Thao has said she inherited many of the problems Oakland is now facing from her predecessor. Schaaf said she should be focused on the future, not the past.
“Look, every mayor inherits both good things and bad things that their predecessor did and their predecessors before their predecessors,” Schaaf said. “These are all things that have happened in the past, but no one is interested in who’s to blame. They’re only interested in moving forward.”
The anti-recall campaign criticized Schaaf’s endorsement of the effort to remove Thao from office.
“Since taking office, Mayor Sheng Thao has been cleaning up the mess Schaaf left behind,” William Fitzgerald, spokesman for Oaklanders Defending Democracy, said in a statement. “For the first time since 2019, Oakland is on track to have fewer than 100 homicides this year. Yet, by endorsing a Yes vote on the upcoming measure, Schaaf is asking Oakland voters to embrace chaos: five mayors in three years. Oakland cannot afford such instability.”
Earlier this week, on KQED’s Political Breakdown, Thao harshly criticized the recall effort and its main financial backer, Philip Dreyfuss.
“I want to be very clear that this recall was majority funded by one hedge fund exec that doesn’t even live in the city of Oakland. He lives in Piedmont,” Thao said.
Thao, who was narrowly elected in 2022, said her administration is doing its best to deal with a wide range of problems that plague Oakland, including crime, homelessness and illegal dumping.
“These things didn’t happen overnight. Issues didn’t show up overnight. So the answer and the response and solution isn’t going to be able to be seen or felt overnight,” Thao said.
Her tenure has been controversial from the start. The chorus of criticism has been amplified by the loss of the Oakland A’s; the controversial sale of the city’s portion of the Coliseum; the firing of former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong; and the city’s looming fiscal crisis. In June, FBI agents raided Thao’s home, throwing her into further turmoil.
Schaaf, who served the maximum of two terms, dealt with several Oakland police scandals, including sexual misconduct allegations involving a teenager. In 2022, she and other Bay Area mayors endorsed former Oakland City Councilmember Loren Taylor, who lost to Thao by fewer than 700 votes in the ninth round of ranked choice voting tabulation.
Since the election, Taylor has engaged in a kind of “shadow mayorship,” sending out regular emails commenting on city issues and questioning Thao’s leadership. He is a leader of Empower Oakland, a group focused on Oakland’s future. It released a voter guide and supports Thao’s recall.
Schaaf dismissed that characterization of Taylor, saying he “has been exhibiting leadership. He’s been building a coalition.” If a special election were held to replace Thao, she said she would endorse Taylor again.
Schaaf’s communications adviser has also unleashed a regular stream of criticism and questioning of Thao’s leadership on social media and elsewhere, partly in response to Thao implying that she inherited many of the city’s problems from Schaaf.
As reported by KQED, the process of replacing Thao if she is recalled would be complicated with uncertainty about who would become Oakland’s mayor — and for how long.
“It’ll create instability. It’ll create chaos. It’ll create [an] inability to make tough decisions,” Thao said of the situation if the recall were to succeed.
The FBI removed boxes of undisclosed materials from her home. The raid coincided with searches at three other properties around the city — all of them linked to one powerful, politically connected family.
“I don’t worry about the investigation because I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m innocent,” Thao said, adding that the FBI has refused to even respond to her demand for information.
