Many Oakland residents hope new leadership will bring change after Mayor Sheng Thao concedes
A historic moment in Oakland. For the first time in the city's history, Oakland voters have successfully recalled a mayor.
Mayor Sheng Thao conceded on Friday evening, promising a smooth transition in the transfer of power to the next administration.
The latest election results showed nearly 64 percent of Oaklanders voted to remove her from office.
With the recall behind them, many Oaklanders hope new leadership will bring needed change.
"I'm excited for the new person, whoever it's going to be, to take on these challenges because we have a lot of them here," said Andrew Braunstein, who actually voted against the recall.
Nigel Jones owns two restaurants in Oakland. Both have seen a big drop in customers.
"Small businesses, we cannot survive with the current level of foot traffic right now. It needs to pick up dramatically," cautioned Jones.
Jones said he's had to be creative, by activating his restaurant space with live entertainment. Good food, he said, is no longer enough to draw customers to Oakland because they worry about car burglaries.
"We have a new wine program here at Calabash. And we also are having different events, comedy, and all kinds of things that we are organizing with the community, to make this a community space," said Jones.
He said the new mayor will face the same old problem, crime. 2023 was a very violent year for Oakland. Oakland police reported crime was declining so far this year.
"On Wednesday, a wine purveyor came to this restaurant. Within 20 minutes, he parked right here, his car was broken into. Laptop stolen. So the (crime) numbers may have gone down, but it's still happening," said Jones.
With the city facing a large budget deficit and potential cuts to police and fire, Jones and many others wanted the city to laser focus on the priority issues.
"I think crime is one of the main ones. I think feeling safe walking around your own neighborhood is very important. And I know that people in my community don't often feel that way," said Braunstein.
"The safety of our citizens, our shop owners, and the people who park on the streets," said Tina Sullivan, owner of Phoenix Optical on College Avenue.
Her dog Duke served as a guard dog and security at the business on Saturday. She said there's always a dog at her business to help customers feel safe.
"None of them accept responsibility for anything that's happened in the City of Oakland. I really want them to be more accountable," said former restaurant owner Son Tran, referring to elected leaders.
Tran wanted a new administration that's results-driven. He shut down his popular family restaurant Le Cheval in downtown Oakland about one year ago due to crime. The long-time Oakland resident plans to reopen the restaurant in a neighboring city.
"When they bring the crime down, then I may consider to open a restaurant in Oakland," said Tran.
While not everyone agreed with the recall, almost everyone agreed this is an opportunity to hit the refresh button and help Oakland thrive.
"It's important for us to figure out how do we move forward together as a city," said Jones. "I'm optimistic things will improve in Oakland."
Once the election results are certified, the city council president will serve as the interim mayor. Voters will select a new mayor likely around March 2025.
