Incoming Oakland mayor Barbara Lee names her chief of staff
Saika Chen is an Oakland native and a political insider having served as a senion advisor in the Obama administration and as chief of staff to former city councilmember Nikki Fortunato Bas.
"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," said Barbara Lee.
In addition to picking a chief of staff Lee has announced a plan to form 13 working groups to focus on her administrations priorities. The proposed groups include the arts, housing, homeless encampments, economic development, and public safety.
It's an agenda Saika Chen said she is excited to work on "I'm honored to join Mayor-elect Lee's administration to use my hands-on experience to help make City government more responsive and accountable to the people it serves." Added Saika Chen, "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."
A spokesperson for Barbara Lee tells CBS News Bay Area they expert her to be sworn-in at the end of May.
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