OAKLAND — Oakland City Councilmember Sheng Thao is the second current council member to announce an intention to run for mayor next year.
Thao publicly launched her campaign Wednesday.
“Today, with Oakland facing serious challenges, I feel an even more urgent calling to serve and lead this city,” she said in a statement. “Oakland has a lot of work to do. But I believe Oakland is worth fighting for. And I believe Oakland’s time is now.”
Thao became the first Hmong American councilwoman in California when she was elected in 2018 to represent District 4, which Montclair and the southern Oakland hills, and into some of the neighborhoods west of Interstate 580.
She’s racked up endorsements from politicians including California Attorney General Rob Bonta, East Bay Assemblymember Mia Bonta, Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunado-Bas, Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan and the labor unions that represent much of the city’s workforce.
Her announcement follows that of East Oakland Councilmember Loren Taylor, who in September revealed his intention to run for the mayoral seat next year.
Like Thao, Taylor was elected to the council in 2018. He represents District 6, which includes the Eastmont, Havenscourt, Millsmont, Arroyo Viejo and Maxwell Park neighborhoods in East Oakland.
The race will be wide open next year as current Mayor Libby Schaaf will be termed out at the end of her second term.
Besides Councilmembers Taylor and Thao, others announcing their intention to run for mayor include Allyssa Victory, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and for the Communications Workers of America, Local 9415. She was elected as an ADEM Delegate to the CA Democratic Party for Assembly District 18.
Derrick Soo, an Oakland native who advocates for homeless residents and has experienced homelessness, has also declared his intention to run on a platform to confront homelessness, affordable housing, illegal dumping and crime.
And Steve Schear, a longtime Oakland resident, said he wants to run “not to win, but to advance the idea that it is time that I and the rest of the prosperous residents of Oakland start to pitch in much more to address Oakland’s problems,” he wrote on his campaign website. He advocates for a wealth tax in Oakland, an annexation of Piedmont and reparations for Black residents.
Among the recent debates in Oakland governance is how to fund public safety at a time when the rate of gun violence crimes and homicides has continued to rise since last spring. Police have investigated 119 homicides so far in 2021, following 109 killings last year. There were 131 homicides in Oakland in 2012, the highest total since 148 homicides in 2006.
Thao recently brokered a deal approved by a majority of the City Council that will add a fifth police academy during this two-year budget cycle, and thus more police officers to the force.
That approach has been criticized by some progressive voices in the city, who question the effectiveness of funneling more money into the police department, but it was supported by her mayoral race opponent, Taylor, and all but two city council members.
Thao also helped author — along with Schaaf and Councilmember Dan Kalb — a package of ordinances approved earlier this month that allow people to live in RVs, mobile homes, manufactured homes and tiny houses on properties throughout the city. The amendments to the city codes will allow people to legally park their RVs and mobile homes on private properties in all residential areas if they comply with tenancy and habitability codes
Thao said at the time the ordinance “is working toward making sure we have different avenues and different paths for housing-insecure (people).”
Thao has experienced housing insecurity in her own life.
The daughter of refugees and the seventh of 10 children, Thao left home at 17 and in her early 20s, came to Oakland. After escaping an abusive relationship, she and her infant son slept on couches and in her car at times, she told this newspaper. Friends at Merritt College let her crash with them until she could save for her own place. She worked at the college and took classes, ultimately transferring to UC Berkeley.
After interning for Kaplan’s council office, Thao rose through the ranks to become her chief of staff, until she ran for the District 4 seat and won in 2018.
“My values, commitment to service, and drive to make a difference are rooted in where I come from,” Thao said in a statement. “As a councilmember, I’m inspired every day about the chance to make change for those who need it most. And I’ve shown it’s possible to be both progressive and effective at City Hall. That’s how I’ve brought the council together to break gridlock and deliver real progressive victories on affordable housing, homelessness and public safety.”
Source: www.mercurynews.com