Latest news with #Oaklanders
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Barbara Lee sworn in as Oakland mayor
OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) — Former Rep. Barbara Lee was sworn in Tuesday as Oakland's 52nd mayor. Lee, 78, took her oath of office at the City Council chambers in Oakland City Hall. She delivered her first official remarks as mayor to a 'packed room of family members, friends, elected leaders, and members of her Transition Committee,' according to a news release from Lee's office. In the address, Lee 'reiterated her commitment to govern in a new way with transparency, accountability, and results.' Bay Area tech job posting looking for people willing to work 6 days a week 'Today marks a new era for Oakland,' said Mayor Lee. 'Like Oakland's gifts to me, I want to re-instill hope; create opportunities for our young people; ensure a safe path for our sons and daughters to have long, productive lives, and he housed or own homes in a safe, clear city.' Lee was elected earlier this year in a special election following the successful recall of unpopular former Mayor Sheng Thao. As part of her 100-day-plan, Lee's office said she is 'engaging Oaklanders from all walks of life through working groups to inform how government can better serve the people.' Lee, who is the first Black woman to be elected mayor of Oakland, also addressed the city's budget crisis. 'As your mayor, my job is to lead our city out of a budget crisis and into a period of financial stability. We can only do this if we have a strong, vibrant Downtown, thriving small businesses in every Oakland neighborhood that preserve the character of our great City and contribute to our vitality, and a City that welcomes investment.' Prior to being elected mayor, Lee served in Congress for 27 years and was notably, the only member to vote against member to vote against immediate military action in the aftermath of 9/11. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
08-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Mayor-elect Barbara Lee selects Oakland native and progressive politico as chief of staff
Oakland Mayor-elect Barbara Lee has chosen a local progressive leader with experience in the Obama administration as her chief of staff, the first official hire in her office that signals how Lee will run the city. 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.
San Francisco Chronicle
02-05-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Oakland Mayor-elect Barbara Lee announces key appointments to address public safety and economy
Oakland Mayor-elect Barbara Lee announced Friday a transition team of politicians, business leaders, philanthropists, attorneys and nonprofit heads that will help her lead the city when she takes office. The group is made up of 16 people, including Fred Blackwell, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation, Keith Carson, a retired Alameda County supervisor, Quinn Delaney, founder of the Akonadi Foundation, and Carrie Owen Plietz, regional president for Kaiser Permanente Northern California. The transition committee will be tasked with helping Lee implement her 10-point plan to address Oakland's challenges, and with creating working groups to address homelessness, public safety and labor issues, improve small business support and establish public-private partnerships, she has said. 'Oaklanders demand — and deserve — transparency, accountability, and results. With the help of these dynamic leaders and residents, this is what we will deliver together,' Lee said in a statement Friday. 'For all of Oakland, I want to thank those who have agreed to serve — and am filled with gratitude for your leadership and support, which will help Oakland turn the next chapter.' Lee has said she intends to implement her 10-point plan within her first 100 days in office. It prioritizes developing public safety strategies, streamlining building permits and cleaning up trash, among other goals. Lee has also proposed engaging the CEOs of the top 10 biggest companies in the city on public-private partnerships. Lee, who beat former city council member Loren Taylor in last month's election to be the city's next mayor, will likely be sworn in this month. Her swearing in will occur after the Alameda County Registrar of Voters certifies the vote and the Oakland City Council votes to accept the results. Other members of her transition team announced Friday include Michael Barnett, an Oakland homeowner and scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab; Creighton Davis, former chair of the city's community policing advisory board and current board member of Black Cultural Zone, a nonprofit; Jeanette Dong, chief strategy officer of Alameda Health System; Viola Gonzales, former president of the League of Women Voters; Robert Harris, an executive member of the NAACP; Freada Kapor Klein, a venture capitalist; Paul Markovich, president and CEO of Ascendium; Maximus Simmons, student board director of the Oakland school district; and Sheryl Walton, co-chair of the Block by Block Organizing Network (BBBON), a coalition of community activists in Oakland. Danny Wan, former executive director of the port of Oakland, Barbara Parker, former Oakland city attorney, and Ben Rosenfeld, the former San Francisco city controller, will advise the transition team, Lee also announced Friday. Lee, a progressive stalwart, has promised to unify the city amid challenging times as Oakland grapples with a budget crisis that has resulted in layoffs, a hiring freeze and other cost-saving measures. Last week, she announced that Barbara Leslie, president of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, and Keith Brown, head of the Alameda Labor Council, will lead her transition committee. Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins, who was council president before voters recalled ex-Mayor Sheng Thao in November, is expected to release a budget proposal on Monday. The proposal, which he said in a statement would include the input of incoming elected officials, will map out the city's priorities over the next two years. But rising costs and struggling revenue streams pose challenges for the city to make major headway on some of its priorities, which include addressing public safety concerns and illegal dumping.
