some really horrible decisions for the city – on many fronts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other council members did not respond to KQED’s requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hanson’s note appeared in a trove of documents released last week after the city produced them in response to Department of Justice subpoenas last year following the FBI’s raid of Thao’s home and addresses tied to the Duong family, which owns California Waste Solutions, Oakland’s recycling contractor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12022612/ex-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-3-others-charged-with-bribery-sprawling-corruption-probe\">was indicted\u003c/a> in January on bribery and fraud charges, alongside her boyfriend, Andre Jones, California Waste Solutions CEO David Duong and his son, Andy Duong. All four have pleaded not guilty.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "the-indictment-of-former-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao",
"title": "The Indictment of Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao",
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"headTitle": "The Indictment of Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who was recalled from office in the November election, has been charged with eight counts of conspiracy and bribery. Last week, federal officials unsealed an indictment which includes Thao, her longtime romantic partner, and two prominent businessmen affiliated with the city’s recycling contractor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr />\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC9450016544\" 0=\"width="100%"/iframe\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:29] So seeing a headline like the former mayor of Oakland has been indicted and charged, I mean, that’s a huge, huge deal. What happened here, Alex?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:01:48] Last week on Thursday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Thao had been indicted, citing an unnamed source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:57] Alex Hall is a reporter for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:02:00] Roughly the same time, we received notification from the U.S. Attorney’s office that they were planning to make an announcement about a significant law enforcement action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Patrick Robbins \u003c/strong>[00:02:11] Good morning. My name is Patrick Robbins. I’m the first assistant U.S. attorney here in the northern district of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:02:18] So last Friday, we went to the press conference, which took place at the federal building in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Patrick Robbins \u003c/strong>[00:02:26] Before I describe the details of the indictment, I want to emphasize one thing. What I’m about to describe are just allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:02:34] And the announcement that they made was that they were unsealing an eight count indictment charging former Mayor Thao, her longtime boyfriend, Andre Jones, and two businessman, father and son, David and Andy Duong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Patrick Robbins \u003c/strong>[00:02:47] The indictment returned by the grand jury, describes a corrupt scheme in which the defendants used bribes, mail fraud, wire fraud and other illegal practices to manipulate and corruptly influence the levers of local government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:03:02] They said that the investigation had been going on for years and that it started with a tip from the Oakland Ethics Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:03:14] So let’s talk about the indictment itself, Alex. What does it accuse former Mayor Sheng Thao of? Specifically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:03:21] The indictment describes an alleged corruption scheme in which the feds say that Thao agreed to take certain actions as mayor that would benefit the Huang’s if she were elected, and in exchange that Duong allegedly funded negative campaign mailers targeting her opponents. And Jones was allegedly paid tens of thousands of dollars for a no show job with the promise of even more money that prosecutors say would benefit Jones And how? The feds allege that this so-called pay to play scheme started in the lead up to the 2022 mayoral election, and that Towle promised to do a number of things once she was in office. One was committing the city of Oakland to use public money to purchase housing units from the Duongs housing Company. Another was extending the city of Oakland’s contract with the Duong recycling company, California Waste Solutions. She also allegedly agreed to appoint city officials selected by the drawings and an unnamed coconspirator in the indictment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:04:34] There are several people who are being charged here. Let’s start with Andre Jones, her longtime partner. What exactly is he being accused of?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:04:45] Jones alleged involvement in this so called pay to play scheme was receiving money from the Duongs and an unnamed coconspirator in the indictment for a no show job. Basically, it’s a paid position that requires an individual to perform duties for which no work or attendance is actually expected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:05:09] And who exactly are the Duongs? Alex Because we’ve been talking about them a lot here. Tell us a little bit more about them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:05:19] Yeah. So the Duong family owns California Waste Solutions, which is Oakland’s curbside recycling provider. The company’s CEO is David Duong and he runs the company with other members of his family. The Duongs are major political donors. They regularly donate to candidates at the local, state and federal level. David Duong son Andy Duong is kind of a flashy guy. If you look at his Instagram account, he has a lot of photos of himself posing with big name politicians and living this kind of lavish lifestyle. There’s a photo of him on a yacht with the caption, Another day, another yacht, him posing in a limo with the Bontas, photos with Gavin Newsom. Xavier Becerra, Barbara Lee, the Duongs, David and Andy Duong in this indictment are accused of bribery and many of the same charges that Thao and Jones are accused of. With the exception that Andy Duong is also accused of making false statements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:06:30] I mean, Alex, you. You’ve just painted. I feel like a mean a very shocking picture of a mayor who it sounds like is being accused of essentially abusing her political power. What has Thao said so far in response to what is in the indictment?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:06:51] I mean, I think it is important to point out these are just allegations. She herself hasn’t said anything publicly, but her attorney did address the media following her arraignment in Oakland on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Jeff Tsai \u003c/strong>[00:07:02] Name is Jeff Tsai. I am counsel on behalf of Mayor Thao. We just have a short statement. Today’s indictment and the press conference that was held by the government earlier this morning was successful in grabbing headlines. But what it did not do was serve the ends of justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:07:18] Tsai also questioned the timing of the indictment, but it has amplified how politicized this case may be being perceived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Jeff Tsai \u003c/strong>[00:07:26] In this case. The case is built on allegations from an unknown coconspirator that we believe, when the evidence is revealed, will show that my client has committed no crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:07:39] He also mentioned the Justice manual and how the government is obligated to be careful in how they when they’re prosecuting a case so as not to influence the outcome of an election. And that’s something that we heard quite a bit from Thao herself last year as she was on the campaign trail fighting the recall effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:08:05] Of course, this is just the beginning. And as you mentioned, there’s a whole process that needs to unfold. All these folks who will have their day in court. But what would the consequences be if Thao and Jones and the Duongs are, in fact, found guilty here? Like what could prison time look like for these these folks?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:08:25] I mean, it depends. Any one of the defendants could decide to work out a plea deal and admit to some or all of the charges in order to avoid going to trial. Each of the six counts that Thao is charged with carries a maximum possible sentence of five, 10 or 20 years. So technically, if she were convicted on all counts, she could face a sentence of decades in prison. But, you know, it’s hard to say how realistic that is or whether it would actually happen. You know, maybe she could pay a fine or face a different type of penalty. At this point, it’s really early in the process to predict what’s at the end of that road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:09:16] I mean, what’s the reaction been so far?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:09:30] Well, this city has been pretty quiet. I reached out to a couple of people in the mayor’s office who declined to comment. I reached out to all members of the city council. Didn’t hear back from really anyone except for council member Janani Ramachandran, who said that, you know, this is a blow to public trust at a time when trust is already low. Oakland is getting ready to choose a new mayor in a few months in an April special election. And candidates who are running for mayor to fill those shoes were pretty vocal following this announcement on Friday. You know, and in the indictment, it talks about how the Duongs and Thao allegedly conspired to print these mailers to target Thao’s opponents. One of those individuals was Loren Taylor, former city council member, who, if you remember, very narrowly lost to Thao in the 2022 mayoral election. When I talked to him, he said that, you know, this really reinforces the distrust that a lot of people in Oakland already have about local government. And he said that it’s going to take a lot to restore that trust. Recently retired East Bay Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who recently announced she’s entering the race, sent out an emailed statement in which she called the allegations devastating. She said there should be no tolerance whatsoever for secret pay to play schemes that local government and our political system must be beyond reproach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Renia Webb \u003c/strong>[00:11:01] I was subpoenaed to testify in front of the grand jury last month, and so that’s why I had an idea that the charges would be forthcoming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:11:09] I also talked to Renia Webb, who was Thao’s chief of staff when she was on the city council, and who continued to work for Thao after she won in 2022 and was kind of transitioning into the mayor’s office. And she when she heard the announcement about the charges, she was really quite emotional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Renia Webb \u003c/strong>[00:11:28] I’m just extremely proud of Oakland. You know, we as a city stood up and said enough is enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:11:36] She said that, you know, there’s this light at the end of the tunnel and, you know, it’s time to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Renia Webb \u003c/strong>[00:11:42] We voted for the recall and today is confirmation that we did the right thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:11:54] Do you think we can expect a lot more to come out from here? Like maybe more shoes to drop even beyond Sheng Thao?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:12:03] Personally, I think that the city of Oakland and potentially other parts of the East Bay are going to be feeling the impact of this for some time. And that’s for a number of reasons. One is that federal officials said that the investigation is ongoing. There could be more indictments. Just last week, the FBI raided San Leandro City council members home. So this could be one of several indictments that come out. We really don’t know. Another reason is that the allegations that are described in the indictment, the time period that that they’re talking about, was really recent, as recent as early last year. So some of the employees and topics that are described are still active in city government today. California Waste Solutions still has a contract with the city of Oakland through 2035. And then another reason that I think that this is going to continue to reverberate is that looking at the subpoenas, there were a lot of topics and people that the feds appeared to be interested in that were not mentioned in this indictment. So that tells me either in their digging into these topics, they didn’t find evidence of a crime or it could mean that they’re still looking into those people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:13:26] It seems like the indictment is already affecting this special election coming in a few months. I mean, how do you think this news is going to affect, I guess, the conversation about Oakland’s future in the coming months? Because, I mean, there’s already been so much cynicism and I feel like exhaustion in the city around corruption. And I feel like people are tired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[00:13:53] \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think that this is going to open up a conversation about trust in government in Oakland. In covering the last election. I did hear from voters who were disillusioned with city hall in city politics. There was a lot of frustration and questions about why the city is in the current financial situation that it’s in right now. You know, it’s facing a nearly $130 million budget deficit. It also is going to be facing a huge structural deficit that the mayor’s office and city council are going to be working to try to fix for years to come. I think that people are going to have questions. You know, what does Oakland’s next mayor plan to do to root out corruption and to make sure these kinds of pay to play schemes don’t happen?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, who was recalled from office in the November election, has been charged with eight counts of conspiracy and bribery. Last week, federal officials unsealed an indictment which includes Thao, her longtime romantic partner, and two prominent businessmen affiliated with the city’s recycling contractor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr />\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC9450016544\" 0=\"width="100%"/iframe\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:29] So seeing a headline like the former mayor of Oakland has been indicted and charged, I mean, that’s a huge, huge deal. What happened here, Alex?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:01:48] Last week on Thursday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Thao had been indicted, citing an unnamed source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:57] Alex Hall is a reporter for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:02:00] Roughly the same time, we received notification from the U.S. Attorney’s office that they were planning to make an announcement about a significant law enforcement action.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Patrick Robbins \u003c/strong>[00:02:11] Good morning. My name is Patrick Robbins. I’m the first assistant U.S. attorney here in the northern district of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:02:18] So last Friday, we went to the press conference, which took place at the federal building in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Patrick Robbins \u003c/strong>[00:02:26] Before I describe the details of the indictment, I want to emphasize one thing. What I’m about to describe are just allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:02:34] And the announcement that they made was that they were unsealing an eight count indictment charging former Mayor Thao, her longtime boyfriend, Andre Jones, and two businessman, father and son, David and Andy Duong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Patrick Robbins \u003c/strong>[00:02:47] The indictment returned by the grand jury, describes a corrupt scheme in which the defendants used bribes, mail fraud, wire fraud and other illegal practices to manipulate and corruptly influence the levers of local government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:03:02] They said that the investigation had been going on for years and that it started with a tip from the Oakland Ethics Commission.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:03:14] So let’s talk about the indictment itself, Alex. What does it accuse former Mayor Sheng Thao of? Specifically.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:03:21] The indictment describes an alleged corruption scheme in which the feds say that Thao agreed to take certain actions as mayor that would benefit the Huang’s if she were elected, and in exchange that Duong allegedly funded negative campaign mailers targeting her opponents. And Jones was allegedly paid tens of thousands of dollars for a no show job with the promise of even more money that prosecutors say would benefit Jones And how? The feds allege that this so-called pay to play scheme started in the lead up to the 2022 mayoral election, and that Towle promised to do a number of things once she was in office. One was committing the city of Oakland to use public money to purchase housing units from the Duongs housing Company. Another was extending the city of Oakland’s contract with the Duong recycling company, California Waste Solutions. She also allegedly agreed to appoint city officials selected by the drawings and an unnamed coconspirator in the indictment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:04:34] There are several people who are being charged here. Let’s start with Andre Jones, her longtime partner. What exactly is he being accused of?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:04:45] Jones alleged involvement in this so called pay to play scheme was receiving money from the Duongs and an unnamed coconspirator in the indictment for a no show job. Basically, it’s a paid position that requires an individual to perform duties for which no work or attendance is actually expected.