Mayor-elect Barbara Lee selects Oakland native and progressive politico as chief of staff
Lee said Thursday that Miya Saika Chen would be her chief of staff when she takes office later this month. Saika Chen was chief of staff to Nikki Fortunato Bas, a progressive stalwart who was the City Council president before voters elected her to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in November.
'Miya understands how to work across city departments to get things done,' Lee said in a statement. 'Her extensive community network and relationships within Oakland's strong base of nonprofits, small business and community stakeholders will help ensure a broad cross section of the community joining us for the hard work ahead.'
Saika Chen is the highest-ranking staff member Lee has hired to her office, and the move comes as Lee prepares to fulfill her promise to bring the city together to tackle its biggest challenges. The city is facing a nearly $270 million budget deficit over the next two years in its general purpose fund, which pays for fire, police and other services.
Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins has proposed addressing the deficit by eliminating about 400 city positions and introducing a parcel tax for the June 2026 state primary ballot to generate more revenue for the city. Lee called Jenkins' proposal a step in the right direction. She has said she intends to examine the impact of browning out two fire engine companies.
'I'm excited to support our Mayor-elect's vision of unifying our community as One Oakland across our diverse constituencies, neighborhoods, labor and business to secure the results Oaklanders deserve,' Saika Chen said in a statement.
Last week, Lee announced a roster of politicians, business leaders, philanthropists, attorneys and nonprofit heads to advise her on public safety, homelessness and other issues. The group of leaders will help Lee implement her 10-point plan that focuses on developing public safety strategies, streamlining building permits and cleaning up trash, among other goals within her first 100 days in office.
As chief of staff to Bas, Saika Chen, an attorney, worked on expanding Ceasefire, the city's violence prevention strategy, and prioritizing affordable housing and community land trusts. During her tenure as Bas' chief of staff, the team successfully advocated for a 100% affordable housing project on city-owned land near Lake Merritt.
Lee will be sworn into office on May 20.
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New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Trump Administration Live Updates: European Leaders to Join Zelensky for White House Meeting
Steve Witkoff, an envoy for President Trump, said that no cease-fire deal had been reached between Ukraine and Russia. President Trump and two advisers spent Sunday trying to recast the lack of a cease-fire in the war in Ukraine as one step in a possibly slow march toward peace. It was a significant departure from the peace agreement that the president said he had wanted out of a meeting in Alaska with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia just 48 hours earlier. Steve Witkoff, an envoy for Mr. Trump who had attended the meeting in Anchorage, said in a CNN interview on Sunday that Mr. Putin had edged toward making some concessions in talks to end the war, including by agreeing to strong security protections, though not under NATO, that Mr. Trump had floated earlier. Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is scheduled to meet with Mr. Trump on Monday, and is expected to be flanked by at least half a dozen European leaders. In a tandem appearance on ABC's 'This Week,' Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was also at Mr. Trump's side in Anchorage, took a more cautious approach. He warned that both Russia and Ukraine would need to make concessions to end the war and that a peace agreement might be elusive in the short term. 'We made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement, but there remain some big areas of disagreement,' Mr. Rubio said. 