CBS News
24-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Oakland business hopeful for recovery as city gets new leadership
An Oakland business owner said she is optimistic that recovery is on the way, with Mayor-Elect Barbara Lee set to take office. Karen Fong moved from Hong Kong to Oakland in 1990. Since then, she opened one of three restaurants, Shooting Star Café in Chinatown. "For me, it's memory for when I grew up in Hong Kong, so the food, the taste," Fong told CBS News Bay Area. She is bringing the taste of her motherland to neighbors and visitors from all over the Bay Area. She said, however, that since the pandemic she has lost about 50% of foot traffic. She attributes concerns about public safety as one major factor. "Before, most of the customers, sometimes they travel to Oakland, stop in Oakland. They're just passing the freeway by Oakland now because it's too dangerous," Fong said. She added that she's noticing many of her fellow business owners are leaving the area. "Frustrating for everybody who works in the city," Fong said. Another addition to new city leadership is District Two Councilmember-Elect Charlene Wang, and Fong expects that change is coming. "I remember what Oakland's Chinatown was like when I was a child, and I could see that in many ways, stores are boarded up," Wang said. "We're experiencing blight. A lot of small businesses are leaving Oakland at this point, they're struggling to survive." With a nearly $130 million budget shortfall, Wang knows there's a long road ahead. "They're going to places outside of Oakland, even Oaklanders that live here, instead of supporting the businesses that are right here in our district," she said. "Even in my own neighborhood, I see a number of small businesses have left. Walgreens left. You actually see more and more vacant storefronts appearing here in Oakland. And that's worrisome, that means we're getting decreased investment." But she said that small businesses are and should continue to be the driving force of economic revitalization. "When Oakland is not thriving, you feel that ripple effect throughout the county. So, to me, small businesses are really the lifeblood of what makes Oakland unique and what makes Oakland a place that people want to visit," Wang said. She is pushing to fill Oakland Police vacancies and also to launch programs that would close some homeless encampments in order to move people off the streets. Wang's vision is to find more effective pipelines for those experiencing homelessness to find shelter and jobs. "With every vacant storefront, unfortunately that means a business has left. But it also means that we can effort and ask for assistance with pragmatic support and support from city leadership, we can fill those vacant storefronts and really start rebuilding back our communities," Wang said. And Fong adds that she hopes these visions will become reality. "We need more police officers to work around Chinatown because we have a lot of older people living in this area," she said. She hopes for a positive change as the city is one step forward in healing and rebuilding. "All my customers are like family," Fong said.
San Francisco Chronicle
23-04-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Letters: Why do state retirement systems still own 9 million shares of Tesla stock?
The California Public Employees' Retirement System and the California State Teachers' Retirement System together own about 9 million shares of Tesla stock. CalPERS' is the largest public pension fund in the country, and CalSTRS is the largest educator-only pension fund in the world. As of Dec. 31, CalPERS owned 4.8 million shares and CalSTRS owned 4.5 million. It is outrageous that they continue to hold Tesla stock after Elon Musk revealed his contempt for career civil servants and educators. And Tesla stock is too volatile for these pension portfolios. These retirement systems are in a position to do something meaningful and effective, which is to sell their Tesla shares. They have owned these stocks for years, so they would realize a gain if they sold soon. Contact the CalPERS' and CalSTRS' boards, their CEOs, your Assembly member and state senator, demanding divestment from Tesla. Mary Jo Walker, San Rafael Pope set open tone The death of Pope Francis is a profound loss for LGBTQ+ Christians around the world. While the Catholic Church's relationship with queer people has long been fraught, Francis cracked open the door to something previously unthinkable: mercy. Francis asked, 'Who am I to judge?' — a question that echoed through pews and Pride parades alike. He chose accompaniment over condemnation, recognizing that LGBTQ+ people are not issues to be debated, but human beings to be embraced. Francis did not rewrite doctrine, but he reshaped the tone. He met with same-sex couples, blessed LGBTQ+ Catholics and spoke against laws criminalizing homosexuality. In doing so, he offered something radical in a time of moral panic and rising anti-LGBTQ+ hate: the idea that faith and queerness need not be in conflict. For those of us who have sat in church pews wondering if we are loved by God, Pope Francis offered a glimpse of a gentler gospel. One where dignity is not earned but affirmed. May his memory be a blessing — and may his legacy challenge religious institutions to love more bravely. With all our contradictions and faith, we say thank you, Papa Francisco. Romario Conrado, San Francisco Build unity in Oakland Regarding 'Barbara Lee declares victory in Oakland mayor's race — Loren Taylor concedes' (East Bay, April 19): Congratulations to Barbara Lee on her victory in the mayoral election in Oakland. I hope that Lee leverages her decades of public service to bring positive change to our beautiful and beleaguered city at this critical moment in time. Since Lee ran on the platform of unifying Oakland, I'd like to publicly challenge her to hire her main opponent, Loren Taylor, to work with her during her tenure as mayor. What could be more unifying than offering her runner-up a job and the two of them putting aside their differences to serve all Oaklanders? Elliott Haught, Oakland Art is human Disgorging cruise ship passengers are offended by a statue of a large female form, surely you jest? This is San Francisco, for God's sake, a nude female statue is going to be the least offensive thing you find on your visit to our fair city. What about the statue of David and other European nudes? Do these also offend the cultural sensitivities of visitors to Europe? I mean, we are really in trouble if a non-sexualized nude female statue is offending people in San Francisco. If you really want to be offended, take a look at all the advertising and media using hyper-sexualized female forms and the degradation of women in general, especially in our current political environment. Now that's something to be offended by. Jen Fisher, Berkeley