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:05:09] And who exactly are the Duongs? Alex Because we’ve been talking about them a lot here. Tell us a little bit more about them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:05:19] Yeah. So the Duong family owns California Waste Solutions, which is Oakland’s curbside recycling provider. The company’s CEO is David Duong and he runs the company with other members of his family. The Duongs are major political donors. They regularly donate to candidates at the local, state and federal level. David Duong son Andy Duong is kind of a flashy guy. If you look at his Instagram account, he has a lot of photos of himself posing with big name politicians and living this kind of lavish lifestyle. There’s a photo of him on a yacht with the caption, Another day, another yacht, him posing in a limo with the Bontas, photos with Gavin Newsom. Xavier Becerra, Barbara Lee, the Duongs, David and Andy Duong in this indictment are accused of bribery and many of the same charges that Thao and Jones are accused of. With the exception that Andy Duong is also accused of making false statements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:06:30] I mean, Alex, you. You’ve just painted. I feel like a mean a very shocking picture of a mayor who it sounds like is being accused of essentially abusing her political power. What has Thao said so far in response to what is in the indictment?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:06:51] I mean, I think it is important to point out these are just allegations. She herself hasn’t said anything publicly, but her attorney did address the media following her arraignment in Oakland on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Jeff Tsai \u003c/strong>[00:07:02] Name is Jeff Tsai. I am counsel on behalf of Mayor Thao. We just have a short statement. Today’s indictment and the press conference that was held by the government earlier this morning was successful in grabbing headlines. But what it did not do was serve the ends of justice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:07:18] Tsai also questioned the timing of the indictment, but it has amplified how politicized this case may be being perceived.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Jeff Tsai \u003c/strong>[00:07:26] In this case. The case is built on allegations from an unknown coconspirator that we believe, when the evidence is revealed, will show that my client has committed no crimes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:07:39] He also mentioned the Justice manual and how the government is obligated to be careful in how they when they’re prosecuting a case so as not to influence the outcome of an election. And that’s something that we heard quite a bit from Thao herself last year as she was on the campaign trail fighting the recall effort.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:08:05] Of course, this is just the beginning. And as you mentioned, there’s a whole process that needs to unfold. All these folks who will have their day in court. But what would the consequences be if Thao and Jones and the Duongs are, in fact, found guilty here? Like what could prison time look like for these these folks?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:08:25] I mean, it depends. Any one of the defendants could decide to work out a plea deal and admit to some or all of the charges in order to avoid going to trial. Each of the six counts that Thao is charged with carries a maximum possible sentence of five, 10 or 20 years. So technically, if she were convicted on all counts, she could face a sentence of decades in prison. But, you know, it’s hard to say how realistic that is or whether it would actually happen. You know, maybe she could pay a fine or face a different type of penalty. At this point, it’s really early in the process to predict what’s at the end of that road.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:09:16] I mean, what’s the reaction been so far?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:09:30] Well, this city has been pretty quiet. I reached out to a couple of people in the mayor’s office who declined to comment. I reached out to all members of the city council. Didn’t hear back from really anyone except for council member Janani Ramachandran, who said that, you know, this is a blow to public trust at a time when trust is already low. Oakland is getting ready to choose a new mayor in a few months in an April special election. And candidates who are running for mayor to fill those shoes were pretty vocal following this announcement on Friday. You know, and in the indictment, it talks about how the Duongs and Thao allegedly conspired to print these mailers to target Thao’s opponents. One of those individuals was Loren Taylor, former city council member, who, if you remember, very narrowly lost to Thao in the 2022 mayoral election. When I talked to him, he said that, you know, this really reinforces the distrust that a lot of people in Oakland already have about local government. And he said that it’s going to take a lot to restore that trust. Recently retired East Bay Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who recently announced she’s entering the race, sent out an emailed statement in which she called the allegations devastating. She said there should be no tolerance whatsoever for secret pay to play schemes that local government and our political system must be beyond reproach.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Renia Webb \u003c/strong>[00:11:01] I was subpoenaed to testify in front of the grand jury last month, and so that’s why I had an idea that the charges would be forthcoming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:11:09] I also talked to Renia Webb, who was Thao’s chief of staff when she was on the city council, and who continued to work for Thao after she won in 2022 and was kind of transitioning into the mayor’s office. And she when she heard the announcement about the charges, she was really quite emotional.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Renia Webb \u003c/strong>[00:11:28] I’m just extremely proud of Oakland. You know, we as a city stood up and said enough is enough.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:11:36] She said that, you know, there’s this light at the end of the tunnel and, you know, it’s time to move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Renia Webb \u003c/strong>[00:11:42] We voted for the recall and today is confirmation that we did the right thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:11:54] Do you think we can expect a lot more to come out from here? Like maybe more shoes to drop even beyond Sheng Thao?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:12:03] Personally, I think that the city of Oakland and potentially other parts of the East Bay are going to be feeling the impact of this for some time. And that’s for a number of reasons. One is that federal officials said that the investigation is ongoing. There could be more indictments. Just last week, the FBI raided San Leandro City council members home. So this could be one of several indictments that come out. We really don’t know. Another reason is that the allegations that are described in the indictment, the time period that that they’re talking about, was really recent, as recent as early last year. So some of the employees and topics that are described are still active in city government today. California Waste Solutions still has a contract with the city of Oakland through 2035. And then another reason that I think that this is going to continue to reverberate is that looking at the subpoenas, there were a lot of topics and people that the feds appeared to be interested in that were not mentioned in this indictment. So that tells me either in their digging into these topics, they didn’t find evidence of a crime or it could mean that they’re still looking into those people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:13:26] It seems like the indictment is already affecting this special election coming in a few months. I mean, how do you think this news is going to affect, I guess, the conversation about Oakland’s future in the coming months? Because, I mean, there’s already been so much cynicism and I feel like exhaustion in the city around corruption. And I feel like people are tired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[00:13:53] \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I think that this is going to open up a conversation about trust in government in Oakland. In covering the last election. I did hear from voters who were disillusioned with city hall in city politics. There was a lot of frustration and questions about why the city is in the current financial situation that it’s in right now. You know, it’s facing a nearly $130 million budget deficit. It also is going to be facing a huge structural deficit that the mayor’s office and city council are going to be working to try to fix for years to come. I think that people are going to have questions. You know, what does Oakland’s next mayor plan to do to root out corruption and to make sure these kinds of pay to play schemes don’t happen?\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:01 p.m. Friday \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Oakland Mayor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sheng-thao\">Sheng Thao\u003c/a> and three others were charged with eight counts of conspiracy and bribery in a federal courthouse in Oakland on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The arraignment followed the release of a bombshell federal indictment alleging a “pay-to-play” corruption scheme involving Thao, longtime romantic partner Andre Jones and two prominent businessmen affiliated with the city’s recycling contractor, Oakland-based company California Waste Solutions: David and his son Andy Duong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The indictment returned by the grand jury describes a corrupt scheme in which the defendants used bribes, mail fraud, wire fraud and other illegal practices to manipulate and corruptly influence the levers of local government,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins said at a Friday morning press conference, where officials provided more details about their probe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All four defendants pleaded not guilty and were released on bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fielding questions from the press and some jeering from Thao’s critics on the courthouse steps, Thao’s attorney criticized the role of an unnamed conspirator in the case, who he said provided the evidence central to the FBI’s case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The mayor looks forward to defending herself against these charges, showing that there is, in fact, no evidence to support these charges,” said Jeff Tsai, Thao’s counsel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12022841\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12022841\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, leaves the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/indictment-PDF.pdf\">indictment (PDF)\u003c/a> alleges that Thao promised to take official actions as mayor to benefit the Duong family in exchange for benefits for her and Jones. This included a promise of a commitment by the city of Oakland to purchase housing units from the Duong family’s housing company, Evolutionary Homes, to extend contracts with the Duong family’s recycling company, and to appoint senior city officials selected by the Duongs and the unnamed co-conspirator, identified as “a local businessman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In exchange, the Duongs promised to pay $75,000 to fund negative mailers targeting Thao’s opponents in the mayoral election and to make $300,000 in direct payments for no-show jobs to Jones, according to the indictment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It became clear that the FBI was investigating this network of relationships since the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991242/fbi-agents-raid-home-of-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao\"> FBI raid of Thao’s home\u003c/a> in June, along with properties owned by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991426/oakland-fbi-raids-also-targeted-this-powerful-family-heres-what-we-know\">Duong family\u003c/a>. The Duongs have been the focus of a separate investigation by the Oakland Public Ethics Commission and California Fair Political Practices Commission into an alleged straw donor scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Financial records indicate that after Jones began receiving payments from the one unnamed conspirator, he began contributing to his and Thao’s monthly rent payments. Previously, Thao had paid these bills, the indictment said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11991432\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11991432 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. postal inspectors check documents at a home tied to David Duong, one of the multiple properties searched by law enforcement that included residences to members of a politically connected family who run the city-contracted recycling company, California Waste Solutions, in Oakland on June 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for both David and Andy Duong said the father and son were innocent of all charges. Andy Duong’s attorney called the allegations “baseless” and stitched together by “gossip and supposition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Disappointingly, Andy instead is today the most recent in a long line of Asian Americans who unfairly are singled out and forced to pay a price for daring to be active in the political sphere,” Winston Chan, Andy Duong’s counsel, told KQED in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao and Jones will make their next appearance in U.S. District Court on Feb. 6. Jones will return on Jan. 22 to resolve the question of whether he qualifies for appointed counsel after stating that he cannot afford a private attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao, Jones and the Duongs face six counts, each carrying a maximum sentence of five to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Andy Duong also faces an additional charge of making a false statement to a government agency, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12022786\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12022786\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001-1920x1282.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sheng Thao stands outside of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thao has repeatedly asserted her innocence and said that federal officials had told her attorney she was not \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991658/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-to-make-first-public-comments-since-fbi-raids\">the focus of their investigation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao’s short tenure as Oakland mayor ended with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">a recall in November\u003c/a>, decided by 65.3% of Oakland voters. Recall organizers blamed the city’s challenges — including crime, shuttering businesses and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009486/oaklands-finances-significant-risk-report-warns-coliseum-sale-raises-questions\">multimillion-dollar budget deficit\u003c/a> — on what they described as Thao’s incompetence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August 2023, Thao led a 50-person delegation of Port of Oakland officials and East Bay political players, including the Duongs and San Leandro Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, to Vietnam. The trip was co-sponsored by the Vietnamese American Business Association, an organization founded by David Duong and headquartered in Oakland. The FBI raided Azevedo’s home on Wednesday, but he was not named as a defendant in the indictment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao said their goal was to invest in the city’s trade relationship with Vietnam and reported meeting with the mayors of major port cities, Ho Chi Minh and Haiphong, along with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. In a press conference shortly after the trip, she reported that the port had signed a new memorandum of understanding with the Long An International Port.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11991412 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01-1020x765.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I advocated for Oakland, for the benefits of partnering with our port and for the opportunities at our airport,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the trip was also met with scrutiny after reporting revealed it had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991426/oakland-fbi-raids-also-targeted-this-powerful-family-heres-what-we-know\">cost about $12,000 per attendee\u003c/a> — including business class flights, five-star hotel stays and meals and transportation. The Duongs’ financial involvement is also questionable, considering their lucrative city contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As far back as 2014, the Duongs have been accused of using political power to leverage business deals with the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Texas-based Waste Management sued the city of Oakland, alleging that the Duongs’ “long-term personal and political connections” with the City Council swayed its decision to award Cal Waste a $1 billion contract against city staff’s recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council ultimately opted to give Waste Management the compost and trash contracts, while Cal Waste got the recycling deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The interim mayor’s office declined to provide a statement about the indictments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A special election to replace Thao will be held in Oakland in April. Leading candidates, including former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, responded to the indictment on social media platform \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/BarbaraLee_CA/status/1880317722627830198\">X\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The allegations contained in the criminal indictment are devastating,” Lee wrote. “There should be no tolerance whatsoever for secret pay-to-play schemes that erode the public trust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12022810\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12022810\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Loren Taylor, former District 6 Councilmember, makes remarks to the media outside of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Loren Taylor, who announced his candidacy in November and lost to Thao by a narrow margin in 2022, said it was unfortunate that the city of Oakland was back in the news because of a corruption scandal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to make sure that our elected officials are focused on the things that matter most to everyday Oaklanders’ lives,” Taylor said, “and are not distracted by things like political scandals or returning favors for others who have supported them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Renia Webb, Thao’s former chief of staff and another candidate in the special election, told KQED on Thursday when news of the indictment broke: “Today, I feel like Oakland is going to be able to move forward. We’re walking into a brighter future, and I feel that way, like we’re taking a turn.