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And in Oakland, Mayor Sheng Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">was removed from office after an unprecedented\u003c/a> recall election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Candidates have long rode promises of change to victory, but in Mahan and Lurie, voters in the region’s two largest cities have chosen leaders with a historic lack of government experience who touted their outsider status as evidence of a fresh and independent perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Matt Mahan felt like an outsider, and I think Daniel Lurie does, too,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the business advocacy group the Bay Area Council and a former mayoral chief of staff in San Francisco. “I think their campaigns were sort of saying, ‘Things aren’t being run the way they could be, and I could do a better job, and I won’t be afraid to make the changes.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After his surprising victory in 2022, Mahan \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967395/san-jose-labor-groups-dont-like-mayor-matt-mahan-so-why-does-his-re-election-seem-assured\">faced no organized opposition in the mayoral contest held in March\u003c/a> after the city moved its mayoral elections to presidential years. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013667/daniel-lurie-san-franciscos-next-mayor-what-will-that-look-like\">Lurie prevailed in a ranked-choice election, winning the most first-choice votes\u003c/a> and also drawing second-choice support from voters across San Francisco’s political spectrum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This wave of political change in Bay Area cities could have profound impacts on city management, government transparency and local labor unions — especially those representing city workers. Some progressives worry that a new preference for upstart campaigns could challenge the traditional pipelines of power that allow candidates without access to large financial resources to build support while slowly moving up the ranks of local government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010904/whos-pouring-millions-into-san-franciscos-expensive-mayors-race\">benefited from record spending, much of it self-financed\u003c/a>, to become the city’s first mayor elected without any government experience since Jim Rolph in 1911. When Mahan won the mayorship in 2022, he did so after just two years on the city council — the least government experience of any mayor since San Jose voters began directly electing the position in 1966.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11984099\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11984099\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg\" alt=\"A white middle aged man speaks into microphones wearing a blue suit and a white collared shirt with no tie.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan at the press conference on April 25, 2024. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Both Mahan and Lurie were able to seize on voter discontent over widespread and highly visible homelessness, a rise in shoplifting and commercial burglaries and ongoing disruptions from the pandemic by blaming city hall “insiders.” They argued that their years of experience outside of government — Mahan as CEO of the civic engagement tech platform Brigade, Lurie as founder of the anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point Community — would allow them to engineer a culture shift within the municipal bureaucracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013667/daniel-lurie-san-franciscos-next-mayor-what-will-that-look-like\">At his victory press conference on Friday\u003c/a>, Lurie promised “a government centered on accountability, service and change” that would move past years of corruption scandals. It was a message with echoes of Mahan’s 2022 campaign call for “common sense, accountability and transparency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither candidate emerged completely independent of their cities’ existing power structures. Lurie grew up amid San Francisco’s financial elite, and his work with Tipping Point brought him close contact with city leaders trying to reduce homelessness. Mahan was backed by the incumbent mayor, Sam Liccardo, and the city’s powerful business community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wunderman said voters viewed these political outsiders as better equipped to take a data-driven approach to reducing homelessness, crime and blight — and more likely to ask tough questions of city department heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Like ‘Why do we have so many employees in the city? What are we getting from the work of these departments and the individuals in them?” Wunderman said. “‘What kind of management do we have in place?’’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of those questions could portend conflict with existing city employees and the unions that represent them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan has sparred with municipal worker unions since taking office, and he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958290/san-jose-city-council-approves-agreements-with-unions-to-avoid-strike\">voted against a deal that raised wages and benefits for city employees\u003c/a> last year. Lurie’s relationship with labor is less defined. While he received the support of a few unions, most labor groups backed other candidates in the mayoral race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>IFPTE Local 21, which represents municipal workers across the Bay Area’s largest cities, has opposed Mahan and strongly supported Sheng Thao in Oakland. In San Francisco, they recommended only that voters leave former interim mayor Mark Farrell off of their ranked-choice ballots for mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s our fervent hope that Daniel Lurie’s administration is going to make it a priority to support the workers that actually make this city run,” said Bianca Polovina, president of IFPTE Local 21.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polovina said the mayoral election results should not be read as a rebuke to organized labor — pointing to the success of a majority of IFPTE-endorsed candidates for supervisor and city council across the three cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside tag='politics' label='More Politics Coverage.']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Working people across the San Francisco Bay Area are demanding bold leadership that prioritizes high-quality public services,” Polovina added. “Voters are pretty adamant that they want core essential services, they want clean streets, effective public transportation, and comprehensive public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only did Mahan and Lurie win without major backing from labor, incumbent elected officials across the political spectrum also opposed them. All of Mahan’s fellow city council members endorsed his 2022 opponent, Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, and not a single sitting San Francisco supervisor picked Lurie as their first choice for mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing entrenched interests and the daunting task of introducing themselves to voters, Lurie’s personal wealth and Mahan’s Silicon Valley connections provided them with access to capital, argued Kimi Lee, executive director of Bay Rising, a coalition of progressive groups working to build political power among working-class voters of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we see is that there’s definitely an influence of corporations and billionaires and outside money and venture capitalists,” said Lee, who also noted the \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\">outsized role of a single hedge-fund manager\u003c/a> in funding the Thao recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the losing end of last week’s electoral upheaval were two incumbents, Thao and Breed, who had spent years working their way up the ranks of city government before breaking barriers as their city’s first Hmong-American and Black female mayors, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there is still something there, where people overly criticize women, women of color,” said Lee. “They expect higher things from them — just more critical, saying they’re soft on crime…or saying that they’re not someone who can handle this job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie’s lack of experience will be tested quickly, as he will face the immediate challenges of building an administration, establishing relationships within city hall and closing an ongoing budget deficit. After a rocky first year in office in which he was often on the losing end of high-profile votes, Mahan found his footing in 2024 — winning \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\">unanimous support for his homeless housing plan\u003c/a>, emerging as a leading supporter of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012656/proposition-36-californias-newest-tough-on-crime-measure-appears-headed-for-victory\">new criminal sentencing law approved by California voters\u003c/a>, Proposition 36, and garnering 87% of the vote in his run for re-election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next test for insurgent campaigns will be in Oakland, where voters will likely pick a new mayor in a special election next spring. Any outsider running there will face a familiar historical obstacle: since the city returned to directly electing the position in the 1950s, every Oakland mayor has come into office with prior government experience.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Insurgent campaigns for mayor such as Daniel Lurie in San Francisco and Matt Mahan in San Jose, along with a recall in Oakland, succeed with promises to upend city hall. ",
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"title": "Bay Area Voters Embrace Political Outsiders in Historic Mayoral Shake-ups | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Amid continued frustration over the cost of living, public safety and homelessness, voters in the Bay Area’s largest cities are \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013761/this-was-not-a-good-election-to-be-an-incumbent\">embracing mayoral candidates and campaigns that promise a shake-up at city hall\u003c/a> — putting aside concerns about experience and stability and embracing political outsiders in this year’s elections.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, nonprofit founder and philanthropist Daniel Lurie \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013464/daniel-lurie-clinches-victory-become-sfs-next-mayor-unseating-london-breed\">toppled incumbent mayor London Breed and bested a field of candidates\u003c/a> with decades of combined city hall experience. In San Jose, Mayor Matt Mahan \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/liveblog/election-2024#matt-mahan-sails-to-second-term-as-mayor-of-san-jose\">cruised to an early re-election in March\u003c/a>, riding the momentum of his own insurgent victory less than two years ago. And in Oakland, Mayor Sheng Thao \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012357/sheng-thao-accepts-defeat-in-contentious-oakland-mayoral-recall\">was removed from office after an unprecedented\u003c/a> recall election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Candidates have long rode promises of change to victory, but in Mahan and Lurie, voters in the region’s two largest cities have chosen leaders with a historic lack of government experience who touted their outsider status as evidence of a fresh and independent perspective.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Matt Mahan felt like an outsider, and I think Daniel Lurie does, too,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the business advocacy group the Bay Area Council and a former mayoral chief of staff in San Francisco. “I think their campaigns were sort of saying, ‘Things aren’t being run the way they could be, and I could do a better job, and I won’t be afraid to make the changes.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After his surprising victory in 2022, Mahan \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11967395/san-jose-labor-groups-dont-like-mayor-matt-mahan-so-why-does-his-re-election-seem-assured\">faced no organized opposition in the mayoral contest held in March\u003c/a> after the city moved its mayoral elections to presidential years. