Oakland leadership reshuffle continues

Oakland City Councilmember Kevin Jenkins has become the city’s new interim mayor – the third person to hold the city’s highest office in less than a month.

Jenkins automatically became mayor after being unanimously elected city council president by his colleagues. The city charter says the council president takes over mayoral duties in the event of a vacancy. 

He will serve until a special election is held on April 15th. Jenkins takes over for Nikki Fortunato Bas, who became interim mayor -- after Sheng Thao lost a recall election and left office last month.

Bas served as mayor for just a few weeks because she's leaving to take her seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, which she won in the Nov. 5 election.

The council also voted Monday to appoint former at-large council member Rebecca Kaplan to take over Bas' District 2 seat until the special election to find a permanent replacement.

But perhaps the biggest news of the day happened outside the council chambers. That’s because former Congresswoman Barbara Lee officially filed papers last Friday to run for the mayor in the special election, joining a crowded field of a dozen other candidates.