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The winner of the special election will complete Thao’s unfinished term in 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ahall\">\u003cem>Alex Hall\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:01 p.m. Friday \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Oakland Mayor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sheng-thao\">Sheng Thao\u003c/a> and three others were charged with eight counts of conspiracy and bribery in a federal courthouse in Oakland on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The arraignment followed the release of a bombshell federal indictment alleging a “pay-to-play” corruption scheme involving Thao, longtime romantic partner Andre Jones and two prominent businessmen affiliated with the city’s recycling contractor, Oakland-based company California Waste Solutions: David and his son Andy Duong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The indictment returned by the grand jury describes a corrupt scheme in which the defendants used bribes, mail fraud, wire fraud and other illegal practices to manipulate and corruptly influence the levers of local government,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Robbins said at a Friday morning press conference, where officials provided more details about their probe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All four defendants pleaded not guilty and were released on bond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fielding questions from the press and some jeering from Thao’s critics on the courthouse steps, Thao’s attorney criticized the role of an unnamed conspirator in the case, who he said provided the evidence central to the FBI’s case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The mayor looks forward to defending herself against these charges, showing that there is, in fact, no evidence to support these charges,” said Jeff Tsai, Thao’s counsel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12022841\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12022841\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00010-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Andre Jones, longtime partner of former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, leaves the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/indictment-PDF.pdf\">indictment (PDF)\u003c/a> alleges that Thao promised to take official actions as mayor to benefit the Duong family in exchange for benefits for her and Jones. This included a promise of a commitment by the city of Oakland to purchase housing units from the Duong family’s housing company, Evolutionary Homes, to extend contracts with the Duong family’s recycling company, and to appoint senior city officials selected by the Duongs and the unnamed co-conspirator, identified as “a local businessman.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In exchange, the Duongs promised to pay $75,000 to fund negative mailers targeting Thao’s opponents in the mayoral election and to make $300,000 in direct payments for no-show jobs to Jones, according to the indictment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It became clear that the FBI was investigating this network of relationships since the\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991242/fbi-agents-raid-home-of-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao\"> FBI raid of Thao’s home\u003c/a> in June, along with properties owned by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991426/oakland-fbi-raids-also-targeted-this-powerful-family-heres-what-we-know\">Duong family\u003c/a>. The Duongs have been the focus of a separate investigation by the Oakland Public Ethics Commission and California Fair Political Practices Commission into an alleged straw donor scheme.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Financial records indicate that after Jones began receiving payments from the one unnamed conspirator, he began contributing to his and Thao’s monthly rent payments. Previously, Thao had paid these bills, the indictment said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11991432\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11991432 size-full\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. postal inspectors check documents at a home tied to David Duong, one of the multiple properties searched by law enforcement that included residences to members of a politically connected family who run the city-contracted recycling company, California Waste Solutions, in Oakland on June 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Attorneys for both David and Andy Duong said the father and son were innocent of all charges. Andy Duong’s attorney called the allegations “baseless” and stitched together by “gossip and supposition.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Disappointingly, Andy instead is today the most recent in a long line of Asian Americans who unfairly are singled out and forced to pay a price for daring to be active in the political sphere,” Winston Chan, Andy Duong’s counsel, told KQED in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao and Jones will make their next appearance in U.S. District Court on Feb. 6. Jones will return on Jan. 22 to resolve the question of whether he qualifies for appointed counsel after stating that he cannot afford a private attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao, Jones and the Duongs face six counts, each carrying a maximum sentence of five to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Andy Duong also faces an additional charge of making a false statement to a government agency, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12022786\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12022786\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1335\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001-1020x681.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00001-1920x1282.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sheng Thao stands outside of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Thao has repeatedly asserted her innocence and said that federal officials had told her attorney she was not \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991658/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-to-make-first-public-comments-since-fbi-raids\">the focus of their investigation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao’s short tenure as Oakland mayor ended with \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">a recall in November\u003c/a>, decided by 65.3% of Oakland voters. Recall organizers blamed the city’s challenges — including crime, shuttering businesses and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009486/oaklands-finances-significant-risk-report-warns-coliseum-sale-raises-questions\">multimillion-dollar budget deficit\u003c/a> — on what they described as Thao’s incompetence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In August 2023, Thao led a 50-person delegation of Port of Oakland officials and East Bay political players, including the Duongs and San Leandro Councilmember Bryan Azevedo, to Vietnam. The trip was co-sponsored by the Vietnamese American Business Association, an organization founded by David Duong and headquartered in Oakland. The FBI raided Azevedo’s home on Wednesday, but he was not named as a defendant in the indictment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao said their goal was to invest in the city’s trade relationship with Vietnam and reported meeting with the mayors of major port cities, Ho Chi Minh and Haiphong, along with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. In a press conference shortly after the trip, she reported that the port had signed a new memorandum of understanding with the Long An International Port.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I advocated for Oakland, for the benefits of partnering with our port and for the opportunities at our airport,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the trip was also met with scrutiny after reporting revealed it had \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991426/oakland-fbi-raids-also-targeted-this-powerful-family-heres-what-we-know\">cost about $12,000 per attendee\u003c/a> — including business class flights, five-star hotel stays and meals and transportation. The Duongs’ financial involvement is also questionable, considering their lucrative city contracts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As far back as 2014, the Duongs have been accused of using political power to leverage business deals with the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Texas-based Waste Management sued the city of Oakland, alleging that the Duongs’ “long-term personal and political connections” with the City Council swayed its decision to award Cal Waste a $1 billion contract against city staff’s recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The council ultimately opted to give Waste Management the compost and trash contracts, while Cal Waste got the recycling deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The interim mayor’s office declined to provide a statement about the indictments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A special election to replace Thao will be held in Oakland in April. Leading candidates, including former U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, responded to the indictment on social media platform \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/BarbaraLee_CA/status/1880317722627830198\">X\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The allegations contained in the criminal indictment are devastating,” Lee wrote. “There should be no tolerance whatsoever for secret pay-to-play schemes that erode the public trust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12022810\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12022810\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/01/20250117_Thao-Recall_BL_00008-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Loren Taylor, former District 6 Councilmember, makes remarks to the media outside of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Oakland on Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Loren Taylor, who announced his candidacy in November and lost to Thao by a narrow margin in 2022, said it was unfortunate that the city of Oakland was back in the news because of a corruption scandal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have to make sure that our elected officials are focused on the things that matter most to everyday Oaklanders’ lives,” Taylor said, “and are not distracted by things like political scandals or returning favors for others who have supported them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Renia Webb, Thao’s former chief of staff and another candidate in the special election, told KQED on Thursday when news of the indictment broke: “Today, I feel like Oakland is going to be able to move forward. We’re walking into a brighter future, and I feel that way, like we’re taking a turn.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The winner of the special election will complete Thao’s unfinished term in 2027.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ahall\">\u003cem>Alex Hall\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "fbi-raids-home-san-leandro-council-member-joined-vietnam-trip-sheng-thao",
"title": "Ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao Is Reportedly Indicted by Federal Grand Jury",
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"headTitle": "Ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao Is Reportedly Indicted by Federal Grand Jury | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:43 p.m. Thursday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former staffer of recalled Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said Thursday that she testified before a federal grand jury about her ex-boss, who has reportedly been indicted following \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12018120/family-center-oakland-fbi-raid-backed-thao-secure-lucrative-contracts-da-says\">an FBI investigation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>, citing an unnamed source familiar with the investigation, reported Thursday afternoon that Thao had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/oakland-sheng-thao-indicted-20038739.php\">indicted by the grand jury\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Renia Webb, who was Thao’s chief of staff when she was a member of the City Council and aided in her transition to the mayor’s office, told KQED she believed charges were forthcoming after she was subpoenaed to testify last month but added that she hadn’t been notified by the U.S. attorney’s office about what they might be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today, I feel like Oakland is going to be able to move forward,” said Webb, who is running in this year’s special election to replace Thao. “We’re walking into a brighter future and I feel that way, like we’re taking a turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew it was coming, but it’s just — yeah, a blessing. A blessing for Oakland,” she continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11991627\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11991627\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">FBI agents raid the Maiden Lane home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao on June 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of California declined to comment on the report of an indictment, but it had announced earlier that it would reveal an unspecified “significant law enforcement action” on Friday morning in a press conference with representatives from the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and IRS Criminal Investigation’s Oakland field office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao has been one of the central figures in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12018120/family-center-oakland-fbi-raid-backed-thao-secure-lucrative-contracts-da-says\">ongoing federal corruption investigation\u003c/a> in Oakland, which has also ensnared the politically connected Duong family, who own the city’s curbside recycling contractor, California Waste Solutions. A spokesperson for Cal Waste said the company had not heard from the federal government about possible indictments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The former mayor has said repeatedly that she is not the target of the investigation, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009615/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-makes-her-case-against-a-recall\">telling KQED’s Political Breakdown\u003c/a> in October, “I am innocent, I have done nothing wrong.” She did not reply to a request for comment by the time of publication Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11991242 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/OaklandMayorRaid01-1020x765.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Councilmember Loren Taylor, who is also running in this year’s special election and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11931400/sheng-thao-oaklands-next-mayor\">finished second to Thao\u003c/a> in 2022, called it “unfortunate that Oakland is in the news, the national news, again for political corruption, for things that are negative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We also have to make sure that our elected officials are focused on the things that matter most to everyday Oaklanders’ lives and not distracted by things like political scandals or doing returning favors for others who have supported them,” Taylor told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Businesses owned by the Duong family and a trip they sponsored for East Bay politicians to Vietnam in 2023 are believed to be connected to the probe, but the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office have so far offered no insight into possible charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report of Thao’s indictment comes a day after the FBI raided the home of Bryan Azevedo, a San Leandro City Council member who traveled to Vietnam with the Duongs and Thao. Three locations associated with David Duong and his son Andy, including Cal Waste’s headquarters, were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11993390/oaklands-federal-subpoena-deadline-is-here-whats-next-in-the-investigation\">raided by federal agents\u003c/a> in June, along with Thao’s home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days after the June raids, a federal grand jury subpoenaed city records referencing Cal Waste, the 2022 mayoral election that Thao won, her long-term partner Andre Jones, and a few other people and businesses. In July, it issued a second subpoena asking for much of the same information, as well as some Oakland police records, including reports made against the Duongs since April 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the federal investigation, the Duong family and Cal Waste have been the subject of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992073/oakland-fbi-raids-and-straw-donor-probe-spur-allegations-of-corruption\">straw donation probe\u003c/a> by the Oakland Public Ethics Commission and the California Fair Political Practices Commission since at least 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state political watchdog agency has said there is probable cause to believe Andy Duong and Cal Waste used other peoples’ names to illegally donate to local campaigns between 2016 and 2018. A probable cause report from the FPPC and Oakland PEC filed in 2021 cites at least 93 donations, totaling over $76,000, to Thao, Oakland City Council members and other local politicians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11991432\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11991432\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. postal inspectors check documents at a home tied to David Duong, one of the multiple properties searched by law enforcement that included residences to members of a politically connected family who run the city-contracted recycling company, California Waste Solutions, in Oakland on June 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Andy Duong made at least one donation to Azevedo’s political campaign in his 2022 bid for San Leandro mayor, which he said in a letter to the \u003cem>San Leandro Times\u003c/em> in June was properly reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days after the June raids, Azevedo distanced himself from the Oakland figures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There have been a lot of rumors recently tying me to Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s alleged corruption scandal and I want to set the record straight,” he wrote in the weekly paper’s June 27 edition. “I don’t know anything about this alleged corruption nor do I believe that we should assume that corruption has happened until the facts come out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Leandro spokesperson Paul Saftner told KQED that the city was not involved in Azevedo’s attendance on the Vietnam trip, which was co-sponsored by the Vietnamese American Business Association, led by David Duong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is the city’s understanding that it did not pay for Councilmember Bryan Azevedo’s travel expenses to attend the 2023 Vietnam trip,” Saftner said in an email. “The only expense incurred by the City was for City-branded giveaway merchandise, which cost approximately $350, which Council Member Azevedo could gift to whoever he wished during the trip.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Leandro Mayor Juan Gonzalez told KQED on Thursday that he did not know whether the FBI was investigating Azevedo specifically and did not believe it had requested any documents from the city at this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will be obviously interested in information that they reveal so that, based on what we hear, if there’s a need for us to take action, certainly we will take action,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this time, there’s just a fair amount of uncertainty … we’re not prepared to speculate,” he continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Azevedo did not respond to KQED’s request for comment on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ahall\">\u003cem>Alex Hall\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/shossaini\">\u003cem>Sara Hossaini\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Thao, who was recalled in November, has been indicted after an FBI investigation. A former staffer said she testified in front of the grand jury. ",