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013667/daniel-lurie-san-franciscos-next-mayor-what-will-that-look-like\">Lurie prevailed in a ranked-choice election, winning the most first-choice votes\u003c/a> and also drawing second-choice support from voters across San Francisco’s political spectrum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This wave of political change in Bay Area cities could have profound impacts on city management, government transparency and local labor unions — especially those representing city workers. Some progressives worry that a new preference for upstart campaigns could challenge the traditional pipelines of power that allow candidates without access to large financial resources to build support while slowly moving up the ranks of local government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010904/whos-pouring-millions-into-san-franciscos-expensive-mayors-race\">benefited from record spending, much of it self-financed\u003c/a>, to become the city’s first mayor elected without any government experience since Jim Rolph in 1911. When Mahan won the mayorship in 2022, he did so after just two years on the city council — the least government experience of any mayor since San Jose voters began directly electing the position in 1966.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11984099\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11984099\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg\" alt=\"A white middle aged man speaks into microphones wearing a blue suit and a white collared shirt with no tie.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/04/San-Jose-License-Plate-Readers-08-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan at the press conference on April 25, 2024. \u003ccite>(Joseph Geha/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Both Mahan and Lurie were able to seize on voter discontent over widespread and highly visible homelessness, a rise in shoplifting and commercial burglaries and ongoing disruptions from the pandemic by blaming city hall “insiders.” They argued that their years of experience outside of government — Mahan as CEO of the civic engagement tech platform Brigade, Lurie as founder of the anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point Community — would allow them to engineer a culture shift within the municipal bureaucracy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013667/daniel-lurie-san-franciscos-next-mayor-what-will-that-look-like\">At his victory press conference on Friday\u003c/a>, Lurie promised “a government centered on accountability, service and change” that would move past years of corruption scandals. It was a message with echoes of Mahan’s 2022 campaign call for “common sense, accountability and transparency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Neither candidate emerged completely independent of their cities’ existing power structures. Lurie grew up amid San Francisco’s financial elite, and his work with Tipping Point brought him close contact with city leaders trying to reduce homelessness. Mahan was backed by the incumbent mayor, Sam Liccardo, and the city’s powerful business community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Wunderman said voters viewed these political outsiders as better equipped to take a data-driven approach to reducing homelessness, crime and blight — and more likely to ask tough questions of city department heads.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Like ‘Why do we have so many employees in the city? What are we getting from the work of these departments and the individuals in them?” Wunderman said. “‘What kind of management do we have in place?’’\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of those questions could portend conflict with existing city employees and the unions that represent them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan has sparred with municipal worker unions since taking office, and he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958290/san-jose-city-council-approves-agreements-with-unions-to-avoid-strike\">voted against a deal that raised wages and benefits for city employees\u003c/a> last year. Lurie’s relationship with labor is less defined. While he received the support of a few unions, most labor groups backed other candidates in the mayoral race.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>IFPTE Local 21, which represents municipal workers across the Bay Area’s largest cities, has opposed Mahan and strongly supported Sheng Thao in Oakland. In San Francisco, they recommended only that voters leave former interim mayor Mark Farrell off of their ranked-choice ballots for mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s our fervent hope that Daniel Lurie’s administration is going to make it a priority to support the workers that actually make this city run,” said Bianca Polovina, president of IFPTE Local 21.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Polovina said the mayoral election results should not be read as a rebuke to organized labor — pointing to the success of a majority of IFPTE-endorsed candidates for supervisor and city council across the three cities.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Working people across the San Francisco Bay Area are demanding bold leadership that prioritizes high-quality public services,” Polovina added. “Voters are pretty adamant that they want core essential services, they want clean streets, effective public transportation, and comprehensive public safety.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not only did Mahan and Lurie win without major backing from labor, incumbent elected officials across the political spectrum also opposed them. All of Mahan’s fellow city council members endorsed his 2022 opponent, Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, and not a single sitting San Francisco supervisor picked Lurie as their first choice for mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing entrenched interests and the daunting task of introducing themselves to voters, Lurie’s personal wealth and Mahan’s Silicon Valley connections provided them with access to capital, argued Kimi Lee, executive director of Bay Rising, a coalition of progressive groups working to build political power among working-class voters of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we see is that there’s definitely an influence of corporations and billionaires and outside money and venture capitalists,” said Lee, who also noted the \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\">outsized role of a single hedge-fund manager\u003c/a> in funding the Thao recall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the losing end of last week’s electoral upheaval were two incumbents, Thao and Breed, who had spent years working their way up the ranks of city government before breaking barriers as their city’s first Hmong-American and Black female mayors, respectively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think there is still something there, where people overly criticize women, women of color,” said Lee. “They expect higher things from them — just more critical, saying they’re soft on crime…or saying that they’re not someone who can handle this job.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lurie’s lack of experience will be tested quickly, as he will face the immediate challenges of building an administration, establishing relationships within city hall and closing an ongoing budget deficit. After a rocky first year in office in which he was often on the losing end of high-profile votes, Mahan found his footing in 2024 — winning \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989926/san-jose-council-approves-budget-with-historic-shift-in-unhoused-spending\">unanimous support for his homeless housing plan\u003c/a>, emerging as a leading supporter of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012656/proposition-36-californias-newest-tough-on-crime-measure-appears-headed-for-victory\">new criminal sentencing law approved by California voters\u003c/a>, Proposition 36, and garnering 87% of the vote in his run for re-election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next test for insurgent campaigns will be in Oakland, where voters will likely pick a new mayor in a special election next spring. Any outsider running there will face a familiar historical obstacle: since the city returned to directly electing the position in the 1950s, every Oakland mayor has come into office with prior government experience.\u003c/p>\n\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\u003cp>\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\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "why-alameda-countys-vote-count-slow-official-blasts-sluggish-pace",
"title": "Why Is Alameda County’s Vote Count So Slow? Official Blasts Sluggish Pace",
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"headTitle": "Why Is Alameda County’s Vote Count So Slow? Official Blasts Sluggish Pace | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A veteran member of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors said he’s frustrated with the snail-like pace of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda\">county’s vote reporting\u003c/a>, delaying results in two highly anticipated recall elections and other contests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Keith Carson, who is about to retire from the board after eight terms, said he shares voters’ unhappiness with the county registrar’s tally, which so far has worked its way through roughly a third of ballots cast in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results\">Tuesday’s general election\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many have contacted my office to express their dismay/anger regarding the small number of votes that have been counted to date, while all of our surrounding counties are posting a greater number of results,” Carson said in a statement on Friday. “I share your dismay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carson’s remarks came after the registrar’s office posted an update Thursday evening that reported just 4,589 new votes tabulated since the final election night report at 1:03 a.m. Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That update brought the total number of ballots tallied so far to 238,035, according to the office. Assuming an 80% turnout among Alameda County’s 962,000 registered voters, which would align with recent presidential elections, that would mean the registrar still has a backlog of about 530,000 ballots to process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12012944\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12012944\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor Sheng Thao fields questions from press at the election watch and recall party at Fluid510 in Oakland on election night, Nov. 5, 2024. \u003ccite>(Camille Cohen for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Those ballots hold the answer to a number of closely watched contests, including recall votes for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013194/recalls-oakland-mayor-alameda-county-da-take-commanding-leads\">District Attorney Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao\u003c/a> and dozens of legislative, mayoral, city council and ballot measure races across the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday evening’s results showed both recalls winning with about 65% of the vote. They would pass with a majority vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I understand the public is interested in getting results very quickly,” registrar Tim Dupuis said in an interview on Friday, adding that he expects the process to speed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we typically see is a slow start, and then we ramp up,” Dupuis said. He said his office’s main challenge is the 460,000 mail-in ballots received on Election Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013722\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12013722\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Darius Lynch fills out his ballot at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland on Nov. 5, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It takes time to get those ballots queued up so that we can get them through our tally system,” he said. “You have to check the signatures. You have to sort them, you have to open them. You have to extract the ballot from the envelope. You have to stage it so that our tally system is ready for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his statement, Carson questioned whether Dupuis had hired enough workers for the vote count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Months ago, in public meetings, I asked the registrar if he had a sufficient workforce and resources in order to carry out the November election,” Carson said. “His response was ‘yes.’ Unfortunately, that appears not to be the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12013450 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dupuis said his department is more focused on getting all votes processed by the state’s 30-day deadline for counties to certify election results than on delivering fast results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So the issue really is the balance between having enough staff to get the selection certified within the time allotted versus trying to have the results as quickly as possible,” he said. “If the concern is to increase the speed at which we are able to post and get final results out, especially given the large number of vote-by-mail ballots, there’s a number of things that we could look at. We could look at more staffing, we could look at more equipment, we could look at more state-of-the-art facilities. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Dupuis’ office has gained \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/11/04/why-are-people-always-getting-mad-at-the-alameda-county-registrar-of-voters/\">a reputation\u003c/a> for slow and sometimes inefficient operations, Alameda County is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013450/bay-area-voters-heres-when-you-can-expect-updated-election-results\">not alone\u003c/a> in its long, drawn-out vote reporting this election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contra Costa, Marin and Napa counties, for instance, have not reported updated results since their final election night reports. Two other counties, San Mateo and Sonoma, say they’ve processed fewer than 10,000 ballots since election night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other end of the spectrum, Santa Clara County processed twice the number of votes Alameda County did on election night — 468,395 versus 233,246. Dupuis credited Santa Clara’s performance to having more staff and twice as much high-speed sorting capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "With recalls of District Attorney Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao still in the balance, the election tally has slowed to a near-standstill, with potentially 500,000 ballots left.",
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"title": "Why Is Alameda County’s Vote Count So Slow? Official Blasts Sluggish Pace | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A veteran member of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors said he’s frustrated with the snail-like pace of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda\">county’s vote reporting\u003c/a>, delaying results in two highly anticipated recall elections and other contests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supervisor Keith Carson, who is about to retire from the board after eight terms, said he shares voters’ unhappiness with the county registrar’s tally, which so far has worked its way through roughly a third of ballots cast in \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results\">Tuesday’s general election\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Many have contacted my office to express their dismay/anger regarding the small number of votes that have been counted to date, while all of our surrounding counties are posting a greater number of results,” Carson said in a statement on Friday. “I share your dismay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carson’s remarks came after the registrar’s office posted an update Thursday evening that reported just 4,589 new votes tabulated since the final election night report at 1:03 a.m. Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That update brought the total number of ballots tallied so far to 238,035, according to the office. Assuming an 80% turnout among Alameda County’s 962,000 registered voters, which would align with recent presidential elections, that would mean the registrar still has a backlog of about 530,000 ballots to process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12012944\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12012944\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-NIGHT-THAO-PARTY-CC-01-KQED-1920x1281.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor Sheng Thao fields questions from press at the election watch and recall party at Fluid510 in Oakland on election night, Nov. 5, 2024. \u003ccite>(Camille Cohen for KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Those ballots hold the answer to a number of closely watched contests, including recall votes for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013194/recalls-oakland-mayor-alameda-county-da-take-commanding-leads\">District Attorney Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao\u003c/a> and dozens of legislative, mayoral, city council and ballot measure races across the county.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday evening’s results showed both recalls winning with about 65% of the vote. They would pass with a majority vote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I understand the public is interested in getting results very quickly,” registrar Tim Dupuis said in an interview on Friday, adding that he expects the process to speed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we typically see is a slow start, and then we ramp up,” Dupuis said. He said his office’s main challenge is the 460,000 mail-in ballots received on Election Day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12013722\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1999px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12013722\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed.jpg 1999w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/11/241105-ELECTION-DAY-ALLEN-TEMPLE-MD-06_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Darius Lynch fills out his ballot at Allen Temple Baptist Church in Oakland on Nov. 5, 2024. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It takes time to get those ballots queued up so that we can get them through our tally system,” he said. “You have to check the signatures. You have to sort them, you have to open them. You have to extract the ballot from the envelope. You have to stage it so that our tally system is ready for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his statement, Carson questioned whether Dupuis had hired enough workers for the vote count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Months ago, in public meetings, I asked the registrar if he had a sufficient workforce and resources in order to carry out the November election,” Carson said. “His response was ‘yes.’ Unfortunately, that appears not to be the case.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dupuis said his department is more focused on getting all votes processed by the state’s 30-day deadline for counties to certify election results than on delivering fast results.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So the issue really is the balance between having enough staff to get the selection certified within the time allotted versus trying to have the results as quickly as possible,” he said. “If the concern is to increase the speed at which we are able to post and get final results out, especially given the large number of vote-by-mail ballots, there’s a number of things that we could look at. We could look at more staffing, we could look at more equipment, we could look at more state-of-the-art facilities. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Dupuis’ office has gained \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/11/04/why-are-people-always-getting-mad-at-the-alameda-county-registrar-of-voters/\">a reputation\u003c/a> for slow and sometimes inefficient operations, Alameda County is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12013450/bay-area-voters-heres-when-you-can-expect-updated-election-results\">not alone\u003c/a> in its long, drawn-out vote reporting this election.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Contra Costa, Marin and Napa counties, for instance, have not reported updated results since their final election night reports. Two other counties, San Mateo and Sonoma, say they’ve processed fewer than 10,000 ballots since election night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the other end of the spectrum, Santa Clara County processed twice the number of votes Alameda County did on election night — 468,395 versus 233,246. Dupuis credited Santa Clara’s performance to having more staff and twice as much high-speed sorting capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Former Oakland Police Chief Trails in City Council Race",
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"content": "\u003cp>Early results show former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda/oakland#city-council-member-at-large\">behind in his bid for City Council\u003c/a>, trailing Rowena Brown by just over 9 percentage points in a ranked choice matchup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Alameda County Registrar of Voters told KQED that less than 25% of votes have been counted. Results are expected to be updated by the end of Thursday, and certification could take two to three weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been here before and patience will be needed as many more ballots need to be counted,” Brown, the legislative director for Assemblymember Mia Bonta, posted on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DCCLlX2v4v0/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D&img_index=1\">social media\u003c/a> on Wednesday morning. “Looking nationally, let’s hold our heads high and know that our collective power will move us through the next four years. We are warriors and we got this. We will rest in this moment, but let’s be ready in 2025.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the first round of ranked choice voting, Brown led Armstrong by about half a point, 28.3% to 27.8%. Charlene Wang, a former Biden-Harris official with an environmentalist background, came in third with 20% of first-choice votes in early returns. As candidates were eliminated in subsequent rounds of the ranked choice instant runoff, a large portion of Wang’s votes went to Brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The candidates were running for a seat left vacant by Rebecca Kaplan, the incumbent who chose not to run for reelection. The at-large seat has no special powers compared to the other City Council members. However, unlike the seven district seats, the at-large member represents the entire city of Oakland. This elected official has the leeway to take a broad view of the city’s daunting challenges, which may include recalls of the mayor and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.[aside label=\"Live 2024 Election Results\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/bayarea,Learn about the results for every single race and measure across the nine Bay Area counties' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2024/10/Aside-Results-Bay-Area-2024-Primary-Election-1200x1200-1.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The campaign to recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao gained steam with her decision to fire Armstrong, a lifelong Oaklander who steadily rose up the police department’s ranks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armstrong was raised in West Oakland and appointed police chief in 2021 by former Mayor Libby Schaaf. At the time, he was welcomed as a homegrown success story who could bring reform and stability to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11940412/oaklands-police-chief-and-the-long-road-to-police-reform\">the long-embattled department\u003c/a>. In 2023, then-newly appointed Mayor Thao fired Armstrong over his response to an investigation into officer misconduct. