Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee promises ‘relentless effort' at community inauguration
'If we match hope with hard work, there's nothing that this city can't do, so let's do it,' Lee said on a stage at Jack London Square. 'Let's grab whatever you can grab — a paintbrush, a policy idea, a neighbor's hand, because the next chapter of Oakland starts now.'
She added: 'All of you are co-authors of this next chapter.'
Lee was elected in April and sworn in last month. The former congresswoman replaced former Mayor Sheng Thao, whom voters ousted in November in a recall fueled by a federal investigation that resulted in bribery charges against her. Thao pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Lee takes over as the city confronts a historic budget deficit, public safety concerns, homelessness and illegal dumping, among other issues.
By the end of this month, the city must balance its budget, which includes an annual deficit of about $140 million. Lee previously said the city will address the deficit through both short- and long-term solutions, though she did not provide specifics.
During her remarks Sunday, after she again took the oath of office, Lee spoke of her work in the first few weeks of her administration. The goal from the start was to 'turn hope into action,' the Democrat told the crowd, which included faith leaders, business owners and other dignitaries, including California Attorney General Rob Bonta, California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie.
Already she's met with faith and business leaders to discuss public safety strategies. She acknowledged that despite violence prevention efforts and a decrease in homicides last year, some residents still don't feel safe. 'We've got to work to change this narrative in Oakland,' she said.
Lee also said she traveled to the state Capitol to advocate for the city, 'because Oakland deserves its fair share of state resources,' she said. 'I made it clear: Investing in Oakland lifts the entire Bay Area.'
State Sen. Jesse Arreguín, a Democrat whose district includes Oakland, said the city needs a 'proven leader with integrity and experience' to unite the city and region. 'That leader is Mayor Barbara Lee,' he said.
Arreguín, who serves as chair of the public safety standing committee, said he's committed to working with Lee to curb crime in Oakland and make the city safer. He pledged to support the city's Ceasefire strategy and other violence-prevention programs.
Oakland City Council President Kevin Jenkins called Sunday 'a beautiful day in Oakland.' He noted that Lee is the city's fourth mayor in two years. 'But I think we got it right this time,' he quipped.
Jenkins described Lee as a mayor for all, especially Oakland residents 'who don't know where City Hall is.'
'The way she campaigned is the way she's going to govern: with integrity,' he added.
Selena Wilson, CEO of the East Oakland Youth Development Center, urged the public to support Lee. 'We must continue to stand with her.'
Barbara Leslie, president and CEO of the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, picked by Lee as a co-chair of her transition team, said she can attest that Lee 'hit the ground running.'
'Frankly, my goal is just to keep up,' Leslie said, joined by members of the Rotary Club of Oakland #3 and Oakland Restaurant Collective.
'We are here to support you, as your success is Oakland's success,' Leslie said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
11 minutes ago
- Axios
Virginia health board moves to ban trans women from women's sports
The Virginia Board of Health unanimously voted on Monday to start drafting a rule banning transgender women from women's sports teams and locker rooms. The big picture: The decision adds the Youngkin-appointed board to the growing list of state and national bodies rolling back the protections and civil rights of transgender people. Since it's an unusual move from Virginia's health regulators, who historically haven't focused on athletics, it's unclear how the regulation would be implemented or enforced. Catch up quick: It comes after VCU Health ended gender-affirming youth care like hormone therapy, and the Virginia High School League banned trans athletes from K–12 sports. Meanwhile, the Trump administration says it's following through on its threat to pull federal funding from five Northern Virginia school districts refusing to change their transgender student policies. Zoom in: The Board of Health's vote on Monday was prompted by a petition for such a ban from three former and current collegiate swimmers from Roanoke College and Virginia Tech. Equality Virginia, a statewide LGBTQ+ rights nonprofit, tallied the petition's nearly 2,350 comments and found that 54% were in opposition and 45% were in support. Supporters called it a step toward "restoring fairness in competition." Some naysayers called it a "waste of taxpayer money" and a "distraction" from the "real issues." Between the lines: Legislation to ban trans athletes from girls sports in K–12 schools has repeatedly failed to pass Virginia's Democrat-controlled General Assembly.