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"title": "Ex-Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao Is Reportedly Indicted by Federal Grand Jury | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3:43 p.m. Thursday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A former staffer of recalled Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said Thursday that she testified before a federal grand jury about her ex-boss, who has reportedly been indicted following \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12018120/family-center-oakland-fbi-raid-backed-thao-secure-lucrative-contracts-da-says\">an FBI investigation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>, citing an unnamed source familiar with the investigation, reported Thursday afternoon that Thao had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/oakland-sheng-thao-indicted-20038739.php\">indicted by the grand jury\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Renia Webb, who was Thao’s chief of staff when she was a member of the City Council and aided in her transition to the mayor’s office, told KQED she believed charges were forthcoming after she was subpoenaed to testify last month but added that she hadn’t been notified by the U.S. attorney’s office about what they might be.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Today, I feel like Oakland is going to be able to move forward,” said Webb, who is running in this year’s special election to replace Thao. “We’re walking into a brighter future and I feel that way, like we’re taking a turn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew it was coming, but it’s just — yeah, a blessing. A blessing for Oakland,” she continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11991627\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11991627\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GettyImages-2157862759-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">FBI agents raid the Maiden Lane home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao on June 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of California declined to comment on the report of an indictment, but it had announced earlier that it would reveal an unspecified “significant law enforcement action” on Friday morning in a press conference with representatives from the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and IRS Criminal Investigation’s Oakland field office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao has been one of the central figures in an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12018120/family-center-oakland-fbi-raid-backed-thao-secure-lucrative-contracts-da-says\">ongoing federal corruption investigation\u003c/a> in Oakland, which has also ensnared the politically connected Duong family, who own the city’s curbside recycling contractor, California Waste Solutions. A spokesperson for Cal Waste said the company had not heard from the federal government about possible indictments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The former mayor has said repeatedly that she is not the target of the investigation, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009615/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-makes-her-case-against-a-recall\">telling KQED’s Political Breakdown\u003c/a> in October, “I am innocent, I have done nothing wrong.” She did not reply to a request for comment by the time of publication Thursday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Former Councilmember Loren Taylor, who is also running in this year’s special election and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11931400/sheng-thao-oaklands-next-mayor\">finished second to Thao\u003c/a> in 2022, called it “unfortunate that Oakland is in the news, the national news, again for political corruption, for things that are negative.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We also have to make sure that our elected officials are focused on the things that matter most to everyday Oaklanders’ lives and not distracted by things like political scandals or doing returning favors for others who have supported them,” Taylor told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Businesses owned by the Duong family and a trip they sponsored for East Bay politicians to Vietnam in 2023 are believed to be connected to the probe, but the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office have so far offered no insight into possible charges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report of Thao’s indictment comes a day after the FBI raided the home of Bryan Azevedo, a San Leandro City Council member who traveled to Vietnam with the Duongs and Thao. Three locations associated with David Duong and his son Andy, including Cal Waste’s headquarters, were \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11993390/oaklands-federal-subpoena-deadline-is-here-whats-next-in-the-investigation\">raided by federal agents\u003c/a> in June, along with Thao’s home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days after the June raids, a federal grand jury subpoenaed city records referencing Cal Waste, the 2022 mayoral election that Thao won, her long-term partner Andre Jones, and a few other people and businesses. In July, it issued a second subpoena asking for much of the same information, as well as some Oakland police records, including reports made against the Duongs since April 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to the federal investigation, the Duong family and Cal Waste have been the subject of a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992073/oakland-fbi-raids-and-straw-donor-probe-spur-allegations-of-corruption\">straw donation probe\u003c/a> by the Oakland Public Ethics Commission and the California Fair Political Practices Commission since at least 2019.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state political watchdog agency has said there is probable cause to believe Andy Duong and Cal Waste used other peoples’ names to illegally donate to local campaigns between 2016 and 2018. A probable cause report from the FPPC and Oakland PEC filed in 2021 cites at least 93 donations, totaling over $76,000, to Thao, Oakland City Council members and other local politicians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11991432\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11991432\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/GETTYIMAGES-2158502017-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">U.S. postal inspectors check documents at a home tied to David Duong, one of the multiple properties searched by law enforcement that included residences to members of a politically connected family who run the city-contracted recycling company, California Waste Solutions, in Oakland on June 20, 2024. \u003ccite>(Ray Chavez/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Andy Duong made at least one donation to Azevedo’s political campaign in his 2022 bid for San Leandro mayor, which he said in a letter to the \u003cem>San Leandro Times\u003c/em> in June was properly reported.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days after the June raids, Azevedo distanced himself from the Oakland figures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There have been a lot of rumors recently tying me to Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s alleged corruption scandal and I want to set the record straight,” he wrote in the weekly paper’s June 27 edition. “I don’t know anything about this alleged corruption nor do I believe that we should assume that corruption has happened until the facts come out.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Leandro spokesperson Paul Saftner told KQED that the city was not involved in Azevedo’s attendance on the Vietnam trip, which was co-sponsored by the Vietnamese American Business Association, led by David Duong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is the city’s understanding that it did not pay for Councilmember Bryan Azevedo’s travel expenses to attend the 2023 Vietnam trip,” Saftner said in an email. “The only expense incurred by the City was for City-branded giveaway merchandise, which cost approximately $350, which Council Member Azevedo could gift to whoever he wished during the trip.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Leandro Mayor Juan Gonzalez told KQED on Thursday that he did not know whether the FBI was investigating Azevedo specifically and did not believe it had requested any documents from the city at this time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We will be obviously interested in information that they reveal so that, based on what we hear, if there’s a need for us to take action, certainly we will take action,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At this time, there’s just a fair amount of uncertainty … we’re not prepared to speculate,” he continued.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Azevedo did not respond to KQED’s request for comment on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/ahall\">\u003cem>Alex Hall\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> and \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/shossaini\">\u003cem>Sara Hossaini\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated at 1:10 p.m. Saturday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sheng-thao\">Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao\u003c/a> conceded the recall election on Friday night, setting off a process that will likely see several different mayors leading the city in the coming months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao, who noted in her concession statement that she was the first Hmong American woman to become the mayor of a major American city, was recalled less than two years into her term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was my goal to make Oakland safer, cleaner, and more vibrant,” Thao said in the statement. “And I am proud of what we accomplished together. We brought crime down dramatically across the board with a historic 35% reduction in homicides. For the first time in over a decade, Oakland went over a month without a single murder. Our work literally saved lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the updated results released Friday by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, the recall held a sizable advantage — 65.3% to 36.1%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Oakland’s city charter, once the election is certified and Thao’s office is declared vacant, the city council president fills the office while a special election is held within 120 days. In an interview with KQED, former Oakland City Councilmember Loren Taylor said he would run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oaklanders have spoken with a very strong voice regarding what they need from city leadership, and they clearly have not been getting it from the current administration,” said Taylor, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11931400/sheng-thao-oaklands-next-mayor\">finished second to Thao\u003c/a> two years ago. “The same commitment I have to the city I’m from that drove me to run in 2022 is what’s compelling me to step up in the special election once the results are certified.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a Nov. 6 statement \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/Nikkiforallofus/status/1854297936013971470\">posted to social media platform X\u003c/a>, Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas said she was already working with the city attorney to plan for a smooth transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland City Council would declare the results no later than its next regularly scheduled meeting on Dec. 17, according to Bas. At that point, Thao will step down, the mayor’s spokesperson told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once she is out, Bas will become interim mayor until the special election unless she is declared winner of a county supervisor race that, as of Saturday morning, still hasn’t been called.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Bas were to win that seat, a new council president would be elected in January, and that person would serve as interim mayor. If she loses, the city council could still choose a new council president in January. After Friday’s results, Bas trailed John Bauters, an Emeryville city council member.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recall organizers blamed the city’s challenges, including crime, shuttering businesses and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009486/oaklands-finances-significant-risk-report-warns-coliseum-sale-raises-questions\">multimillion-dollar budget deficit,\u003c/a> on what they described as Thao’s incompetence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991242/fbi-agents-raid-home-of-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao\">An FBI raid of Thao’s home\u003c/a> in June cast a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992073/oakland-fbi-raids-and-straw-donor-probe-spur-allegations-of-corruption\">dark cloud over her administration\u003c/a>. Agents also served search warrants \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991426/oakland-fbi-raids-also-targeted-this-powerful-family-heres-what-we-know\">on members of the Duong family\u003c/a>, owners of the city’s recycling provider, California Waste Solutions. Thao claimed she was innocent and that federal officials had told her attorney she was not \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991658/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-to-make-first-public-comments-since-fbi-raids\">the focus of their investigation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11935131/its-about-bringing-people-together-oakland-mayor-elect-sheng-thao-on-her-vision-for-the-town\">in office for roughly a year\u003c/a> when the recall launched in January. In the weeks leading up to the election, Thao pushed back, saying that she \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009615/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-makes-her-case-against-a-recall\">inherited many of the city’s problems\u003c/a> and that crime was down, pointing to city data showing a more than 30% reduction in homicides compared to this time last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Live 2024 Election Results\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda,Alameda County: Stay informed with the latest results for elected leaders and measures passed' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2024/10/Aside-Results-Local-Elections-Alameda-County-1200x1200-1.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao’s campaign also focused heavily on hedge fund manager Philip Dreyfuss, whose political contributions \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998651/a-hedge-fund-manager-is-funding-bid-to-oust-oaklands-mayor-and-its-not-his-first-recall\">made up the bulk of recall funding\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao accused Dreyfuss in an open letter of trying to “buy our city government.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oakland is not for sale,” the letter reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, that messaging failed to resonate with residents frustrated about public safety and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12003276/oaklands-beleaguered-911-dispatch-still-far-behind-state-standards-but-improving\">slow 911 response times\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She says, ‘Oh, the crime is down.’ But it’s not really down. Especially when they’re breaking into my things around my house,” Oakland resident Cassandra Odiase told KQED at a Fruitvale Avenue grocery store less than a week before the election. “We’re not reporting it because we know the police [are] not coming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Influential voices like the Oakland chapter of the NAACP and Thao’s predecessor, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010129/former-mayor-libby-schaaf-endorses-recall-of-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao\">former Mayor Libby Schaaf\u003c/a>, came out in support of the recall weeks before Election Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have come to believe, just based on this last year, that she is not capable of growing into the job,” Schaaf said in an interview with KQED’s Scott Shafer. “I am voting to recall Mayor Thao because Oakland can’t afford another two years of continued damage to our fiscal solvency and our public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seneca Scott, a local activist who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2022, and former Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, who was critical of Thao’s decision to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980455/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-appoints-floyd-mitchell-as-new-police-chief\">fire Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong\u003c/a> while serving on the city’s police commission, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11976748/oakland-mayors-announcement-of-3-5-million-public-safety-grant-disrupted-by-protesters-seeking-her-recall\">led the push\u003c/a>. Harbin-Forte’s sister, Gail Harbin, eventually took over after Harbin-Forte began running for city attorney.