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961636/report-recommends-oakland-mayor-consider-reinstating-former-police-chief-leronne-armstrong\">An arbiter later largely cleared Armstrong\u003c/a> of wrongdoing, and he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974985/former-oakland-police-chief-leronne-armstrong-sues-city-for-wrongful-termination\">sued the city\u003c/a>, alleging he was fired illegally. That case is ongoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If anyone is wrong in any way, they should advocate for themselves and seek vindication. And that’s what I’m doing with my lawsuit,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11987400/former-oakland-police-chief-announces-run-for-city-council\">Armstrong told KQED in May\u003c/a>. “I don’t think that has any impact on my ability to serve the city of Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to her website, Brown is an East Bay native and a “Black and Queer woman who lost both of her parents by the age of 17.” Before joining Bonta’s office, which represents Alameda and Oakland in Sacramento, Brown worked as a staffer for former Councilmember Loren Taylor and as an 8th-grade teacher. Brown earned endorsements from both Bonta and her husband, the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, as well as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012363/lateefah-simon-leads-race-to-succeed-barbara-lee-in-californias-12th-congressional-district\">Lateefah Simon\u003c/a>, who is leading the race for the 12th District congressional seat formerly held by Rep. Barbara Lee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Relative newcomer Rowena Brown led former Chief LeRonne Armstrong in early returns in a close City Council at-large race.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Early results show former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/elections/results/alameda/oakland#city-council-member-at-large\">behind in his bid for City Council\u003c/a>, trailing Rowena Brown by just over 9 percentage points in a ranked choice matchup.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Alameda County Registrar of Voters told KQED that less than 25% of votes have been counted. Results are expected to be updated by the end of Thursday, and certification could take two to three weeks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve been here before and patience will be needed as many more ballots need to be counted,” Brown, the legislative director for Assemblymember Mia Bonta, posted on \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DCCLlX2v4v0/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D&img_index=1\">social media\u003c/a> on Wednesday morning. “Looking nationally, let’s hold our heads high and know that our collective power will move us through the next four years. We are warriors and we got this. We will rest in this moment, but let’s be ready in 2025.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the first round of ranked choice voting, Brown led Armstrong by about half a point, 28.3% to 27.8%. Charlene Wang, a former Biden-Harris official with an environmentalist background, came in third with 20% of first-choice votes in early returns. As candidates were eliminated in subsequent rounds of the ranked choice instant runoff, a large portion of Wang’s votes went to Brown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The candidates were running for a seat left vacant by Rebecca Kaplan, the incumbent who chose not to run for reelection. The at-large seat has no special powers compared to the other City Council members. However, unlike the seven district seats, the at-large member represents the entire city of Oakland. This elected official has the leeway to take a broad view of the city’s daunting challenges, which may include recalls of the mayor and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The campaign to recall Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao gained steam with her decision to fire Armstrong, a lifelong Oaklander who steadily rose up the police department’s ranks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Armstrong was raised in West Oakland and appointed police chief in 2021 by former Mayor Libby Schaaf. At the time, he was welcomed as a homegrown success story who could bring reform and stability to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11940412/oaklands-police-chief-and-the-long-road-to-police-reform\">the long-embattled department\u003c/a>. In 2023, then-newly appointed Mayor Thao fired Armstrong over his response to an investigation into officer misconduct. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961636/report-recommends-oakland-mayor-consider-reinstating-former-police-chief-leronne-armstrong\">An arbiter later largely cleared Armstrong\u003c/a> of wrongdoing, and he \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11974985/former-oakland-police-chief-leronne-armstrong-sues-city-for-wrongful-termination\">sued the city\u003c/a>, alleging he was fired illegally. That case is ongoing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If anyone is wrong in any way, they should advocate for themselves and seek vindication. And that’s what I’m doing with my lawsuit,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11987400/former-oakland-police-chief-announces-run-for-city-council\">Armstrong told KQED in May\u003c/a>. “I don’t think that has any impact on my ability to serve the city of Oakland.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to her website, Brown is an East Bay native and a “Black and Queer woman who lost both of her parents by the age of 17.” Before joining Bonta’s office, which represents Alameda and Oakland in Sacramento, Brown worked as a staffer for former Councilmember Loren Taylor and as an 8th-grade teacher. Brown earned endorsements from both Bonta and her husband, the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta, as well as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12012363/lateefah-simon-leads-race-to-succeed-barbara-lee-in-californias-12th-congressional-district\">Lateefah Simon\u003c/a>, who is leading the race for the 12th District congressional seat formerly held by Rep. Barbara Lee.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009486/oaklands-finances-significant-risk-report-warns-coliseum-sale-raises-questions\">Oakland’s fiscal crisis\u003c/a> appears to be reaching a tipping point after its contingency budget was triggered this month, and the city is on track to continue overspending, according to a City Council committee meeting on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s precarious position is partly due to a revised agreement on selling its share of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-coliseum\">Oakland Coliseum\u003c/a>, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007771/new-oakland-coliseum-sale-deal-raises-questions-about-delayed-payment-and-citys-budget\">delayed payments\u003c/a> it relied on to patch over $60 million of a massive budget shortfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the council \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992883/oakland-city-council-passes-budget-amid-concerns-over-pending-coliseum-sale\">passed that budget\u003c/a> in July, it included a contingency plan with cuts to public safety and a hiring freeze should the sale funds not begin to come through by September. During a finance and management committee meeting on Tuesday, the city attorney’s office said that since those parameters have been met, the contingency budget is going into effect, but it’s still uncertain when those cuts would go into place or whether some could be avoided.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The contingency budget that was referenced in the council’s midcycle budget resolution is in place, and there has not been any other legislation that has superseded that,” a representative for the city attorney’s office said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the contingency measures is a travel and hiring freeze for non-public safety positions, which the city began to put in place in March ahead of the budget deadline, according to Mayor Sheng Thao’s office. Jobs are still being posted, though — five were put up by the city this week, and there are currently 31 listings on the city’s site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The contingency plan also calls for brownouts, or rotating shutdowns, of five fire stations and cutting the number of sworn police officers from over 700 to 610 through attrition, but Thao told KQED that the council would decide whether to make those cuts after receiving the city’s first-quarter fiscal report in mid-November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11957278\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11957278\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Oakland's City Hall is seen in between other tall buildings.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland City Hall in downtown Oakland on Aug. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That’s an opportunity for the City Council to actually make changes and make those decisions that they want to, which is browning out fire stations and lowering the number of officers,” she said on \u003cem>Forum.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao spokesperson Casey Pratt said that once the council gets the first-quarter fiscal report, it “can choose to responsibly recalibrate based on the full financial picture” with “a lot more clarity on the Coliseum deal funds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the original $105 million Coliseum sale agreement with the African American Sports and Entertainment Group — the developers buying the property — Oakland received a $5 million payment upon signing and was scheduled for payments in September, November and January, totaling $58 million. The remaining $42 million was due by closing in June 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12009486 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/OaklandColiseumEmptyGetty-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s new agreement maintains that initial $5 million but shifts other payments later — and bumps up the total price to $110 million. A $10 million payment due in November is in escrow, and a remaining lump sum of $95 million is due in May 2025. The money will stay in escrow until the deal closes, but after Nov. 9, the city will keep it even if AASEG pulls out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That agreement accelerates the closing date so that all of the funds would be received by the end of the current fiscal year, but it doesn’t change the budget resolution that the council passed in July, which said that if any of the original payment dates are missed, the contingency budget is triggered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Tuesday’s meeting, budget administrator Brad Johnson said discussions about cuts under the contingency budget will take place in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some major cuts will likely have to be made. Johnson said the city overspent in the final quarter of last fiscal year and is on track to overspend again this quarter. Council members will need to consider what Oakland can and cannot “live without” before that November discussion, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We ran a real operating deficit last year. We really did go into our reserves by $80 million, and that in the long run is unsustainable,” Johnson said. “We’re already overspending in the current year. We’ve met the criteria for triggering what needed to be another $63 million in reductions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Council members at Tuesday’s hearing questioned how they could prevent potential deep cuts to public safety services — especially after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010151/oakland-fire-spreads-to-nearby-homes-amid-dry-windy-conditions\">the Keller Fire in the Oakland Hills\u003c/a> over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire Chief Damon Covington warned that with brownouts, the department’s quick response to protect homes wouldn’t have been possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We came within 200 yards of Campus Drive,” Covington said. “Very little math will tell you that we would have probably lost those homes on Campus Drive at a minimum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009486/oaklands-finances-significant-risk-report-warns-coliseum-sale-raises-questions\">Oakland’s fiscal crisis\u003c/a> appears to be reaching a tipping point after its contingency budget was triggered this month, and the city is on track to continue overspending, according to a City Council committee meeting on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s precarious position is partly due to a revised agreement on selling its share of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-coliseum\">Oakland Coliseum\u003c/a>, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007771/new-oakland-coliseum-sale-deal-raises-questions-about-delayed-payment-and-citys-budget\">delayed payments\u003c/a> it relied on to patch over $60 million of a massive budget shortfall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the council \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992883/oakland-city-council-passes-budget-amid-concerns-over-pending-coliseum-sale\">passed that budget\u003c/a> in July, it included a contingency plan with cuts to public safety and a hiring freeze should the sale funds not begin to come through by September. During a finance and management committee meeting on Tuesday, the city attorney’s office said that since those parameters have been met, the contingency budget is going into effect, but it’s still uncertain when those cuts would go into place or whether some could be avoided.