Oakland's politics year kicks off with busy first city council meeting
OAKLAND – A busy year for Oakland politics begins Monday as the city holds its first city council meeting.
Three new city councilmembers will be sworn in, a new interim mayor will be appointed, and the council could vote to appoint someone to serve in the currently open District 2 councilmember position.
Loren Taylor is a former councilmember who used to represent District 6. He says the current issues are a culmination of years of mismanagement.
"The challenges we're facing now are unprecedented, even though they've been years and administrations in the making they have reached a boiling point," Loren said.
He says leaders have kicked the can down the road, and now there is no road left.
"We have to make those tough decisions that put Oakland back on the right track both fiscally and when you look at our public safety crisis, homelessness, the conditions of our streets," Loren said.
But the council won't be able to focus on that immediately, their first decision will be a vote for the city council president, and that president will serve as interim mayor until a special election is held in April to vote for a new mayor.
"I think future academic studies in urban politics will look at what happened here in terms of the recall election in Oakland, California, in 2024/2025, and its unintended consequences," said University of San Francisco politics professor James Taylor.
He says recalls are more common than ever before across party lines, but people don't think about what happens after the recall election.
In December, the Oakland City Council declared the Office of Mayor vacant after voters recalled Mayor Sheng Thao. City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas became interim mayor. But Fortunato Bas has been elected to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and is resigning from her role on the council.
"We've had too many mayors," James said. "They say in football if you have two quarterbacks, you have none. Oakland's had four mayors in the last four years, and therefore they have had none."
The city of Oakland is currently taking nominations for both mayor and the District 2 councilmember position, left open by Bas.
The nomination period is anticipated to close on Jan. 17.
Loren Taylor has already pulled nomination papers and will be submitting to run for mayor again. He lost to Sheng Thao back in 2022.
"My commitment was just as strong as it was two years ago to make sure that we are delivering for Oakland residents, to make sure city government fulfills its promises," said Loren.
As for the city council, Loren hopes they will be able to stay focused and begin making actionable changes over these next few months while the top leadership position is still in flux.
"Embrace these challenges but commit to solving them not just immediate firefighting but actually creating some sustained change to make sure that Oakland delivers," he said.
The city of Oakland has announced April 15 as the day they anticipate holding a special election for both the mayor and District 2 councilmember positions.
The people elected will complete the current terms for those positions, which is through Jan. 4, 2027.