\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated at 1:10 p.m. Saturday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sheng-thao\">Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao\u003c/a> conceded the recall election on Friday night, setting off a process that will likely see several different mayors leading the city in the coming months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao, who noted in her concession statement that she was the first Hmong American woman to become the mayor of a major American city, was recalled less than two years into her term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was my goal to make Oakland safer, cleaner, and more vibrant,” Thao said in the statement. “And I am proud of what we accomplished together. We brought crime down dramatically across the board with a historic 35% reduction in homicides. For the first time in over a decade, Oakland went over a month without a single murder. Our work literally saved lives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the updated results released Friday by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, the recall held a sizable advantage — 65.3% to 36.1%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Oakland’s city charter, once the election is certified and Thao’s office is declared vacant, the city council president fills the office while a special election is held within 120 days. In an interview with KQED, former Oakland City Councilmember Loren Taylor said he would run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oaklanders have spoken with a very strong voice regarding what they need from city leadership, and they clearly have not been getting it from the current administration,” said Taylor, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11931400/sheng-thao-oaklands-next-mayor\">finished second to Thao\u003c/a> two years ago. “The same commitment I have to the city I’m from that drove me to run in 2022 is what’s compelling me to step up in the special election once the results are certified.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a Nov. 6 statement \u003ca href=\"https://x.com/Nikkiforallofus/status/1854297936013971470\">posted to social media platform X\u003c/a>, Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas said she was already working with the city attorney to plan for a smooth transition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland City Council would declare the results no later than its next regularly scheduled meeting on Dec. 17, according to Bas. At that point, Thao will step down, the mayor’s spokesperson told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once she is out, Bas will become interim mayor until the special election unless she is declared winner of a county supervisor race that, as of Saturday morning, still hasn’t been called.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If Bas were to win that seat, a new council president would be elected in January, and that person would serve as interim mayor. If she loses, the city council could still choose a new council president in January. After Friday’s results, Bas trailed John Bauters, an Emeryville city council member.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Recall organizers blamed the city’s challenges, including crime, shuttering businesses and a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009486/oaklands-finances-significant-risk-report-warns-coliseum-sale-raises-questions\">multimillion-dollar budget deficit,\u003c/a> on what they described as Thao’s incompetence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991242/fbi-agents-raid-home-of-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao\">An FBI raid of Thao’s home\u003c/a> in June cast a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992073/oakland-fbi-raids-and-straw-donor-probe-spur-allegations-of-corruption\">dark cloud over her administration\u003c/a>. Agents also served search warrants \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991426/oakland-fbi-raids-also-targeted-this-powerful-family-heres-what-we-know\">on members of the Duong family\u003c/a>, owners of the city’s recycling provider, California Waste Solutions. Thao claimed she was innocent and that federal officials had told her attorney she was not \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991658/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-to-make-first-public-comments-since-fbi-raids\">the focus of their investigation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao had been \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11935131/its-about-bringing-people-together-oakland-mayor-elect-sheng-thao-on-her-vision-for-the-town\">in office for roughly a year\u003c/a> when the recall launched in January. In the weeks leading up to the election, Thao pushed back, saying that she \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009615/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-makes-her-case-against-a-recall\">inherited many of the city’s problems\u003c/a> and that crime was down, pointing to city data showing a more than 30% reduction in homicides compared to this time last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao’s campaign also focused heavily on hedge fund manager Philip Dreyfuss, whose political contributions \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998651/a-hedge-fund-manager-is-funding-bid-to-oust-oaklands-mayor-and-its-not-his-first-recall\">made up the bulk of recall funding\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao accused Dreyfuss in an open letter of trying to “buy our city government.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oakland is not for sale,” the letter reads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, that messaging failed to resonate with residents frustrated about public safety and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12003276/oaklands-beleaguered-911-dispatch-still-far-behind-state-standards-but-improving\">slow 911 response times\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She says, ‘Oh, the crime is down.’ But it’s not really down. Especially when they’re breaking into my things around my house,” Oakland resident Cassandra Odiase told KQED at a Fruitvale Avenue grocery store less than a week before the election. “We’re not reporting it because we know the police [are] not coming.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Influential voices like the Oakland chapter of the NAACP and Thao’s predecessor, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010129/former-mayor-libby-schaaf-endorses-recall-of-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao\">former Mayor Libby Schaaf\u003c/a>, came out in support of the recall weeks before Election Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have come to believe, just based on this last year, that she is not capable of growing into the job,” Schaaf said in an interview with KQED’s Scott Shafer. “I am voting to recall Mayor Thao because Oakland can’t afford another two years of continued damage to our fiscal solvency and our public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seneca Scott, a local activist who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 2022, and former Alameda County Superior Court Judge Brenda Harbin-Forte, who was critical of Thao’s decision to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11980455/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-appoints-floyd-mitchell-as-new-police-chief\">fire Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong\u003c/a> while serving on the city’s police commission, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11976748/oakland-mayors-announcement-of-3-5-million-public-safety-grant-disrupted-by-protesters-seeking-her-recall\">led the push\u003c/a>. Harbin-Forte’s sister, Gail Harbin, eventually took over after Harbin-Forte began running for city attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"headTitle": "Will East Bay Voters Recall District Attorney Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao? | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Voters in Alameda County and the city of Oakland could recall District Attorney Pamela Price and Mayor Sheng Thao in November. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Price and Thao are progressives who some residents blame for issues like crime, homelessness, and drug use. Opponents say the recalls are undemocratic and unfairly target two women of color who took office less than 2 years ago.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr />\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC2043674944&light=true\" 0=\"width="100%"/iframe\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:00:00] I’m Ericka Cruz Guevara and welcome to The Bay. Local news to keep you rooted. It seems like crime and public safety are on just about everyone’s minds in the East Bay, and those issues are taking center stage there this November, when voters will decide whether to recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:00:29] I think we’re seeing voters really question can the East Bay as kind of progressive bent, deliver the types of results on things like public safety, housing, homelessness, drug use? Can these progressive vision deliver these results or not?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:00:45] Today, KQED reporters Annalise Finney and Alex Hall explain the choice before voters and what this says about life in the East Bay right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:05] So we’re talking about two different recalls here. But there is, of course, some overlap and sort of the backdrop. So, Annelise, I want to start with you and sort of the broader context here. What has been going on in Alameda County in the last couple of years that’s relevant to both of these recall attempts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:01:25] A big part of both of these recalls are concerns about public safety. Crime in the East Bay has been a big topic of conversation over the last few years. 2023 was a particularly bad year. Now, since then, that has sort of began to decrease, particularly among violent crimes. But there’s still this narrative over the last few years that has shaped a lot of voters approach to this coming election and these recalls. And a lot of that has to do with the reality of crime and also a fear of crime that sometimes is somewhat separate from those statistics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:58] Alex I feel like that feeling these fears around crime have been especially the case in Oakland, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:02:07] Definitely. That’s what the organizers of the recall talk about a lot. Illegal dumping, all kinds of stuff. Neighborhood blight in Oakland that it was never like this before that this is different and that, you know someone should be held accountable for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:02:24] I do hear that idea a lot, that it’s never been this bad before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:02:29] I think it’s worth pointing out that and actually in Oakland, it has been worse than this before. What we’re seeing now is an uptick from recent years. But in the 1970s, 80s. What we’re seeing now isn’t that bad, but it still feels really bad to a lot of people now, and it is worse than recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:02:43] We want to dive in then first to the D.A. recall. And Annelise, I want to start with you here. Before everyone knew who Pamela Price was, right before she was D.A. So remind us, when she first ran, who she was as sort of a candidate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:03:01] So Pamela Price is a Yale and U.C. Berkeley educated lawyer for a long time, 30 years, she ran a civil rights practice in Oakland. And in that world, she did a lot of work defending people who had experienced sexual harassment and racial discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Pamela Price \u003c/strong>[00:03:16] Certainly for communities of color. We understand how the criminal justice system has had such a devastating impact on all of our lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:03:25] When she was on the campaign trail, she talked a lot about her personal story. She talked about growing up in Ohio, being a survivor of the foster care system and the Ohio juvenile justice system. She then talked about her life in Alameda County and said that she’d been a survivor of domestic abuse and as part of that, had actually been prosecuted by the Alameda County D.A.. So she represented herself as somebody who both had experience the criminal justice system, as somebody who was being prosecuted and somebody on the other side seeking justice for victims, whether that’s of sexual harassment or racial discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Pamela Price \u003c/strong>[00:03:57] Change is hard. It’s exciting. It’s a good thing for Alameda County. The reason why I ran was because I know how broken the system is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:04:10] So in 2022, she ran as a kind of progressive alternative to what the Alameda County D.A. had been. And she ultimately won with 53% of the vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:04:20] And when she won, it was kind of a big surprise, if I remember that correctly. Can you remind us what was the reaction to her win?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:04:28] Yeah, I think a lot of people saw it as this kind of huge progressive win. It was part of this wave of progressive prosecutors across the country, also in Alameda County for a long time. There had never been somebody as head D.A. who hadn’t come from inside the office. There was this long term pattern of the incumbent deciding they were going to retire, retiring before the election, appointing somebody as their interim, and then that person ran essentially as an incumbent already. So when Pryce came into office, it represented a really big change in that office. She had things she wanted to change, like not charging young people as adults, like not charging special enhancements on crimes, which is this way to kind of lengthen a sentence later down the line when a case is at the sentencing stage in criminal court. But it was also this big change, just sort of internally and administratively in the office, but somebody coming from outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:05:24] And because of this change that she was promising, I do remember even early on, almost as soon as she won, people were already talking about recalling Pamela Price right? But then how did this turn and morph into an actual recall effort that qualified for the ballot?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:05:48] Within a few months, there was this change.org Recall petition going around. It really got off the ground when two people that’s Brenda Grisham, who’s a victim’s rights advocate from East Oakland, and Carl Chan, who is a political leader in Oakland’s Chinatown, got together and started an official recall campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Brenda Grisham \u003c/strong>[00:06:06] So we’re just not standing up for one community. We’re standing up for all of them with safe. It means safety for everybody. It means justice for everybody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:06:16] They filed their paperwork with the county in July. So that’s about six months after Price began her work. And they said her progressive policies, these ideas like, you know, like I said, cutting down on sentencing enhancements, not charging young people as adults. They said that policies like that were contributing to crime in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Carl Chan \u003c/strong>[00:06:34] Her ideology and her way to empower the criminals, especially those who are serious killers, hurting every one of us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:06:45] And they had the support of some victim advocates and also victims and their families who said that, you know what, they had experience working with the DA’s office felt disrespectful. They said there was a lack of communication. They said they weren’t seeing the types of case outcomes they wanted. They also said that they felt there was a fair amount of disorganization in the office, and that’s been a theme throughout the recall panel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Carl Chan \u003c/strong>[00:07:07] Price is incapable, incompetent, and she’s not qualified to be the district attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:07:14] So a lot of people sort of coalesced around this frustration with the DA’s office, and they ultimately were able to qualify a recall for the ballot. And that’s what we’ll be voting on this November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:07:24] And who since has also sort of come out in support of recalling Pamela Price?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:07:31] Well, as I mentioned, there are victims family members who are part of this, and that group of people has sort of continued to grow. At first it was just a smattering. And now there’s a real handful of victims advocates and victims family members who are frustrated. There’s also some elected officials who are beginning to voice support for the recall, most notably a few weeks ago, U.S. Congressman Eric Swalwell, who represents kind of the southeastern part of the county, said he supported the Price recall. And then we’re also seeing a lot of support from real estate investors. And that’s a big part of where the money for this recall has come from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:08:08] Over the past year, D.A. Price’s office has dealt with a wave of bad press. Last fall, at a press conference, Price and some of her deputies banned a reporter from the Berkeley scanner, a website focused on crime news. There was also a dustup with Governor Gavin Newsom, who withdrew an offer to support Price’s office with drug prosecutions because of alleged dysfunction at the DA’s office. For her part, Price has said she’s received a lot of unfair media coverage and that news outlets don’t understand the role of district attorney. Then late last week, another news bombshell broke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:08:54] Things did get even more messy, if you could imagine. Last week with these accusations of extortion against the district attorney. Can you explain what that is all about?