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The contingency budget that was referenced in the council’s midcycle budget resolution is in place, and there has not been any other legislation that has superseded that,” a representative for the city attorney’s office said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the contingency measures is a travel and hiring freeze for non-public safety positions, which the city began to put in place in March ahead of the budget deadline, according to Mayor Sheng Thao’s office. Jobs are still being posted, though — five were put up by the city this week, and there are currently 31 listings on the city’s site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The contingency plan also calls for brownouts, or rotating shutdowns, of five fire stations and cutting the number of sworn police officers from over 700 to 610 through attrition, but Thao told KQED that the council would decide whether to make those cuts after receiving the city’s first-quarter fiscal report in mid-November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11957278\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11957278\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Oakland's City Hall is seen in between other tall buildings.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-05-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland City Hall in downtown Oakland on Aug. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“That’s an opportunity for the City Council to actually make changes and make those decisions that they want to, which is browning out fire stations and lowering the number of officers,” she said on \u003cem>Forum.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao spokesperson Casey Pratt said that once the council gets the first-quarter fiscal report, it “can choose to responsibly recalibrate based on the full financial picture” with “a lot more clarity on the Coliseum deal funds.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the original $105 million Coliseum sale agreement with the African American Sports and Entertainment Group — the developers buying the property — Oakland received a $5 million payment upon signing and was scheduled for payments in September, November and January, totaling $58 million. The remaining $42 million was due by closing in June 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s new agreement maintains that initial $5 million but shifts other payments later — and bumps up the total price to $110 million. A $10 million payment due in November is in escrow, and a remaining lump sum of $95 million is due in May 2025. The money will stay in escrow until the deal closes, but after Nov. 9, the city will keep it even if AASEG pulls out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That agreement accelerates the closing date so that all of the funds would be received by the end of the current fiscal year, but it doesn’t change the budget resolution that the council passed in July, which said that if any of the original payment dates are missed, the contingency budget is triggered.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During Tuesday’s meeting, budget administrator Brad Johnson said discussions about cuts under the contingency budget will take place in November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some major cuts will likely have to be made. Johnson said the city overspent in the final quarter of last fiscal year and is on track to overspend again this quarter. Council members will need to consider what Oakland can and cannot “live without” before that November discussion, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We ran a real operating deficit last year. We really did go into our reserves by $80 million, and that in the long run is unsustainable,” Johnson said. “We’re already overspending in the current year. We’ve met the criteria for triggering what needed to be another $63 million in reductions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Council members at Tuesday’s hearing questioned how they could prevent potential deep cuts to public safety services — especially after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010151/oakland-fire-spreads-to-nearby-homes-amid-dry-windy-conditions\">the Keller Fire in the Oakland Hills\u003c/a> over the weekend.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fire Chief Damon Covington warned that with brownouts, the department’s quick response to protect homes wouldn’t have been possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We came within 200 yards of Campus Drive,” Covington said. “Very little math will tell you that we would have probably lost those homes on Campus Drive at a minimum.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>With the election less than three weeks away, the temperature is rising, the attacks are escalating and the candidates are making last minute moves with an eye toward the finish line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Oakland, the proposed recall of Mayor Sheng Thao is heating up. Thao has been on a media blitz this week, pushing back against the recall, which will appear on the November ballot. This morning, former \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12010065/exclusive-oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-should-be-recalled-libby-schaaf-says\">Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf told Scott that she supports the recall\u003c/a> of Thao. Marisa, Scott and Guy discuss this East Bay political battle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Listen to Thao’s interview on Political Breakdown from earlier this week: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12009615/oakland-mayor-sheng-thao-makes-her-case-against-a-recall\">Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao Makes Her Case Against A Recall\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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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\" 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>[ad fullwidth]\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>[ad floatright]\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\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\" 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>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\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>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\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\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Chinatown Leaders Ramp Up Anti-Recall Campaign",
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"headTitle": "Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Chinatown Leaders Ramp Up Anti-Recall Campaign | KQED",
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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=\"(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\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "As Thao faces a recall election in Oakland, she sought to highlight her record and frame the effort as fringe, opportunistic and antidemocratic.",
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"title": "Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and Chinatown Leaders Ramp Up Anti-Recall Campaign | KQED",
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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=\"(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\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "oaklands-finances-significant-risk-report-warns-coliseum-sale-raises-questions",
"title": "Oakland’s Finances at ‘Significant Risk,’ Report Warns, as Coliseum Sale Raises Questions",
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"headTitle": "Oakland’s Finances at ‘Significant Risk,’ Report Warns, as Coliseum Sale Raises Questions | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>As uncertainty continues to surround Oakland’s budget and how it will be affected by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-coliseum\">Coliseum\u003c/a> sale, the city’s finance department is warning that its fiscal situation is at “significant risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the latest financial report to the city administrator, Oakland is in a “precarious fiscal situation” as it moves to implement a contingency budget amid a new funding schedule for the Oakland Coliseum sale, adding to concerns about the city’s almost $80 million operating shortfall at the end of the 2023-2024 fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, council members and critics of Mayor Sheng Thao raised alarm when it appeared that a payment expected in the city’s highly anticipated deal to sell its share of the Coliseum didn’t arrive on time. As it turns out, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007771/new-oakland-coliseum-sale-deal-raises-questions-about-delayed-payment-and-citys-budget\">terms of the land deal had been amended\u003c/a>, extending to November, the deadline for the developers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group, to fulfill a second payment of $10 million, which the city says has been deposited to an escrow account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao, AASEG and council members, including President Nikki Fortunato Bas, have called the revised deal a win because it raises the total revenue, reduces the city’s outstanding bond debt on the Coliseum by $12.8 million and closes the deal sooner. But council members Treva Reid, Janani Ramachandran and Noel Gallo have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008329/oakland-coliseum-sales-new-deal-draws-council-members-ire-over-lack-of-transparency\">called for increased transparency\u003c/a> about how they say the revised payment schedule will affect the city’s budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly $63 million from the sale’s revenue was to be used to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11997946/oakland-reaches-deal-on-105-million-coliseum-sale-to-stave-off-budget-cuts\">patch holes in a massive deficit\u003c/a> in Oakland’s 2024-2025 budget. Because the funds were outstanding in July when the council adopted the budget, it also included a contingency: If those payments were not received on time, it would trigger a much tighter budget that made cuts akin to stepping on the funding emergency brake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of uncertainty now that this [contingency] budget has been triggered,” Ramachandran said. “My focus is on trying to understand what’s going to be cut first because there is absolutely no doubt and no lack of clarity on the fact that things have to be cut.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11992371\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11992371\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland City Hall in downtown Oakland on Aug. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s finance and management committee was slated to meet Tuesday for the report on the status of the contingency budget activation, but the meeting was canceled at the last minute at the administration’s request for more time, according to Ramachandran.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The original Coliseum deal — which was tied to the budget that the City Council passed in July — called for an initial $5 million payment upon signing, followed by $10 million in September, $15 million in November, $33 million in January, and the final $42 million by June 20, 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amended sale agreement between AASEG and the city changes the payment schedule, pushing the $10 million expected in September to November and the remaining $95 million to the end of next May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the $10 million payment is already in an escrow account and will become available in November, according to Casey Pratt, the mayor’s spokesperson, Ramachandran and Reid said in a statement last week that these changes mean that the contingency budget has been triggered, and “Oakland must cut $48 million from its budget.