It's official -- City Council member Sheng Thao is new mayor of Oakland
OAKLAND -- City Councilwoman Sheng Thao is set to become Oakand's next mayor after the registrar of voters announced that the final remaining ballots would not be sufficient to change the outcome of the hotly contested race.
Challenger Loren Taylor conceded the race Tuesday morning after being edged out in the vote count.
The new mayor-elect will inherit a city with rising crime and rampant homelessness.
"We are excited to be making history in the city of Oakland," Mayor-elect Sheng Thao said from her home Tuesday. "I am the first Hmong-American mayor in the whole nation."
Thao says she is energized and humbled by the opportunity to become the city's next mayor.
Expectations across the city will be high.
"Things weren't going in the right direction," says Gerry Mogg, owner of Modigliani Cafe near the Grand Theater.
Mogg says he's been in business nearly a decade and car break-ins have been a huge problem for his customers and employees.
So concerned about the recent break-ins near his business, Mogg says he routinely leaves his doors unlocked and visibly open on his car in order to deter thieves from smashing his windows.
"If I had a break-in -- of which I've had two -- I have to fill out my own police report online," he said. "I can't even get an officer here. I can't even get through to them."
Thao says public safety will be a priority of her administration.
"I'm going to do a whole listening tour of the entire city of Oakland," she said. "I plan to go into those small communities to really understand better what the issues are."
She also plans to tackle the city's homeless crisis.
"We have to do a better job of triaging our unhoused community," she said. "And frankly we need to find the money to build deeply affordable and moderate rate housing."