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:09:08] Last week, a man filed some court paperwork alleging that D.A. Price had asked him for $25,000 as a contribution to her recall campaign. When he said no. He says that she allegedly made a kind of vague threat that he’d be hearing from her office just a few weeks later. These criminal charges arrived, charging him with something that happened about a year and a half before the charges were actually filed. This man is named Mario Juarez. He’s an East bay politico. He’s been on the political scene for a long time. He donates to campaigns and he’s run for office locally. Now, like I said, all of these are allegations and the man on trial is a long time nemesis of D.A. Price. They’ve both done different things at different times to try and disadvantage each other in political campaigns. But it paints a picture of this kind of back door political dealing that really doesn’t look good for price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:10:03] And how has Price responded to the extortion accusations?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:10:08] Price’s office says they don’t comment on pending cases and they’re going to respond in court. But her campaign against the recall says Juarez just isn’t reliable. They released a very short statement that was just DA Price denies these claims. Do your own research. Mario Juarez is not a credible source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:10:25] Who has been coming out in support of D.A. Price, basically who’s saying no to the recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:10:33] There is a coalition of people who support Price. One of them is Stewart Chen. He’s the president of the Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Stewart Chen \u003c/strong>[00:10:41] The false narrative because of the crime rate, they’re going to push for this recall. That’s a bunch of baloney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:10:51] And what he and other supporters say is that reform is hard turning around a steamship of an office takes a really long time. And Price has been in office for less than two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Stewart Chen \u003c/strong>[00:11:02] Did they give them enough time to do the promises they set out to the policies that they’re going to do for us? These are sour grapes, guys. We have to stand together, united, together. This is undemocratic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:11:17] They also say that this recall is funded by billionaires who they say are trying to change the outcome of the 2022 election. Congresswoman Barbara Lee said that she’s against recalls on principle. State Senator Nancy Skinner said essentially the same thing. She echoed Barbara Lee in a post on X. County Supervisor keith Carson has said that he also is against the recalls and supports price. And then the coalition that I mentioned that Stewart Chen is part of also includes the Oakland based Latino Task Force and a handful of other kind of church and Democratic clubs throughout Alameda County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:11:51] How has Price herself responded to just this entire attempt to recall her just overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:11:58] When DA Price defends herself against the recall she has sort of a laundry list of things she says are contributing to the recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Pamela Price \u003c/strong>[00:12:03] We are living in an age of the politics of exploitation, where we see people with a political agenda exploiting people’s pain, weaponizing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:12:14] She says people are blaming her for everything in Oakland. She says they’re coming after her because she’s a black woman. She says people are upset that she won the 2022 election fair and square.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Pamela Price \u003c/strong>[00:12:25] We are trying to interrupt the cycles of violence and victimization. It takes time. It cannot be done in a month. This system was not broken in six months. There is no way I could have fixed it in six months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:12:47] Coming up, we’ll talk about the recall campaign against Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and what these two elections have in common. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:13:05] Alex Hall I want to bring you in here. Voters in Oakland will have to decide whether or not they want to recall Pamela Price. But they will also have another recall to decide on with Mayor Sheng Thao. Remind us who Sheng Thao is and who she sort of was as a candidate when she ran for mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:13:25] Yeah. So like Price, Sheng Thao was elected in 2022. She came into office having been on the city council for four years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:13:33] I am a progressive. I am a progressive in the sense that I want to move the city forward for working families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:13:38] She had a lot of backing, including financially from labor unions, and she campaigned on a platform of being kind of like a bridge builder, someone who could bring siloed groups in Oakland together to the negotiating table, business and labor unions, for example. And she also talked a lot about her personal experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:13:57] So when I ran for my city council seat. It was a lot of community who really pushed me to really run for that seat. And I’ll be very honest, you my response was, well, I don’t have any I don’t come from money and I don’t look like how politicians look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:14:12] You know, being the daughter of Hmong refugees from Stockton, having fled an abusive relationship, you know, at one point living in her car with her infant son and sleeping on people’s couches, you know, she was really able to excel and go to community college and eventually UC Berkeley and started interning and eventually working for At-Large Council member Rebecca Kaplan. And so she you know, she talked about how that would really help her connect with middle and working class voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:14:44] As sort of similar to price actually as sort of these candidates who are bringing their personal experience into the job that they’re hoping to get. I do remember, though, Sheng Thao did not win in a landslide necessarily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:14:58] Correct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:14:58] What was the reaction at the time to her win?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:15:01] So Oakland uses ranked choice voting, which means that people are able to vote for their first, second, third choices when they vote, not just one candidate. And Thao actually did not receive as many first choice votes as her opponent, Loren Taylor, eventually because of ranked choice voting. She did win, but it was she won by a very slim margin, something like just under 700 votes. And on and also, you know, she came in as a progressive city council member after moderate mayor. She her opponent was a moderate. And so, you know, I think there was this expectation of like, what is she going to do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:15:42] So how eventually then did the effort to recall Mayor Sheng Tao come about?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:15:49] So the recall was officially launched in January and in June oust Oakland United to recall Shang. Tao said it qualified for the November ballot. The leader of the recall was Brenda Harbin-Forte who is a retired Alameda County Superior Court judge. She definitely clashed with Thao, specifically over the firing of former Oakland police chief LaRonne Armstrong. Brenda Harbin-Forte is actually no longer leading the recall effort, and she’s now running for Oakland City attorney. So now her sisters in charge, Gail Harbin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Gail Harbin \u003c/strong>[00:16:24] And so the reason I got involved is because I saw all the harm it was doing to Oakland. Oakland looked like a ghost town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:16:32] There were other issues that came up that Harbin-Forte and Seneca Scott, who is the campaign spokesperson for Oust, were very critical of, namely Oakland’s failure to meet the deadline to apply for a state grant that would have given Oakland millions of dollars to fight retail theft. And, you know, I just said that, you know, Thao’s leadership had created a public safety crisis that, you know, wasn’t just dangerous for residents, but it was driving businesses out of Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Seneca Scott \u003c/strong>[00:17:04] We’ve never seen anything like this in Oakland before. And people are trying to act like it’s just happening because we’ve always had it coming. None of our surrounding cities are dealing with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:17:13] In-n-out shut down, the Hilton Hotel shut down, and basically Thaos, as they described it, incompetence had really hurt Oakland financially and continues to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Seneca Scott \u003c/strong>[00:17:25] This progressive movement has failed. None of their policies have worked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:17:31] I’ve asked voters at the town halls that she’s been having, you know, how do you feel about the recall? And a lot of people are like, well, I’m upset. I’m unhappy about X, Y, Z. That’s happening in Oakland, but do I know exactly how city government works? Do I know that that is actually Mayor Thao’s fault or what choices are actually made in the room at City Hall? I don’t know. And so I’m trying to figure that out. I think for the recall, the response that I’ve received is more it doesn’t matter because she is the captain of the ship and anything that happens in Oakland is her responsibility because she is the mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:18:08] Sort of a series of catalyzing events. It sounds like two. And I know another one is the FBI raid on Thao’s home. Tell me about that and what role that is sort of playing in the recall campaign now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:18:24] So the FBI executed search warrants on Mayor Thao’s home, but also on the homes of members of the Duong family who own California Waste Solutions, which is the recycling provider for the city of Oakland. The FBI has not said a single word publicly about what they were looking for, about what they are investigating. Thao has said that she’s innocent. She’s not been charged with a crime, and it’s really unclear at this point what’s going to happen with that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:18:52] But obviously, I have to imagine for supporters of the recall is sort of just another thing that’s raising eyebrows and maybe adds just like another reason to move forward with recalling her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:19:07] 100%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:19:13] And then who is coming out in support of Mayor Sheng Tao?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:19:16] So that’s an interesting question. I think that Thao was a little silent on the recall for most of this year. It seemed at that point that her strategy was really to show up to her job. She was hosting these town halls throughout Oakland and showing up alongside the city’s new police chief, the fire chief, and basically just saying, like, we’re here for you. We’re doing what we can. We hear you. We know that there are serious problems in Oakland. And, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:19:47] We’re working here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:19:48] We’re working here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:19:51] It’s a warm day today. We are out here because we know how important this fight is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:19:55] And then it wasn’t maybe less than two weeks ago that Oaklanders defending democracy Tao’s anti recall committee hired a spokesperson, held a press conference and actually came out and said, here we are, we are launching a campaign to fight this recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Igor Tregub \u003c/strong>[00:20:11] Mayor Thao has been a champion for housing, justice, transportation, justice, climate justice…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:20:19] The people who has come out in defense of Sheng Thao is Igor Tregub, who is a Berkeley City Council member and also the chair of the Alameda County Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Igor Tregub \u003c/strong>[00:20:30] Our Alameda County Democratic Party stands in solidarity with Mayor Thao and against this wasteful recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:20:43] Jean Quan has been really present and visible and vocal about how she experienced when she was mayor, an attempt to recall her. And so she has really been strongly supporting Mayor Thao.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Jean Quan \u003c/strong>[00:20:57] We have to stop this trend. So whether you love Sheng or not, you have to give her a fair chance to do good work. And she’s done some very good work for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:21:11] I mean, how has Mayor Thao herself responded to this campaign to recall her?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:21:16] The mayor has really stressed that a lot of the problems that Oakland is facing, she inherited them as mayor and that the recall would essentially take Oakland backwards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:21:27] We met them head on, applied the solutions and the data shows the data shows that we are on the right track. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:21:36] And she’s also really strongly emphasized that crime is down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:21:40] We are on track this year for less than 100 homicides in Oakland, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:21:46] Another thing that she talks a lot about is Philip Dreyfuss, the hedge fund manager who has footed a lot of the bill for the recall campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:21:56] Now, let’s be clear about this recall. It got started shortly after I was sworn into office just about a year ago. The recall is funded by one hedge fund manager who doesn’t live in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:22:11] Calling him, you know, a Piedmont billionaire. You know, he’s this guy who doesn’t even live here. Speculation about his motives being some nefarious plot. You know, he doesn’t care about Oakland and Oakland isn’t for sale. And to be clear, Dreyfuss has not spoken publicly. I mean, trust me, we would have talked to him if he was willing to. He has not said anything about why he has been funding the recalls. And you know, we love to know. Philip, please call us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:22:47] Annelise, kind of coming back to you and bringing you back in here. What is the crossover that you see between these two recalls? Like how should voters, I guess, make sense of these concurrent recall efforts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:23:01] So another thing to note about these recalls is they are getting money from a lot of the same people. Those people are often embedded in investments, especially in real estate in the East Bay. And they include people like Philip Dreyfuss and another investor named Isaac Abid. I think it’s worth noting that Dreyfuss not only has donated to both of these recalls, but has donated to a slate of moderate candidates in Oakland and across the East Bay. You know, it’s interesting. I think as Alex and I have both said, public safety has been really at the heart of this. But as Alex noted, public safety has been a big issue in Oakland and across the East Bay for a really long time. And I think what people are really looking for across both these recalls are solutions and much quicker solutions to the problems that people in the East Bay face every day. But it’s interesting. I mean, I think we’re seeing voters really question can the East Bay is kind of progressive bent deliver the types of results on things like public safety, housing, homelessness, drug use. These things are obviously all very interconnected. Can these progressive vision deliver these results or not? And if they can’t, you know, what other options are there?\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Voters in Alameda County and the city of Oakland could recall District Attorney Pamela Price and Mayor Sheng Thao in November. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Price and Thao are progressives who some residents blame for issues like crime, homelessness, and drug use. Opponents say the recalls are undemocratic and unfairly target two women of color who took office less than 2 years ago.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr />\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm?e=KQINC2043674944&light=true\" 0=\"width="100%"/iframe\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:00:00] I’m Ericka Cruz Guevara and welcome to The Bay. Local news to keep you rooted. It seems like crime and public safety are on just about everyone’s minds in the East Bay, and those issues are taking center stage there this November, when voters will decide whether to recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:00:29] I think we’re seeing voters really question can the East Bay as kind of progressive bent, deliver the types of results on things like public safety, housing, homelessness, drug use? Can these progressive vision deliver these results or not?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:00:45] Today, KQED reporters Annalise Finney and Alex Hall explain the choice before voters and what this says about life in the East Bay right now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:05] So we’re talking about two different recalls here. But there is, of course, some overlap and sort of the backdrop. So, Annelise, I want to start with you and sort of the broader context here. What has been going on in Alameda County in the last couple of years that’s relevant to both of these recall attempts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:01:25] A big part of both of these recalls are concerns about public safety. Crime in the East Bay has been a big topic of conversation over the last few years. 