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor’s office did not provide comment for this story, but Thao posted on social media that city officials briefed Ramachandran and Reid on the amended deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are welcome to be a part of the solution, not deepen distrust with false information and further divide us,” she wrote in a post on X.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/MayorShengThao/status/1844088925989765486\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao’s chief of staff, Leigh Hanson, told the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/oakland-coliseum-revised-deal-19819758.php\">\u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a> last week that she doesn’t believe the changing payment schedule — specifically the removal of a $15 million installment that was expected in November under the initial deal — will change Oakland’s management decisions around fire stations or police academies significantly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have a cash flow issue,” she told the \u003cem>Chronicle\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/resources/frequently-asked-questions-faqs-city-budget-updates-as-of-october-2024\">frequently asked questions\u003c/a> page regarding the budget says that “cost-saving measures were articulated in the contingency budget and per the budget resolution are in the process of being implemented.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12008329 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/240920-COLISEUM-WORKERS-MD-06-KQED-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6888252&GUID=E8266870-CEBF-490D-A41A-E66ECDF39FDB&Options=&Search=\">finance department’s report\u003c/a>, which is set to be presented at an Oct. 22 committee meeting, also says that the conditions of the contingency budget have been met and it is being implemented, adding that a substantial portion of the city’s general purpose fund is in non-cash assets that “do not provide immediate cash flow to address the city’s operational needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992883/oakland-city-council-passes-budget-amid-concerns-over-pending-coliseum-sale\">contingency budget\u003c/a> includes brownouts, or rotating shutdowns, of five fire engine companies, reducing the number of sworn police officers from 709 to about 600 through attrition, and freezing or eliminating violence prevention positions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would also trigger a citywide halt of hiring, contracting and travel and could cause a multi-year delay or cancellation of $200 million in planned bond-funded infrastructure, affordable housing and other projects slated for the coming fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s been no clarity from either Thao’s or the city administrator’s office regarding which contingency budget policies are being implemented. The fiscal report says that “steps are being taken to minimize impacts to public safety of implementation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city administrator’s office did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramachandran said that regardless of whether or not the amended Coliseum sale agreement is executed on time, the city will still not receive more than $40 million between now and January that is accounted for in the budget plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that it’s great that if this deal goes through on time, we’ll get a purchase price of $5 million more — and down the road with development markers potentially up to $15 million more than that. But all of that future money and promise of future money is irrelevant to this budget,” she told KQED. “Nothing that council has passed has superseded this contingency budget.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Oakland is implementing a contingency budget with cuts amid a new funding schedule for the Coliseum sale, but there is little clarity about where those cuts will be made.",
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"title": "Oakland’s Finances at ‘Significant Risk,’ Report Warns, as Coliseum Sale Raises Questions | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>As uncertainty continues to surround Oakland’s budget and how it will be affected by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-coliseum\">Coliseum\u003c/a> sale, the city’s finance department is warning that its fiscal situation is at “significant risk.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the latest financial report to the city administrator, Oakland is in a “precarious fiscal situation” as it moves to implement a contingency budget amid a new funding schedule for the Oakland Coliseum sale, adding to concerns about the city’s almost $80 million operating shortfall at the end of the 2023-2024 fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this month, council members and critics of Mayor Sheng Thao raised alarm when it appeared that a payment expected in the city’s highly anticipated deal to sell its share of the Coliseum didn’t arrive on time. As it turns out, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007771/new-oakland-coliseum-sale-deal-raises-questions-about-delayed-payment-and-citys-budget\">terms of the land deal had been amended\u003c/a>, extending to November, the deadline for the developers, the African American Sports and Entertainment Group, to fulfill a second payment of $10 million, which the city says has been deposited to an escrow account.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao, AASEG and council members, including President Nikki Fortunato Bas, have called the revised deal a win because it raises the total revenue, reduces the city’s outstanding bond debt on the Coliseum by $12.8 million and closes the deal sooner. But council members Treva Reid, Janani Ramachandran and Noel Gallo have \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12008329/oakland-coliseum-sales-new-deal-draws-council-members-ire-over-lack-of-transparency\">called for increased transparency\u003c/a> about how they say the revised payment schedule will affect the city’s budget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly $63 million from the sale’s revenue was to be used to \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11997946/oakland-reaches-deal-on-105-million-coliseum-sale-to-stave-off-budget-cuts\">patch holes in a massive deficit\u003c/a> in Oakland’s 2024-2025 budget. Because the funds were outstanding in July when the council adopted the budget, it also included a contingency: If those payments were not received on time, it would trigger a much tighter budget that made cuts akin to stepping on the funding emergency brake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a lot of uncertainty now that this [contingency] budget has been triggered,” Ramachandran said. “My focus is on trying to understand what’s going to be cut first because there is absolutely no doubt and no lack of clarity on the fact that things have to be cut.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11992371\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11992371\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/06/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-01-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland City Hall in downtown Oakland on Aug. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oakland’s finance and management committee was slated to meet Tuesday for the report on the status of the contingency budget activation, but the meeting was canceled at the last minute at the administration’s request for more time, according to Ramachandran.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The original Coliseum deal — which was tied to the budget that the City Council passed in July — called for an initial $5 million payment upon signing, followed by $10 million in September, $15 million in November, $33 million in January, and the final $42 million by June 20, 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amended sale agreement between AASEG and the city changes the payment schedule, pushing the $10 million expected in September to November and the remaining $95 million to the end of next May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the $10 million payment is already in an escrow account and will become available in November, according to Casey Pratt, the mayor’s spokesperson, Ramachandran and Reid said in a statement last week that these changes mean that the contingency budget has been triggered, and “Oakland must cut $48 million from its budget.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor’s office did not provide comment for this story, but Thao posted on social media that city officials briefed Ramachandran and Reid on the amended deal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They are welcome to be a part of the solution, not deepen distrust with false information and further divide us,” she wrote in a post on X.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Thao’s chief of staff, Leigh Hanson, told the \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/article/oakland-coliseum-revised-deal-19819758.php\">\u003cem>San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/em>\u003c/a> last week that she doesn’t believe the changing payment schedule — specifically the removal of a $15 million installment that was expected in November under the initial deal — will change Oakland’s management decisions around fire stations or police academies significantly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have a cash flow issue,” she told the \u003cem>Chronicle\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the city’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/resources/frequently-asked-questions-faqs-city-budget-updates-as-of-october-2024\">frequently asked questions\u003c/a> page regarding the budget says that “cost-saving measures were articulated in the contingency budget and per the budget resolution are in the process of being implemented.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://oakland.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6888252&GUID=E8266870-CEBF-490D-A41A-E66ECDF39FDB&Options=&Search=\">finance department’s report\u003c/a>, which is set to be presented at an Oct. 22 committee meeting, also says that the conditions of the contingency budget have been met and it is being implemented, adding that a substantial portion of the city’s general purpose fund is in non-cash assets that “do not provide immediate cash flow to address the city’s operational needs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992883/oakland-city-council-passes-budget-amid-concerns-over-pending-coliseum-sale\">contingency budget\u003c/a> includes brownouts, or rotating shutdowns, of five fire engine companies, reducing the number of sworn police officers from 709 to about 600 through attrition, and freezing or eliminating violence prevention positions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would also trigger a citywide halt of hiring, contracting and travel and could cause a multi-year delay or cancellation of $200 million in planned bond-funded infrastructure, affordable housing and other projects slated for the coming fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There’s been no clarity from either Thao’s or the city administrator’s office regarding which contingency budget policies are being implemented. The fiscal report says that “steps are being taken to minimize impacts to public safety of implementation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city administrator’s office did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ramachandran said that regardless of whether or not the amended Coliseum sale agreement is executed on time, the city will still not receive more than $40 million between now and January that is accounted for in the budget plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that it’s great that if this deal goes through on time, we’ll get a purchase price of $5 million more — and down the road with development markers potentially up to $15 million more than that. But all of that future money and promise of future money is irrelevant to this budget,” she told KQED. “Nothing that council has passed has superseded this contingency budget.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "oakland-coliseum-sales-new-deal-draws-council-members-ire-over-lack-of-transparency",