Boston Globe
11 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Republican bid to help Trump move past Epstein falls flat
On Monday, Representative James Comer, Republican from Kentucky, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, said the Justice Department would begin sharing its Epstein records with his panel by Friday. He also suggested the release of the documents would take some time, all but ensuring that questions about the Epstein affair will drag on for weeks. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up At the same time, Democrats, in some cases with the help of Republicans, have laid a series of procedural traps that will make it all but impossible for the GOP to avoid confronting the issue again when Congress reconvenes in September. 'We're going to keep the pressure up — 100 percent,' Senator Ruben Gallego, Democrat from Arizona, said at an event in Iowa this month. 'As often as we can, until we know exactly what happened, why it happened.' Advertisement Even with Congress in recess, the Epstein case continues to generate attention in Washington. On Monday, William Barr, who was President Trump's attorney general when Epstein died, testified in a closed-door deposition for the Oversight Committee. Lawmakers of both parties concede the Trump administration could quiet the furor over the Epstein files on Capitol Hill and nationwide by simply releasing them to the public. Comer's statement on Monday was the only public indication to date that it might do so. All the while, several efforts connected to Epstein, a disgraced financier who was found dead in his prison cell in 2019, have been percolating and threaten to disrupt a busy month in which Congress also faces a Sept. 30 deadline to fund the government and avert a shutdown. Chief among them may be a maneuver led by Representive Thomas Massie, Republican fron Kentucky, who is a frequent Trump critic, to try to force a floor vote on the release of the files. Such a vote would thrust Republicans into a politically thorny position between Trump and constituents who are unhappy with the administration's handling of the case. Before leaving Washington, Massie and Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, filed what is known as a discharge petition, which allows any member of the House to force legislation to the floor if a majority of members — 218 — sign on. Because of arcane procedural rules, the pair cannot start collecting signatures until they return in September, but they appear to have more than enough support to succeed. The timing all but guaranteed that the issue would hang over lawmakers throughout the August recess and that Republican leaders would be forced to address it when they returned. While they could try to table the effort, several rank-and-file Republicans earlier this year blocked a similar attempt to circumvent a measure that had majority support. Advertisement So far, 43 other lawmakers, 11 of them Republicans, have signed on to Massie and Khanna's initiative. Last week, the pair announced plans for a news conference with victims of Epstein and his longtime associate Ghislaine Maxwell, to be held outside the Capitol on lawmakers' second day back from their break. Democrats on the powerful House Rules Committee, a panel controlled by the speaker that determines which legislation reaches the floor, also plan to continue pressuring Republicans over the issue. Republican leaders never found a solution to the committee's impasse, which led them to send the House home a day ahead of schedule. But they seemed to take solace in the Trump administration's request that federal judges release transcripts of grand jury testimony in three cases related to Epstein and Maxwell. Both House Speaker Mike Johnson and Representative Steve Scalise, the number two Republican, suggested such a move might help alleviate concerns, adding that the House could not address the Epstein files while the courts were weighing in. 'That process is underway right now,' Johnson said last month. 'Now, we've got to zealously guard that and protect it and make sure it's happening. And if it doesn't, then we'll take appropriate action when everybody returns here.' Yet so far, federal judges in two of those three cases have denied the government's requests. A judge overseeing Maxwell's case said that the Justice Department's suggestion that grand jury testimony 'would bring to light meaningful new information' was 'demonstrably false.' A third judge, who oversaw Epstein's 2019 case, is still considering whether to unseal grand jury materials connected to that prosecution. Advertisement And Republicans and Democrats alike have argued that the grand jury testimony falls far short of the promise that Attorney General Pam Bondi and other top officials had made. Instead, they have turned to legal maneuvers meant to force the Justice Department to provide the Epstein files to Congress. This month, the Oversight Committee issued a subpoena to Bondi asking the Justice Department to give the committee its files related to Epstein and Maxwell by Tuesday. Comer, a staunch Trump ally, was forced to send the subpoena after a small group of Republicans joined Democrats in voting to approve it at a subcommittee meeting last month. On Monday, he told reporters he was confident that 'we're going to get the documents,' citing 'productive' conversations with the Justice Department. Senate Democrats have already started to pressure Republicans over the matter using a little-known and infrequently tested maneuver to try to force Bondi to turn over the Epstein files. Under a provision of federal law, government agencies are required to hand over relevant information if any five members of the Senate's chief oversight committee requests it. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat from New York, the minority leader, and seven other Democrats had asked the Justice Department to give them Epstein-related materials by Aug. 15. They also asked that a briefing be held for the committee's staff before the end of the month. So far, the committee has not received any material, and the briefing has not been scheduled, according to two people familiar with the matter who said they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. Advertisement Schumer has said Democrats are prepared to seek legal recourse if the Trump administration does not meet the letter's deadlines. On Friday, he began publicly pressuring Senator John Thune, Republican from South Dakota, the majority leader, to appoint a lawyer who would defend the Senate's legal authority for congressional oversight. 'If he chooses complicity — we'll take them to court ourselves,' Schumer wrote in a social media post. This article originally appeared in .
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Palestinian Authority accuses Ben-Gvir of provocation after threatening Barghouti in prison
Reports have indicated that Hamas demanded the release of Barghouti throughout ceasefire-hostage deal negotiations, hoping that such a move would reignite support for Hamas. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir spoke with Marwan Barghouti in prison on Thursday and warned, "Whoever messes with Israel - we will wipe him out." "You will not defeat us, whoever messes with the people of Israel, whoever murders our children and women - we will wipe him out," Ben-Gvir told him. "You need to know this, it's been like this throughout history." The Palestinian Authority released a complaint following Ben-Gvir's comments, claiming that his comments constituted "state terrorism." "The Palestinian Authority's Foreign Ministry condemns the raid by extremist Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on the cell of commander Marwan al-Barghouti, directly threatening him. This is an unprecedented provocation and organized state terrorism," the statement read. Arab-Israeli MK Ayman Odeh, head of Hadash-Ta'al, commented on social media in English: "This video lays bare the full ugliness of the Israeli occupation: Itamar Ben Gvir, a terrorist in a tie, tormenting Marwan Barghouti in a cell under cruel, inhumane conditions," adding that evil is powerless against "a people fighting for their freedom." "The Palestinian people will prevail over the occupation and every Ben Gvir standing in its way," Odeh concluded. Ben-Gvir later wrote in a social media post that after hearing the PA's condemnation, he said he would repeat his statements "again and again without apologizing: anyone who messes with the people of Israel, anyone who murders our children, anyone who murders our women — we will wipe him out. With God's help." The national security minister referred to Barghouti as an "arch-terrorist" and called for his name to be erased. Who is Marwan Barghouti? Barghouti was sentenced in 2004 to five life sentences for his role in orchestrating attacks that killed Israelis. He helped establish Tanzim, the military faction of Fatah, in the 1980s. Barghouti, often referred to as the 'Palestinian Mandela,' has long been considered a unifying figure among Palestinians, according to The Media Line. Reports have indicated that Hamas demanded the release of Barghouti throughout the ceasefire-hostage deal negotiations, hoping that such a move would reignite support for Hamas.
