Leadership shuffle lands Councilmember Kevin Jenkins as interim Oakland mayor
In an eventful and somewhat convoluted day in Oakland's civic life, Councilmember Kevin Jenkins is now interim mayor and Councilmember Noel Gallo is temporarily council president.
The chair shuffling started soon after the city council's three newest members -- Zac Unger, Rowena Brown and Ken Houston -- were sworn in during a special meeting Monday morning.
After taking the oath of office, the three newly-elected members of the council addressed the public, beginning with Unger from District 1, who made veiled references to the council's old way of doing business.
"I would love to be coming into government at a time of abundance, but we all know that this is a time of truly terrifying scarcity, in which we all have to make some terrible choices," he said. "We are all at our best when we focus on the pragmatics of problem solving, and at our worst when we attempt to immerse ourselves within larger ideological movements. We should write fewer new laws and instead enforce the ones we have on the books and actually make sure that they work, rather than just make something that we can point to and say, 'I passed that.'"
Brown, who beat Rebecca Kaplan in the race for the at-large council seat, struck a more optimistic tone.
"I know that we have some really tough times ahead, both locally and at the national level," she said. "Yet my heart is overjoyed for the opportunity to work alongside all of you to really help uplift Oakland and create an Oakland that serves as a positive vision for other cities."
Houston got emotional about his new job representing District 7.
"My oath to you is...to bring dignity," he said, with voice cracking. "And I'll do it in the best...every move I make, I promise I'll do it in the best interest of Oakland. Thank you everyone."
Jenkins automatically became mayor after being unanimously elected president by his colleagues on the dais, because the city charter says the council president takes over mayoral duties in the event of a vacancy.
"There's some serious issues in the city, but we're only going to get past it working together, the residents of Oakland absolutely demand it," Jenkins said. "We want to get back to a place where we're doing our basic services well, where we're getting our unsheltered folks housed, where we're filling our potholes, where our fire stations are open."
"I'm sure that we will work together to get this figured out and make sure that we get the budget figured out and make sure that we provide a smooth transition for the next mayor," he said.
Jenkins takes over for Nikki Fortunato Bas, who was council president and thus interim mayor -- after Sheng Thao lost a recall election and left office Dec. 17.
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, beating Emeryville City Councilmember John Bauters in the election to replace retiring Supervisor Keith Carson.
Since Jenkins is now interim mayor, Gallo takes over as council president, having been elected Monday as president pro tempore, a position the charter says temporarily serves as president when that office is vacant.
The council also voted Monday to appoint former at-large councilmember Rebecca Kaplan to take over Bas' district 2 seat until the special April 15 election to find a permanent replacement.
Newly elected and sworn in City Attorney Ryan Richardson suggested there might be a silver lining somewhere in all the chaotic clouds circling the city's political life.
"There's a saying that every crisis presents an opportunity," Richardson said. "I don't quite believe that -- I've been through some crises that are nothing but a crisis but I do think this is one of those crises that is an opportunity."
"I think that with the new folks that we have coming in, they have no choice but to jump right into the deep end," he said. "There is no choice but for them to roll up their sleeves and immediately get to work."
He also said the city's new leadership could be a boon for its often-acrimonious civic life.
"A lot of them literally don't know the definition of business as usual in Oakland, which I think could be a good thing," Richardson said.
In addition to the district 2 special election, the April 15 ballot will also feature a mayoral election to replace Thao. 13 people have filed papers signaling a potential run for Oakland mayor, according to a list posted on the city's website last Friday. Added to that number is former Alameda County District 12 Rep. Barbara Lee, who on Monday filed the initial paperwork to join the race.
The deadline to file papers for the election is Jan. 17.
Whoever takes over as mayor will have their work cut out for them, as the city is facing an on-going projected annual budget deficit of between $130 million and $150 million.
Oakland residents are already enduring large cuts to programs and services in order to close a $130 million deficit in the current budget, including tens of millions of reductions to police and fire budgets.
Before the City Council meeting Monday, members of the firefighters' union held a news conference in front of City Hall to demand the reopening of fire stations that were temporarily closed to help bridge the budget gap.
It was a message the union's vice president Seth Olyer delivered to the city council during a public comment period.
"I would be remiss if I didn't say that I'm deeply concerned about the safety of everyone in the city of Oakland," Olyer said. "Remember the basic functions of a city government are to provide for public safety and half of that effective today has been deeply affected."
John Ramos contributed reporting.