"title": "Oakland Coliseum Sale’s New Deal Draws Council Members’ Ire Over Lack of Transparency",
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"headTitle": "Oakland Coliseum Sale’s New Deal Draws Council Members’ Ire Over Lack of Transparency | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Some \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> City Council members are accusing Mayor Sheng Thao of a lack of transparency around the sale of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-coliseum\">Coliseum\u003c/a> site, which the city is using to help close a budget deficit after her office revealed a higher purchase price and condensed payment schedule on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The African American Sports & Entertainment Group will now pay $125 million rather than the initially agreed price of $105 million to buy the city’s stake in the site, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12003025/east-oakland-students-share-bold-vision-for-coliseum-revamp-with-new-owners\">the group plans to revitalize\u003c/a> with housing, restaurants, a convention center and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao’s administration also confirmed the city received a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007771/new-oakland-coliseum-sale-deal-raises-questions-about-delayed-payment-and-citys-budget\">$10 million payment from developers\u003c/a> that several council members had accused them of missing last month, putting the city’s budget at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11997946/oakland-reaches-deal-on-105-million-coliseum-sale-to-stave-off-budget-cuts\">the original deal\u003c/a> signed at the end of July, an initial $5 million payment was meant to have been followed by $10 million in September, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992883/oakland-city-council-passes-budget-amid-concerns-over-pending-coliseum-sale\">the city’s budget\u003c/a> included a contingency plan with drastic cuts triggered on Oct. 1 if that first $15 million had not come in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The City Council convened Monday morning for what was meant to be a planned emergency meeting to discuss the status of the missed payment and the city’s contingency plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12001427\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12001427\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland City Hall in downtown Oakland on Aug. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Though the meeting was canceled due to a lack of quorum, councilmembers Treva Reid, Janani Ramachandran and Noel Gallo stayed on to voice anger and frustration that the amended deal did not come before the council for approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This process has been layered with deception, delay, silence, manipulation, withholding and inequitable disclosing of details to all council members,” Reid said, “and unfortunately, bully tactics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"From the 2024 Voter Guide\" link1='https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/alameda,Alameda County: Your Voter Guide to Navigate the Candidates and Issues on Your Ballot' hero=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/80/2024/02/Aside-Voter-Guide-Local-Elections-Alameda-County-1200x1200-1.png]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Council doesn’t have a lot of powers when it comes to deals like this, but we do have the power to approve contracts with this much money at stake, with this much political capital and the money of taxpayers and our residents here at stake,” Ramachandran said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She called the city’s approach to the dealings a “potentially ridiculous risk” to its finances that could have meant drastic cuts to police academies and fire, brownouts, and a halting of contracts, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the role and responsibility of the City Council to balance, to make sure that we do not go bankrupt like other governments have,” added Gallo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the revised sale agreement announced Monday, the rest of the money — $110 million — must arrive within the current fiscal year. The full balance is now due in May instead of in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao called the deal a “win-win.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are very grateful for the hard work of the City team in helping reach our amended agreement,” AASEG founder and managing member Ray Bobbitt said in a statement. “The creation of jobs, housing, art, clean green space and a new generation of Sports and Entertainment at the Coliseum Site cannot wait; and will provide a certain pathway to the revitalization of East Oakland through massive investment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor’s office said it’s still waiting for Alameda County to approve the sale of its half of the Coliseum ownership stake, which has taken longer than expected. County officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "After Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao announced a revised Coliseum sale agreement with a new price and payment schedule, some council members were upset that they did not get a say in the deal.",
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"title": "Oakland Coliseum Sale’s New Deal Draws Council Members’ Ire Over Lack of Transparency | KQED",
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"headline": "Oakland Coliseum Sale’s New Deal Draws Council Members’ Ire Over Lack of Transparency",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Some \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a> City Council members are accusing Mayor Sheng Thao of a lack of transparency around the sale of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland-coliseum\">Coliseum\u003c/a> site, which the city is using to help close a budget deficit after her office revealed a higher purchase price and condensed payment schedule on Monday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The African American Sports & Entertainment Group will now pay $125 million rather than the initially agreed price of $105 million to buy the city’s stake in the site, which \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12003025/east-oakland-students-share-bold-vision-for-coliseum-revamp-with-new-owners\">the group plans to revitalize\u003c/a> with housing, restaurants, a convention center and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao’s administration also confirmed the city received a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/12007771/new-oakland-coliseum-sale-deal-raises-questions-about-delayed-payment-and-citys-budget\">$10 million payment from developers\u003c/a> that several council members had accused them of missing last month, putting the city’s budget at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11997946/oakland-reaches-deal-on-105-million-coliseum-sale-to-stave-off-budget-cuts\">the original deal\u003c/a> signed at the end of July, an initial $5 million payment was meant to have been followed by $10 million in September, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992883/oakland-city-council-passes-budget-amid-concerns-over-pending-coliseum-sale\">the city’s budget\u003c/a> included a contingency plan with drastic cuts triggered on Oct. 1 if that first $15 million had not come in.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The City Council convened Monday morning for what was meant to be a planned emergency meeting to discuss the status of the missed payment and the city’s contingency plans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12001427\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12001427\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Oakland City Hall in downtown Oakland on Aug. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Though the meeting was canceled due to a lack of quorum, councilmembers Treva Reid, Janani Ramachandran and Noel Gallo stayed on to voice anger and frustration that the amended deal did not come before the council for approval.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This process has been layered with deception, delay, silence, manipulation, withholding and inequitable disclosing of details to all council members,” Reid said, “and unfortunately, bully tactics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Council doesn’t have a lot of powers when it comes to deals like this, but we do have the power to approve contracts with this much money at stake, with this much political capital and the money of taxpayers and our residents here at stake,” Ramachandran said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She called the city’s approach to the dealings a “potentially ridiculous risk” to its finances that could have meant drastic cuts to police academies and fire, brownouts, and a halting of contracts, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s the role and responsibility of the City Council to balance, to make sure that we do not go bankrupt like other governments have,” added Gallo.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the revised sale agreement announced Monday, the rest of the money — $110 million — must arrive within the current fiscal year. The full balance is now due in May instead of in 2026.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thao called the deal a “win-win.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are very grateful for the hard work of the City team in helping reach our amended agreement,” AASEG founder and managing member Ray Bobbitt said in a statement. “The creation of jobs, housing, art, clean green space and a new generation of Sports and Entertainment at the Coliseum Site cannot wait; and will provide a certain pathway to the revitalization of East Oakland through massive investment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayor’s office said it’s still waiting for Alameda County to approve the sale of its half of the Coliseum ownership stake, which has taken longer than expected. County officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The chief investigator for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a>’s public watchdog has announced his resignation, citing a “long-term” failure to provide the independent panel with necessary resources even as it probes a number of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989214/ethics-probe-hangs-over-campaign-to-recall-oakland-mayor-as-it-files-signatures\">high-profile ethics allegations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simon Russell, who has worked on Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission for eight years, including two as its chief enforcement officer, told commission leaders in a letter last week that he will resign in late October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His resignation is due to both personal and “structural” circumstances, the primary being a lack of staffing resources that he believes is “largely deliberate,” according to the letter, first obtained by \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/09/25/oaklands-chief-ethics-investigator-quits/\">\u003cem>Oaklandside\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and viewed by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For several years, I have worked long hours far beyond what is reported on my timecard, attempting to do almost single-handedly what other agencies employ entire teams of attorneys and investigators to accomplish,” Russell wrote in the letter. “I persisted in this because I genuinely cared about doing whatever I could to combat the serious bribery, campaign finance exploitation, and other corruption that was undermining the great people of Oakland’s democratic rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The PEC’s enforcement department is just two people, and as of its September report, the commission had 140 open complaints, according to executive director Nicolas Heidorn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chief Russell’s service to the Commission and people of Oakland was exceptional,” Heidorn said in an email. “This is a big loss for the Commission and underscores the urgent need for additional enforcement resources for the Commission.