Monesha "MJ" Carter said the deadline was originally Aug. 17. But just before 2 p.m. Aug. 12, Carter said she received a call informing her that the deadline was at the end of the day.
Carter and two of her colleagues left work and collected the balance of the signatures she needed to qualify. She filed in time but was told Aug. 15 that her signatures were insufficient. If the deadline was the following week, she may have qualified, Carter said Tuesday.
Carter on July 28 picked up her paperwork to file for mayor and on Aug. 1 received confirmation of an appointment at 4 p.m. Aug. 15 to file the completed paperwork with the City Clerk's office.
Her confirmation from the clerk's office, which was reviewed by Bay City News, says, "Monesha, you're booked. Your visit on Monday, August 15, 2022: 4:00 PDT Nomination Papers Filing - DEADLINE is August 12th (or August 17th for offices with NO incumbent) - Election Services."
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is not running for mayor this fall because her term in office is up by law, so no incumbent is running.
Carter booked her appointment through Schedulicity, a program used by the City Clerk for scheduling.
Carter said she has always received correspondence from the clerk's office in a timely manner, so she had no reason to think there was going to be a problem like this.
She's hoping that the city can offer a filing extension.
Emails to City Clerk Asha Reed, the city's spokesperson and the Secretary of State's office, which manages the state's election process, were not returned Tuesday morning.
