Oakland residents are on track to re-elect Mayor Barbara Lee and approve a ballot measure that would dramatically reshape her role.
The mood was buoyant at an election party at the New Parkway Theater in Oakland on Tuesday night, as voters watched results pour in from Senate and Congressional races around the country.
But Oakland residents Alex Handy and Veronica Sutter were conflicted about one ballot measure closer to home.
“We're married and we don't even agree on EE,” said Handy.
Measure EE would change the city’s charter, shrinking the powers of the city administrator and giving more authority to the mayor.
Handy said he supports these changes — and current Mayor Barbara Lee.
“Barbara Lee's a powerful mayor, and boy is Oakland really snapping to it. People are doing their jobs,” he said. “It's totally changed.”
Among other changes, Measure EE would grant the mayor the power to hire city department heads, direct their work, and veto certain city council decisions.
Handy said he hopes strengthening the mayor’s authority will make city services more responsive and cut down on inefficiency at city hall.
Sutter has followed the bribery case of former mayor Sheng Thao and she worries that giving too much power to the office could expose the city to more corruption.
“I love our mayor, Barbara Lee, and I'm fine with her having this power, but I'm afraid of what's gonna happen when she's gone,” she said.
