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Chinatown groups back Mayor Thao against recall election

Mayor Thao spoke to the crowd opposing her recall in Chinatown on Tuesday morning
Wren Farrell
/
KALW
Mayor Thao spoke to the crowd opposing her recall in Chinatown on Tuesday morning

A group of business and community leaders held a press conference in Oakland’s Chinatown today to speak out against the campaign to recall Mayor Sheng Thao.

The Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Oakland’s Chinatown was busy on Tuesday morning. Groups for and against the campaign to recall Mayor Thao held separate rallies to make their cases.

Supporters of the recall say that Mayor Thao has made Oakland less safe by defunding the police department and firing the chief of police. They also accuse her of mismanaging city finances. Here’s Elizabeth Kenney, a supporter of the recall campaign.

“Everybody's getting shot, everybody's getting murdered. And she's saying that crime's down. Like that's a blatant lie. She wrecked our city. We're going bankrupt.”

But opponents of the recall say that the movement is undemocratic and believe she should be allowed to serve her full term. Mariano Contreras from the Latino Task Force spoke at the rally.

“There was a time when African Americans could not vote. There was a time when Asians could not vote. There was a time when Latinos could not vote. That was called voter suppression. This is another form of voter suppression. We already cast our ballot for Mayor Sheng Thao. Please, vote no on the recall.” 

Mayor Thao also spoke at the rally. She says that crime has gone down since her election. She also points out that the recall movement is being almost exclusively funded by a wealthy hedge fund executive who lives in Piedmont.

“The billionaires, the millionaires are gonna want to tell you that it's not working and that somehow you shouldn't believe the data. The data that shows that we are saving lives, the data that shows that for the first time since 2019, we're gonna have less than a hundred homicides in Oakland. That is a huge win. It's not good enough. But it's a place where we're proud to start from.”

A group of people in support of the recall held a counter protest after the press conference
Wren Farrell
/
KALW
A group of people in support of the recall held a counter protest after the press conference

If the recall is successful, it will be the first time in Oakland’s history a mayor has been removed from office. What happens after that is complicated.

The City Council President is supposed to serve as interim mayor until a special election is held. But the current council president, Nikki Fortunato Bas, is running for a seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. If she wins that election, she won’t be able to serve as interim mayor, and it would be up to the City Council to decide who would serve in her place.

After appointing an interim mayor, the city would have to hold a special election in 2025, which would likely cost several million dollars.

Results of the recall will be announced in November.

Wren Farrell (he/him) is a writer, producer and journalist living in San Francisco.