2023 was a particularly bad year. Now, since then, that has sort of began to decrease, particularly among violent crimes. But there’s still this narrative over the last few years that has shaped a lot of voters approach to this coming election and these recalls. And a lot of that has to do with the reality of crime and also a fear of crime that sometimes is somewhat separate from those statistics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:01:58] Alex I feel like that feeling these fears around crime have been especially the case in Oakland, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:02:07] Definitely. That’s what the organizers of the recall talk about a lot. Illegal dumping, all kinds of stuff. Neighborhood blight in Oakland that it was never like this before that this is different and that, you know someone should be held accountable for that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:02:24] I do hear that idea a lot, that it’s never been this bad before.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:02:29] I think it’s worth pointing out that and actually in Oakland, it has been worse than this before. What we’re seeing now is an uptick from recent years. But in the 1970s, 80s. What we’re seeing now isn’t that bad, but it still feels really bad to a lot of people now, and it is worse than recent years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:02:43] We want to dive in then first to the D.A. recall. And Annelise, I want to start with you here. Before everyone knew who Pamela Price was, right before she was D.A. So remind us, when she first ran, who she was as sort of a candidate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:03:01] So Pamela Price is a Yale and U.C. Berkeley educated lawyer for a long time, 30 years, she ran a civil rights practice in Oakland. And in that world, she did a lot of work defending people who had experienced sexual harassment and racial discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Pamela Price \u003c/strong>[00:03:16] Certainly for communities of color. We understand how the criminal justice system has had such a devastating impact on all of our lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:03:25] When she was on the campaign trail, she talked a lot about her personal story. She talked about growing up in Ohio, being a survivor of the foster care system and the Ohio juvenile justice system. She then talked about her life in Alameda County and said that she’d been a survivor of domestic abuse and as part of that, had actually been prosecuted by the Alameda County D.A.. So she represented herself as somebody who both had experience the criminal justice system, as somebody who was being prosecuted and somebody on the other side seeking justice for victims, whether that’s of sexual harassment or racial discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Pamela Price \u003c/strong>[00:03:57] Change is hard. It’s exciting. It’s a good thing for Alameda County. The reason why I ran was because I know how broken the system is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:04:10] So in 2022, she ran as a kind of progressive alternative to what the Alameda County D.A. had been. And she ultimately won with 53% of the vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:04:20] And when she won, it was kind of a big surprise, if I remember that correctly. Can you remind us what was the reaction to her win?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:04:28] Yeah, I think a lot of people saw it as this kind of huge progressive win. It was part of this wave of progressive prosecutors across the country, also in Alameda County for a long time. There had never been somebody as head D.A. who hadn’t come from inside the office. There was this long term pattern of the incumbent deciding they were going to retire, retiring before the election, appointing somebody as their interim, and then that person ran essentially as an incumbent already. So when Pryce came into office, it represented a really big change in that office. She had things she wanted to change, like not charging young people as adults, like not charging special enhancements on crimes, which is this way to kind of lengthen a sentence later down the line when a case is at the sentencing stage in criminal court. But it was also this big change, just sort of internally and administratively in the office, but somebody coming from outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:05:24] And because of this change that she was promising, I do remember even early on, almost as soon as she won, people were already talking about recalling Pamela Price right? But then how did this turn and morph into an actual recall effort that qualified for the ballot?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:05:48] Within a few months, there was this change.org Recall petition going around. It really got off the ground when two people that’s Brenda Grisham, who’s a victim’s rights advocate from East Oakland, and Carl Chan, who is a political leader in Oakland’s Chinatown, got together and started an official recall campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Brenda Grisham \u003c/strong>[00:06:06] So we’re just not standing up for one community. We’re standing up for all of them with safe. It means safety for everybody. It means justice for everybody.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:06:16] They filed their paperwork with the county in July. So that’s about six months after Price began her work. And they said her progressive policies, these ideas like, you know, like I said, cutting down on sentencing enhancements, not charging young people as adults. They said that policies like that were contributing to crime in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Carl Chan \u003c/strong>[00:06:34] Her ideology and her way to empower the criminals, especially those who are serious killers, hurting every one of us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:06:45] And they had the support of some victim advocates and also victims and their families who said that, you know what, they had experience working with the DA’s office felt disrespectful. They said there was a lack of communication. They said they weren’t seeing the types of case outcomes they wanted. They also said that they felt there was a fair amount of disorganization in the office, and that’s been a theme throughout the recall panel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Carl Chan \u003c/strong>[00:07:07] Price is incapable, incompetent, and she’s not qualified to be the district attorney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:07:14] So a lot of people sort of coalesced around this frustration with the DA’s office, and they ultimately were able to qualify a recall for the ballot. And that’s what we’ll be voting on this November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:07:24] And who since has also sort of come out in support of recalling Pamela Price?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:07:31] Well, as I mentioned, there are victims family members who are part of this, and that group of people has sort of continued to grow. At first it was just a smattering. And now there’s a real handful of victims advocates and victims family members who are frustrated. There’s also some elected officials who are beginning to voice support for the recall, most notably a few weeks ago, U.S. Congressman Eric Swalwell, who represents kind of the southeastern part of the county, said he supported the Price recall. And then we’re also seeing a lot of support from real estate investors. And that’s a big part of where the money for this recall has come from.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:08:08] Over the past year, D.A. Price’s office has dealt with a wave of bad press. Last fall, at a press conference, Price and some of her deputies banned a reporter from the Berkeley scanner, a website focused on crime news. There was also a dustup with Governor Gavin Newsom, who withdrew an offer to support Price’s office with drug prosecutions because of alleged dysfunction at the DA’s office. For her part, Price has said she’s received a lot of unfair media coverage and that news outlets don’t understand the role of district attorney. Then late last week, another news bombshell broke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:08:54] Things did get even more messy, if you could imagine. Last week with these accusations of extortion against the district attorney. Can you explain what that is all about?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:09:08] Last week, a man filed some court paperwork alleging that D.A. Price had asked him for $25,000 as a contribution to her recall campaign. When he said no. He says that she allegedly made a kind of vague threat that he’d be hearing from her office just a few weeks later. These criminal charges arrived, charging him with something that happened about a year and a half before the charges were actually filed. This man is named Mario Juarez. He’s an East bay politico. He’s been on the political scene for a long time. He donates to campaigns and he’s run for office locally. Now, like I said, all of these are allegations and the man on trial is a long time nemesis of D.A. Price. They’ve both done different things at different times to try and disadvantage each other in political campaigns. But it paints a picture of this kind of back door political dealing that really doesn’t look good for price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:10:03] And how has Price responded to the extortion accusations?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:10:08] Price’s office says they don’t comment on pending cases and they’re going to respond in court. But her campaign against the recall says Juarez just isn’t reliable. They released a very short statement that was just DA Price denies these claims. Do your own research. Mario Juarez is not a credible source.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:10:25] Who has been coming out in support of D.A. Price, basically who’s saying no to the recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:10:33] There is a coalition of people who support Price. One of them is Stewart Chen. He’s the president of the Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Stewart Chen \u003c/strong>[00:10:41] The false narrative because of the crime rate, they’re going to push for this recall. That’s a bunch of baloney.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:10:51] And what he and other supporters say is that reform is hard turning around a steamship of an office takes a really long time. And Price has been in office for less than two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Stewart Chen \u003c/strong>[00:11:02] Did they give them enough time to do the promises they set out to the policies that they’re going to do for us? These are sour grapes, guys. We have to stand together, united, together. This is undemocratic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:11:17] They also say that this recall is funded by billionaires who they say are trying to change the outcome of the 2022 election. Congresswoman Barbara Lee said that she’s against recalls on principle. State Senator Nancy Skinner said essentially the same thing. She echoed Barbara Lee in a post on X. County Supervisor keith Carson has said that he also is against the recalls and supports price. And then the coalition that I mentioned that Stewart Chen is part of also includes the Oakland based Latino Task Force and a handful of other kind of church and Democratic clubs throughout Alameda County.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:11:51] How has Price herself responded to just this entire attempt to recall her just overall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:11:58] When DA Price defends herself against the recall she has sort of a laundry list of things she says are contributing to the recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Pamela Price \u003c/strong>[00:12:03] We are living in an age of the politics of exploitation, where we see people with a political agenda exploiting people’s pain, weaponizing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:12:14] She says people are blaming her for everything in Oakland. She says they’re coming after her because she’s a black woman. She says people are upset that she won the 2022 election fair and square.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Pamela Price \u003c/strong>[00:12:25] We are trying to interrupt the cycles of violence and victimization. It takes time. It cannot be done in a month. This system was not broken in six months. There is no way I could have fixed it in six months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:12:47] Coming up, we’ll talk about the recall campaign against Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and what these two elections have in common. Stay with us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:13:05] Alex Hall I want to bring you in here. Voters in Oakland will have to decide whether or not they want to recall Pamela Price. But they will also have another recall to decide on with Mayor Sheng Thao. Remind us who Sheng Thao is and who she sort of was as a candidate when she ran for mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:13:25] Yeah. So like Price, Sheng Thao was elected in 2022. She came into office having been on the city council for four years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:13:33] I am a progressive. I am a progressive in the sense that I want to move the city forward for working families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:13:38] She had a lot of backing, including financially from labor unions, and she campaigned on a platform of being kind of like a bridge builder, someone who could bring siloed groups in Oakland together to the negotiating table, business and labor unions, for example. And she also talked a lot about her personal experiences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:13:57] So when I ran for my city council seat. It was a lot of community who really pushed me to really run for that seat. And I’ll be very honest, you my response was, well, I don’t have any I don’t come from money and I don’t look like how politicians look.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:14:12] You know, being the daughter of Hmong refugees from Stockton, having fled an abusive relationship, you know, at one point living in her car with her infant son and sleeping on people’s couches, you know, she was really able to excel and go to community college and eventually UC Berkeley and started interning and eventually working for At-Large Council member Rebecca Kaplan. And so she you know, she talked about how that would really help her connect with middle and working class voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:14:44] As sort of similar to price actually as sort of these candidates who are bringing their personal experience into the job that they’re hoping to get. I do remember, though, Sheng Thao did not win in a landslide necessarily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:14:58] Correct.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:14:58] What was the reaction at the time to her win?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:15:01] So Oakland uses ranked choice voting, which means that people are able to vote for their first, second, third choices when they vote, not just one candidate. And Thao actually did not receive as many first choice votes as her opponent, Loren Taylor, eventually because of ranked choice voting. She did win, but it was she won by a very slim margin, something like just under 700 votes. And on and also, you know, she came in as a progressive city council member after moderate mayor. She her opponent was a moderate. And so, you know, I think there was this expectation of like, what is she going to do?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:15:42] So how eventually then did the effort to recall Mayor Sheng Tao come about?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:15:49] So the recall was officially launched in January and in June oust Oakland United to recall Shang. Tao said it qualified for the November ballot. The leader of the recall was Brenda Harbin-Forte who is a retired Alameda County Superior Court judge. She definitely clashed with Thao, specifically over the firing of former Oakland police chief LaRonne Armstrong. Brenda Harbin-Forte is actually no longer leading the recall effort, and she’s now running for Oakland City attorney. So now her sisters in charge, Gail Harbin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Gail Harbin \u003c/strong>[00:16:24] And so the reason I got involved is because I saw all the harm it was doing to Oakland. Oakland looked like a ghost town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:16:32] There were other issues that came up that Harbin-Forte and Seneca Scott, who is the campaign spokesperson for Oust, were very critical of, namely Oakland’s failure to meet the deadline to apply for a state grant that would have given Oakland millions of dollars to fight retail theft. And, you know, I just said that, you know, Thao’s leadership had created a public safety crisis that, you know, wasn’t just dangerous for residents, but it was driving businesses out of Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Seneca Scott \u003c/strong>[00:17:04] We’ve never seen anything like this in Oakland before. And people are trying to act like it’s just happening because we’ve always had it coming. None of our surrounding cities are dealing with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:17:13] In-n-out shut down, the Hilton Hotel shut down, and basically Thaos, as they described it, incompetence had really hurt Oakland financially and continues to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Seneca Scott \u003c/strong>[00:17:25] This progressive movement has failed. None of their policies have worked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:17:31] I’ve asked voters at the town halls that she’s been having, you know, how do you feel about the recall? And a lot of people are like, well, I’m upset. I’m unhappy about X, Y, Z. That’s happening in Oakland, but do I know exactly how city government works? Do I know that that is actually Mayor Thao’s fault or what choices are actually made in the room at City Hall? I don’t know. And so I’m trying to figure that out. I think for the recall, the response that I’ve received is more it doesn’t matter because she is the captain of the ship and anything that happens in Oakland is her responsibility because she is the mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:18:08] Sort of a series of catalyzing events. It sounds like two. And I know another one is the FBI raid on Thao’s home. Tell me about that and what role that is sort of playing in the recall campaign now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:18:24] So the FBI executed search warrants on Mayor Thao’s home, but also on the homes of members of the Duong family who own California Waste Solutions, which is the recycling provider for the city of Oakland. The FBI has not said a single word publicly about what they were looking for, about what they are investigating. Thao has said that she’s innocent. She’s not been charged with a crime, and it’s really unclear at this point what’s going to happen with that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:18:52] But obviously, I have to imagine for supporters of the recall is sort of just another thing that’s raising eyebrows and maybe adds just like another reason to move forward with recalling her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:19:07] 100%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:19:13] And then who is coming out in support of Mayor Sheng Tao?