'So we're still a long ways off. We are not at the precipice of a peace agreement. We are not at the edge of one. But I do think progress was made.' The television appearances by Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Rubio, who were the only people at Mr. Trump's side as he met with Mr. Putin on Friday, illustrated just how hard the Trump administration has worked to reframe expectations on a compressed timeline. On Friday, the president said that he was 'not going to be happy' and that there would be 'severe consequences' if the Russians did not agree to stop the war. By Sunday, all three were hailing progress without offering many specifics. Mr. Witkoff said that, before the meeting, the Ukrainians had stressed that no land trades could be agreed upon by Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin, and that Mr. Trump had abided by their request. But Mr. Witkoff bypassed a question by his host, Jake Tapper on CNN's 'State of the Union,' asking whether the Russians had demanded an entire eastern region of Ukraine, the Donbas, in exchange for peace. Mr. Witkoff said that five regions of Ukraine were discussed in the meeting, and that the Russians had offered concessions. (Mr. Putin has expressed an interest in taking swaths of the country that are not currently under occupation, including parts of the eastern region of Donbas, a proposal that Kyiv has rejected.) 'I don't know that we have the time now to go through all the different issues on these five regions,' Mr. Witkoff said. 'The Russians made some concessions at the table with regard to all five of those regions. There is an important discussion to be had with regard to Donetsk and what would happen there, and that discussion is going to specifically be detailed on Monday.' Russia now occupies almost 20 percent of Ukraine, including about three-quarters of Donetsk, almost all of the adjacent Luhansk region and the entire Crimean Peninsula. As Mr. Zelensky prepares for his White House audience with Mr. Trump, he is no doubt intent on avoiding the sort of railroading that happened in the Oval Office in February, when Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance insulted the Ukrainian leader for demanding help. He will attend with Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy will also join, as will NATO's secretary general, Mark Rutte, and the president of the European Union's executive arm, Ursula von der Leyen. In an appearance on CBS' 'Face the Nation,' Mr. Rubio said that the idea that Mr. Zelensky would need backup was 'a stupid media narrative,' adding, 'We've been working with these people for weeks, for weeks on this stuff.' He said a goal of Monday's discussions with Mr. Zelensky and the European leaders would be to make enough progress to get Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky to agree to sit down in the same place. Mr. Trump has offered Mr. Zelensky vague security guarantees modeled on Article 5 of the NATO pact, which stipulates that an attack on one ally would be defended as an attack on all. Mr. Witkoff said on CNN that Mr. Putin had embraced this idea. Mr. Trump, mirroring Mr. Putin's wishes, has said that Ukraine has no chance of joining NATO, a long-held goal of Mr. Zelensky's as he seeks more security protection against Russian forces. In his CNN interview, Mr. Witkoff said that no cease-fire deal had been reached, in part because Mr. Trump 'pivoted' toward other areas of discussion. Mr. Witkoff, a billionaire New York real estate developer with no formal background in international relations, has become Mr. Trump's most relied-upon envoy when it comes to trying to solve the many conflicts around the world that Mr. Trump has tried to mediate. The president has envisioned himself as a peacemaker and is in pursuit of the Nobel Peace Prize. The two men golfed together on Saturday after returning from Alaska. 'We are intent on trying to hammer out a peace deal that ends the fighting permanently, very, very quickly, quicker than a cease-fire,' Mr. Witkoff said, without describing how ongoing negotiations were more effective than a cease-fire. Fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces has continued through the weekend. 'We cut through all kinds of issues' that would need to be discussed, Mr. Witkoff said, brushing off questions about how Mr. Trump, who went to Alaska saying he would be unhappy if he left without a cease-fire agreement, had walked away from the meeting seemingly happy about how it went. In an appearance on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' Mr. Rubio did not rule out the United States imposing more sanctions on Russia, but said that doing so would signal the failure of Mr. Trump's efforts to reach a cease-fire deal or lasting peace in Ukraine. 'The minute he takes those steps, all talks stop,' Mr. Rubio said. 'The minute we take those steps, there is no one left in the world to go talk to the Russians and try to get them to the table to reach a peace agreement,' he added. As Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Rubio gave their interviews, Mr. Trump himself weighed in on social media, railing against the news media's coverage of his meeting with Mr. Putin and likening Mr. Zelensky's visit to another episode in a long-running television drama. 'BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA,' he wrote. 'STAY TUNED!' Enjoli Liston and Constant Méheut contributed reporting.
