Oakland officially has a new, temporary mayor. Nikki Fortunato Bas has taken over for ousted former mayor Sheng Thao, whose last day in office was Tuesday.
Bas was appointed interim mayor by default because of her role as city council president. But she’ll only hold the office for the next few weeks.
Bas' District 2 City Council seat is now vacant. On January 6th, the council will vote to appoint someone to temporarily take her place. And they will swear in the three new, incoming councilmembers -- to replace outgoing councilmembers Dan Kalb, Rebecca Kaplan and Treva Reid.
The council also set April 15 as the date of a special election to replace Thao as well as Bas. She was elected to serve on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. Bas defeated Emeryville City Councilmember John Bauters in the election to replace retiring Supervisor Keith Carson.
In her final remarks as a councilmember, Bas suggested that the City Council appoint Kaplan to replace her until the April election.
Whoever wins the mayoral and District 2 council elections in April will only serve until the current terms expire in January 2027. Both seats will again be up for grabs in the next regularly scheduled election.