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:19:16] So that’s an interesting question. I think that Thao was a little silent on the recall for most of this year. It seemed at that point that her strategy was really to show up to her job. She was hosting these town halls throughout Oakland and showing up alongside the city’s new police chief, the fire chief, and basically just saying, like, we’re here for you. We’re doing what we can. We hear you. We know that there are serious problems in Oakland. And, you know.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:19:47] We’re working here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:19:48] We’re working here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:19:51] It’s a warm day today. We are out here because we know how important this fight is.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:19:55] And then it wasn’t maybe less than two weeks ago that Oaklanders defending democracy Tao’s anti recall committee hired a spokesperson, held a press conference and actually came out and said, here we are, we are launching a campaign to fight this recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Igor Tregub \u003c/strong>[00:20:11] Mayor Thao has been a champion for housing, justice, transportation, justice, climate justice…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:20:19] The people who has come out in defense of Sheng Thao is Igor Tregub, who is a Berkeley City Council member and also the chair of the Alameda County Democratic Party.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Igor Tregub \u003c/strong>[00:20:30] Our Alameda County Democratic Party stands in solidarity with Mayor Thao and against this wasteful recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:20:43] Jean Quan has been really present and visible and vocal about how she experienced when she was mayor, an attempt to recall her. And so she has really been strongly supporting Mayor Thao.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Jean Quan \u003c/strong>[00:20:57] We have to stop this trend. So whether you love Sheng or not, you have to give her a fair chance to do good work. And she’s done some very good work for you.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:21:11] I mean, how has Mayor Thao herself responded to this campaign to recall her?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:21:16] The mayor has really stressed that a lot of the problems that Oakland is facing, she inherited them as mayor and that the recall would essentially take Oakland backwards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:21:27] We met them head on, applied the solutions and the data shows the data shows that we are on the right track. Yeah.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:21:36] And she’s also really strongly emphasized that crime is down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:21:40] We are on track this year for less than 100 homicides in Oakland, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:21:46] Another thing that she talks a lot about is Philip Dreyfuss, the hedge fund manager who has footed a lot of the bill for the recall campaign.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Sheng Thao \u003c/strong>[00:21:56] Now, let’s be clear about this recall. It got started shortly after I was sworn into office just about a year ago. The recall is funded by one hedge fund manager who doesn’t live in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Alex Hall \u003c/strong>[00:22:11] Calling him, you know, a Piedmont billionaire. You know, he’s this guy who doesn’t even live here. Speculation about his motives being some nefarious plot. You know, he doesn’t care about Oakland and Oakland isn’t for sale. And to be clear, Dreyfuss has not spoken publicly. I mean, trust me, we would have talked to him if he was willing to. He has not said anything about why he has been funding the recalls. And you know, we love to know. Philip, please call us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra \u003c/strong>[00:22:47] Annelise, kind of coming back to you and bringing you back in here. What is the crossover that you see between these two recalls? Like how should voters, I guess, make sense of these concurrent recall efforts?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u003cstrong>Annelise Finney \u003c/strong>[00:23:01] So another thing to note about these recalls is they are getting money from a lot of the same people. Those people are often embedded in investments, especially in real estate in the East Bay. And they include people like Philip Dreyfuss and another investor named Isaac Abid. I think it’s worth noting that Dreyfuss not only has donated to both of these recalls, but has donated to a slate of moderate candidates in Oakland and across the East Bay. You know, it’s interesting. I think as Alex and I have both said, public safety has been really at the heart of this. But as Alex noted, public safety has been a big issue in Oakland and across the East Bay for a really long time. And I think what people are really looking for across both these recalls are solutions and much quicker solutions to the problems that people in the East Bay face every day. But it’s interesting. I mean, I think we’re seeing voters really question can the East Bay is kind of progressive bent deliver the types of results on things like public safety, housing, homelessness, drug use. These things are obviously all very interconnected. Can these progressive vision deliver these results or not? And if they can’t, you know, what other options are there?\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Election Day is less than a month away, and Oakland Mayor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sheng-thao\">Sheng Thao\u003c/a>’s anti-recall campaign is heating up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a Tuesday press conference in the city’s Chinatown, dozens rallied in support of Thao, who later took the stage to highlight her record and cast doubt on what she framed as a fringe, opportunistic and antidemocratic effort to unseat her halfway through her four-year term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>Her policy is beginning to show signs, and just … give her time,” said Stewart Chen, a small-business owner and president of the Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council. “Two years is not a lot to ask for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chen said he’s noticed a drop in crime, which is borne out by police data for the \u003ca href=\"https://cityofoakland2.app.box.com/s/sjiq7usfy27gy9dfe51hp8arz5l1ixad/file/1648528969312\">area\u003c/a> as well as \u003ca href=\"https://cityofoakland2.app.box.com/s/sjiq7usfy27gy9dfe51hp8arz5l1ixad/file/1648527201367\">citywide\u003c/a>. He called Thao’s opponents “sour grapes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12005081/heres-why-a-recall-of-oaklands-mayor-is-on-the-ballot-and-what-happens-if-its-successful\">recall campaign\u003c/a> known as Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao, or OUST, is led by former mayoral candidate Seneca Scott and Brenda Harbin-Forte, a former Superior Court judge and former member of the city’s Police Commission. The pair announced their push to get rid of Thao just one year after she took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12009506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12009506\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Opposing campaigns for and against the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao rally at Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Oakland on Oct. 15, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As she attempted to speak above half a dozen hecklers who later formed part of a small group of recall proponents who held their own press conference at the site, Thao cast aspersions on the motivations of those driving the recall effort, including the man who’s contributing most of the funds: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998651/a-hedge-fund-manager-is-funding-bid-to-oust-oaklands-mayor-and-its-not-his-first-recall\">wealthy hedge fund exec Philip Dreyfuss\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dreyfuss, a resident of Piedmont, has also donated heavily to district attorney recall campaigns in San Francisco and Alameda counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>The person who funds this doesn’t care that Oakland will go into chaos because that chaos really means … money in their pockets,” Thao said. She accused recall organizers of being part of an effort to create a “doom loop for everyone to see so they can come in and get the properties on the pennies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12005081 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/240717-ShengThao-20-BL_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao’s anti-recall committee, Oaklanders Defending Democracy, has collected about $29,000 this year, most of it since July, according to recent filings. That’s a shadow of the more than $600,000 that recall supporters had put forward as of last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor’s critics, meanwhile, have pointed to the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008329/oakland-coliseum-sales-new-deal-draws-council-members-ire-over-lack-of-transparency\">massive budget deficit\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12006211/sad-devastated-bittersweet-oakland-as-fans-process-feelings-during-teams-final-week-of-home-games\">loss of the Oakland A’s\u003c/a>, and the FBI’s recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991242/fbi-agents-raid-home-of-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao\">raid of Thao’s home\u003c/a>, though no criminal charges have been filed against her in that matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patrice Waugh of the Oakland branch of the NAACP, which has endorsed the recall effort, said her group is intent on change. While she acknowledged that Thao inherited many challenges, she said she believes things are getting worse, citing homelessness, Thao’s firing of former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong and the long process for finding a permanent replacement, and crime’s impact on small businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Waugh added that she doesn’t believe crime rates are truly down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I beg to differ,” she said. “I think folks are afraid to call in. Folks are not even calling in [to 911] because their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12003276/oaklands-beleaguered-911-dispatch-still-far-behind-state-standards-but-improving\">calls are not being taken\u003c/a>. Folks are not going into the police station to file reports anymore. Because nothing is happening under this leadership.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the press conference, Thao touted what she considers her achievements since taking the helm of a troubled city: fewer homicides, closing encampments while offering housing to those who want it, grants and investments in the Department of Violence Prevention, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/10/13/1205739482/to-rein-in-climate-change-biden-pledges-7-billion-to-regional-hydrogen-hubs\">hydrogen hubs\u003c/a>, affordable housing, cleanliness and new jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao warned of instability and a rotating cast of mayors if the recall campaign succeeds in removing her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Five mayors in three years,” Thao said. “If you thought that crime was high in 2023 and 2022 and 2021, imagine a city with no leadership.”\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Election Day is less than a month away, and Oakland Mayor \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/sheng-thao\">Sheng Thao\u003c/a>’s anti-recall campaign is heating up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At a Tuesday press conference in the city’s Chinatown, dozens rallied in support of Thao, who later took the stage to highlight her record and cast doubt on what she framed as a fringe, opportunistic and antidemocratic effort to unseat her halfway through her four-year term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>Her policy is beginning to show signs, and just … give her time,” said Stewart Chen, a small-business owner and president of the Oakland Chinatown Improvement Council. “Two years is not a lot to ask for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chen said he’s noticed a drop in crime, which is borne out by police data for the \u003ca href=\"https://cityofoakland2.app.box.com/s/sjiq7usfy27gy9dfe51hp8arz5l1ixad/file/1648528969312\">area\u003c/a> as well as \u003ca href=\"https://cityofoakland2.app.box.com/s/sjiq7usfy27gy9dfe51hp8arz5l1ixad/file/1648527201367\">citywide\u003c/a>. He called Thao’s opponents “sour grapes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12005081/heres-why-a-recall-of-oaklands-mayor-is-on-the-ballot-and-what-happens-if-its-successful\">recall campaign\u003c/a> known as Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao, or OUST, is led by former mayoral candidate Seneca Scott and Brenda Harbin-Forte, a former Superior Court judge and former member of the city’s Police Commission. The pair announced their push to get rid of Thao just one year after she took office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12009506\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12009506\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/241015-OAKLANDCHINATOWNTHAORECALL-24-BL-KQED-1-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\" />\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Opposing campaigns for and against the recall of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao rally at Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Oakland on Oct. 15, 2024. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>As she attempted to speak above half a dozen hecklers who later formed part of a small group of recall proponents who held their own press conference at the site, Thao cast aspersions on the motivations of those driving the recall effort, including the man who’s contributing most of the funds: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11998651/a-hedge-fund-manager-is-funding-bid-to-oust-oaklands-mayor-and-its-not-his-first-recall\">wealthy hedge fund exec Philip Dreyfuss\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dreyfuss, a resident of Piedmont, has also donated heavily to district attorney recall campaigns in San Francisco and Alameda counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>“\u003c/strong>The person who funds this doesn’t care that Oakland will go into chaos because that chaos really means … money in their pockets,” Thao said. She accused recall organizers of being part of an effort to create a “doom loop for everyone to see so they can come in and get the properties on the pennies.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao’s anti-recall committee, Oaklanders Defending Democracy, has collected about $29,000 this year, most of it since July, according to recent filings. That’s a shadow of the more than $600,000 that recall supporters had put forward as of last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor’s critics, meanwhile, have pointed to the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008329/oakland-coliseum-sales-new-deal-draws-council-members-ire-over-lack-of-transparency\">massive budget deficit\u003c/a>, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12006211/sad-devastated-bittersweet-oakland-as-fans-process-feelings-during-teams-final-week-of-home-games\">loss of the Oakland A’s\u003c/a>, and the FBI’s recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11991242/fbi-agents-raid-home-of-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao\">raid of Thao’s home\u003c/a>, though no criminal charges have been filed against her in that matter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Patrice Waugh of the Oakland branch of the NAACP, which has endorsed the recall effort, said her group is intent on change. While she acknowledged that Thao inherited many challenges, she said she believes things are getting worse, citing homelessness, Thao’s firing of former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong and the long process for finding a permanent replacement, and crime’s impact on small businesses.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Waugh added that she doesn’t believe crime rates are truly down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I beg to differ,” she said. “I think folks are afraid to call in. Folks are not even calling in [to 911] because their \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12003276/oaklands-beleaguered-911-dispatch-still-far-behind-state-standards-but-improving\">calls are not being taken\u003c/a>. Folks are not going into the police station to file reports anymore. Because nothing is happening under this leadership.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the press conference, Thao touted what she considers her achievements since taking the helm of a troubled city: fewer homicides, closing encampments while offering housing to those who want it, grants and investments in the Department of Violence Prevention, \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2023/10/13/1205739482/to-rein-in-climate-change-biden-pledges-7-billion-to-regional-hydrogen-hubs\">hydrogen hubs\u003c/a>, affordable housing, cleanliness and new jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao warned of instability and a rotating cast of mayors if the recall campaign succeeds in removing her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Five mayors in three years,” Thao said. “If you thought that crime was high in 2023 and 2022 and 2021, imagine a city with no leadership.”\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
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"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"reveal": {
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"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"order": 16
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
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