Chicago Tribune
2 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Evanston commission corrects error after preventing citizens from speaking on controversial project
Evanston's Land Use Commission initially denied some citizens, who are neighbors of a controversial proposed residential building that would be the third-tallest in Chicago's suburbs, the right to speak at a Wednesday meeting at which the Land Use Commission had been scheduled to vote on the project. Commission officials acknowledged their error at the meeting, saying they had misinterpreted two conflicting government codes. They rescheduled the hearing for Aug. 27. The building has been controversial because in addition to its proposed 31 stories and 331 feet in height, some have spoken about density, parking and potential wind issues at its proposed site in downtown Evanston at 605 Davis St. The proposal calls for 430 apartment units and 80 on-site parking spaces, with an agreement proposed for 120 more at a city-owned garage. Some residents have spoken in favor of the site as well, pointing out that the 605 Davis Street site has been vacant for decades, and that the development would provide 86 affordable units, higher than the city's 15% mandated inclusionary housing ordinance requires. Downtown business owners have also supported it for its increased foot traffic and population that could bring in more customers to their stores. Conversations on densifying Evanston, which has a mix of apartment buildings and single-family homes, have been largely divisive. The City Council is also in the process of mulling Envision Evanston 2025, the city's 20-year comprehensive plan which would likely increase density significantly. Per the city's Land Use Commission rules, residents who own property within 1,000 feet of a proposed development can ask for a continuance, or a delay, when it reaches the commission to air their concerns regarding a proposed development. At a continuance, a resident can challenge claims made by a developer, and can present evidence and call on experts to help make their case. At a previous Land Use Commission meeting in July, the commission's chair, Jeanne Lindwall, and city staff said they confused conflicting language in the city's zoning code and Land Use Commission. The commission granted a continuance for five residents who opposed the proposed building to speak at the Wednesday hearing, but mistakenly rejected six other residents from speaking at that hearing, Lindwall said at Wednesday's meeting. 'I'd like to apologize both to the applicant and to the members of the public for the situation, but I believe it's important that we rectify this error as expeditiously as possible,' Lindwall said. Some residents also spoke against the project at the July meeting, but only people who own property within 1,000 feet of 605 Davis St. and submitted a request for a proposal in writing to the commission will be allotted time to speak at the continued August meeting. Residents can also make public comment at that meeting. The city contacted the six residents on Monday, explaining their mistake and offering them a chance to speak. In order to give them time to prepare for the hearing, and to also allow the full commission to be present at the hearing, Wednesday's hearing was continued to Aug. 27. 'I believe this request makes a lot of sense, both in terms of the continuity of the proceeding and the fact that two of the LUC commissioners who were present on July 23 were unable to attend this evening; I believe staff is also supportive of this request,' Lindwall said. Residents who were granted a continuance will have up to five minutes to present their testimony and evidence at the Aug. 27 hearing, Lindwall said. Residents who bring in an expert will have an additional five minutes to hear from the expert. The developer, and experts they wish to invite, will have an opportunity to cross examine the resident's expert after each testimony, and is also allowed a 20 minute closing statement or rebuttal after all residents have testified. Residents who are not able to attend the Aug. 27 hearing can submit their testimony and expert analysis in writing, Lindwall said. After all the testimonies have been heard, the Land Use Commission is expected to deliberate and make a decision on the 605 Davis St. proposal, she said. 'I'd also like to remind the members of the public that it is inappropriate to contact Land Use Commissioners individually regarding this or any other case. We do our deliberations in public and hear testimony, and so please respect our role and the position we're in by not trying to reach out and discuss any case with us individually,' Lindwall said. Once the Land Use Commission gives a recommendation on the proposal, the plans will then head to the city's Planning and Development Commission, made up of six members of the City Council. In order for the development to advance to the full City Council, it will need at least a tie or a simple majority vote from that commission. The development would then need to win a simple majority of votes from the city council.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Trump and Putin Find Common Ground on One Issue: Biden
President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia did not agree on a cease-fire to the war in Ukraine during their meeting in Alaska. But they did agree on something else: They both despise Joe Biden. During their private meeting and their public appearance in Anchorage on Friday, both leaders blamed Mr. Biden for the war in Ukraine, never mind that Mr. Putin was the one who ordered troops to invade his neighbor and keeps authorizing strikes against civilian targets. The Russian president complained that Mr. Biden did not accede to Russian demands before the full-scale invasion three and a half years ago, and he played to the current president's ego by agreeing that the war would not have happened had Mr. Trump still been in office in 2022. By Mr. Trump's account, Mr. Putin behind closed doors also endorsed the lie that Mr. Trump actually won the 2020 election, only to have it stolen by Democrats. 'I think that he respects our country now,' Mr. Trump said of Mr. Putin during a post-summit interview on Fox News. 'He didn't respect it under Biden, I can tell you that. He had no respect for it. I was so happy when he said this would have never happened. This — all those lives would be saved if they had a competent — if we had a competent president.' It was unorthodox, to say the least, to see a sitting American president join a foreign dictator accused of war crimes onstage in Anchorage to bash a former American president. But it underscored that Mr. Trump, with his increasingly authoritarian tendencies, in some ways finds more common ground with the repressive leader of Russia than he does with his own country's leaders. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