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Russell said in his letter that the city has “continually failed to allocate any meaningful additional resources” to the enforcement division despite his repeated attempts to highlight the understaffing issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can only conclude that this failure is largely deliberate, even despite (or perhaps because of) the considerable public interest in our cases that have been brought partially to light,” he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_12005223 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/08/230802-OAKLAND-CITY-HALL-MHN-02_qed-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent months, the PEC has been involved in multiple high-profile probes, including the investigation into an alleged campaign contribution laundering scheme linked to members of the Duong family, the politically connected owners of California Waste Solutions, Oakland’s curbside recycling provider. Attention to the case was reinvigorated in June \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992073/oakland-fbi-raids-and-straw-donor-probe-spur-allegations-of-corruption\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">after the FBI raided a location associated with California Waste Solutions\u003c/a>, along with the homes of the company’s founder, David Duong, and his son, Andy Duong, as well as Mayor Sheng Thao.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a declaration filed in a case the PEC brought against one of the alleged straw donors in 2020, Russell alleged that multiple people told him they had received cash from Andy Duong in exchange for checks to political campaigns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Together, members of the Duong family and its company have faced \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992073/oakland-fbi-raids-and-straw-donor-probe-spur-allegations-of-corruption\">accusations\u003c/a> that they funneled tens of thousands of dollars through straw donors to various campaigns, including nearly $10,000 to Thao’s 2018 City Council run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May, the PEC opened an investigation into Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao, or OUST, the campaign to recall Oakland’s mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Russell\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989214/ethics-probe-hangs-over-campaign-to-recall-oakland-mayor-as-it-files-signatures\"> filed a complaint\u003c/a> alleging that OUST was using a recently formed nonprofit and political action committee, Foundational Oakland Unites, as a pass-through to obscure the source of some donations in violation of campaign finance reporting laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Russell’s last day with the PEC will be Oct. 25. The commission aims to hire a new enforcement chief as soon as possible, Heidorn said, adding that the ability to allocate additional funds to the enforcement division lies with the mayor and City Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, Oakland residents will vote on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/alameda/measures#measure-oo\">Measure OO\u003c/a>, which, if passed, would increase the commission’s staffing requirements to include an additional ethics investigator by July 2026 amid other reforms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The chief investigator for \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/oakland\">Oakland\u003c/a>’s public watchdog has announced his resignation, citing a “long-term” failure to provide the independent panel with necessary resources even as it probes a number of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989214/ethics-probe-hangs-over-campaign-to-recall-oakland-mayor-as-it-files-signatures\">high-profile ethics allegations\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Simon Russell, who has worked on Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission for eight years, including two as its chief enforcement officer, told commission leaders in a letter last week that he will resign in late October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His resignation is due to both personal and “structural” circumstances, the primary being a lack of staffing resources that he believes is “largely deliberate,” according to the letter, first obtained by \u003ca href=\"https://oaklandside.org/2024/09/25/oaklands-chief-ethics-investigator-quits/\">\u003cem>Oaklandside\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and viewed by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For several years, I have worked long hours far beyond what is reported on my timecard, attempting to do almost single-handedly what other agencies employ entire teams of attorneys and investigators to accomplish,” Russell wrote in the letter. “I persisted in this because I genuinely cared about doing whatever I could to combat the serious bribery, campaign finance exploitation, and other corruption that was undermining the great people of Oakland’s democratic rights.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The PEC’s enforcement department is just two people, and as of its September report, the commission had 140 open complaints, according to executive director Nicolas Heidorn.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Chief Russell’s service to the Commission and people of Oakland was exceptional,” Heidorn said in an email. “This is a big loss for the Commission and underscores the urgent need for additional enforcement resources for the Commission.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Russell said in his letter that the city has “continually failed to allocate any meaningful additional resources” to the enforcement division despite his repeated attempts to highlight the understaffing issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can only conclude that this failure is largely deliberate, even despite (or perhaps because of) the considerable public interest in our cases that have been brought partially to light,” he wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent months, the PEC has been involved in multiple high-profile probes, including the investigation into an alleged campaign contribution laundering scheme linked to members of the Duong family, the politically connected owners of California Waste Solutions, Oakland’s curbside recycling provider. Attention to the case was reinvigorated in June \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992073/oakland-fbi-raids-and-straw-donor-probe-spur-allegations-of-corruption\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">after the FBI raided a location associated with California Waste Solutions\u003c/a>, along with the homes of the company’s founder, David Duong, and his son, Andy Duong, as well as Mayor Sheng Thao.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a declaration filed in a case the PEC brought against one of the alleged straw donors in 2020, Russell alleged that multiple people told him they had received cash from Andy Duong in exchange for checks to political campaigns.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Together, members of the Duong family and its company have faced \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11992073/oakland-fbi-raids-and-straw-donor-probe-spur-allegations-of-corruption\">accusations\u003c/a> that they funneled tens of thousands of dollars through straw donors to various campaigns, including nearly $10,000 to Thao’s 2018 City Council run.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In May, the PEC opened an investigation into Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao, or OUST, the campaign to recall Oakland’s mayor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Russell\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11989214/ethics-probe-hangs-over-campaign-to-recall-oakland-mayor-as-it-files-signatures\"> filed a complaint\u003c/a> alleging that OUST was using a recently formed nonprofit and political action committee, Foundational Oakland Unites, as a pass-through to obscure the source of some donations in violation of campaign finance reporting laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Russell’s last day with the PEC will be Oct. 25. The commission aims to hire a new enforcement chief as soon as possible, Heidorn said, adding that the ability to allocate additional funds to the enforcement division lies with the mayor and City Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In November, Oakland residents will vote on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/voterguide/alameda/measures#measure-oo\">Measure OO\u003c/a>, which, if passed, would increase the commission’s staffing requirements to include an additional ethics investigator by July 2026 amid other reforms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/baycurious",
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"order": 3
},
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},
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"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
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},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
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},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
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}
},
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"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
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"order": 10
},
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
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},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
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"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
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"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
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"meta": {
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},
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"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
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},
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"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
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"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
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"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
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"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
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"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
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},
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
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"hidden-brain": {
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"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
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"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
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"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
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"how-i-built-this": {
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"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
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},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"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. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
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},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"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. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
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}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
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"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"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.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
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"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"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>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
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"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
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