It’s not uncommon for new Oakland mayors to make promises. We’ll be tracking these goals and reporting back later this year.
by Darwin BondGraham April 21, 2025 (Oaklandside.org)
Barbara Lee issued a 10-point plan for her first 100 days in office. Credit: Amir Aziz
Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who emerged as the winner of Oakland’s special mayoral election late last Friday, ran on a platform of unifying the city during a time of intense division and an uncertain future because of budget problems and crime. Just before the April 15 election, she unveiled a 100-Day plan with 10 points in it.
Lee’s 100-Day plan is an attempt to speak to Oakland residents’ concerns around public safety, homelessness, the local economy, and more.
Unlike the promises some newly elected officials make, Lee’s plan doesn’t include firm numbers, like a pledge to reduce crime by a certain percentage, hit a certain staffing level in the police department, or set aside specific dollar amounts for city programs.
Instead, Lee’s plan talks about convening stakeholders, appointing task forces, auditing city spending, and advocating for more resources. Still, the plan is a roadmap, something for Oaklanders to hold the mayor accountable for.
Here’s Lee’s plan, which is also posted on her campaign website:
- Bring together Police Department leadership and representatives from all business corridors to coordinate and improve public safety strategies.
- Focus on securing Oakland’s fair share of money from Alameda County to address our homeless crisis.
- Convene the CEOs of the 10 largest Oakland employers to discuss public-private initiatives that can improve Oakland’s economy and increase public safety.
- Deploy vegetation management crews to clear hazards in the city’s high fire danger zones.
- Appoint a taskforce of League of Women Voters, ethics, and good government experts to modernize Oakland’s Charter and strengthen government accountability.
- Direct permitting reform to streamline city processes and reduce bureaucracy for small businesses.
- Generate entrepreneurial and philanthropic investment in Oakland by convening local, state, and national civic leaders.
- Staff up blight reduction crews and partner with the District Attorney’s Office to aggressively prosecute illegal dumping.
- Direct the City Council to pass a budget that prioritizes public safety and stabilizes the city’s finances.
- Audit city contracts to ensure public funds are being spent effectively by contractors and non-profits.
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Previous Oakland mayors have promised big things, but delivering is hard. Here’s some pledges Oakland’s past two mayors made
Sheng Thao
Sheng Thao promised in a press release after winning the 2022 mayor’s race that “on Day One” she would implement a “comprehensive public safety plan,” which included “doubling down on the violence prevention programs that we know reduce violent crime, addressing root causes of crime by working to create more jobs and educational opportunities, filling vacancies in our police department with experienced and diverse officers, providing real support for victims, and redoubling our efforts to get guns off our streets.”
During Thao’s first year in office, shootings and murders spiked, as did robberies and burglaries. This appeared to be part of a nationwide increase in violent crime during the pandemic, but Oakland, unlike many other cities, continued to see high levels of violence in 2023.
Thao ordered an audit of the Ceasefire Program, finding that it had been deemphasized and drained of resources, and that this may have been a factor in a spike in shootings. In 2024, after Thao and her team reorganized Ceasefire and continued funding violence prevention efforts, shootings and homicides fell. Homicides have ticked up again this year, but most categories of crime appear to be falling.
Filling police officer jobs proved an elusive goal for Thao. After a small increase in OPD’s ranks from about 705 officers in early 2023 to a high of 721 in June, staffing fell to 699 in December. OPD’s ranks continued to decline as cops quit, retired, or were fired, leaving the actual number of police officers on the force at 689 by September 2024. The city’s budget problems also prevented Thao and the council from trying to hire more aggressively.
Thao also promised to become the “most proactive city in California on housing and homelessness.” This was to include an “aggressive housing policy that protects renters, fights displacement, and treats our unhoused with the dignity they deserve.”
On the economy, Thao said her administration would support small businesses and bring a Green New Deal to Oakland.
Finally, she promised to build a more responsive city government focused “like a laser on keeping our streets clean, safe, and vibrant.”
These were all hard goals to deliver on with a massive structural budget deficit making new investments impossible, and last November, voters recalled Thao. Two months later, she was indicted by federal prosecutors who have accused her of bribery.
Libby Schaaf
In reflecting on her first 100 days in 2015, Schaaf said she was focused on public safety. She also said she would do her best to keep Oakland’s sports teams from moving away. The Raiders were making noise at the time, saying they planned to exit Oakland unless the city invested more in the team’s future. The long and twisted saga of A’s departure was also just beginning.
Schaaf delivered on her public safety pledge by beefing up OPD. Her first budget proposal in May 2015 called for five police academies to raise staffing levels to 762 officers. Her fiscal focus on OPD started to pay off. Police staffing levels rose from the low 600s in 2014 to 768 by July 2016. Schaaf provided Ceasefire with more money and staff. During her time as mayor, shootings fell dramatically. But toward the end of her second term, violence spiked again.
Schaaf’s pledge to improve safety also included a promise to push OPD toward completing important reforms to address deeply seated problems in the department. “I will hold them accountable for the highest professionalism and performance.”
Schaaf had to make good on holding officers — and the entire department — accountable after an explosive case emerged in 2016 involving multiple officers who sexually exploited a girl. Three chiefs were forced out in a week as Schaaf scolded OPD for its “toxic” culture.
Oakland’s sports teams weren’t receptive to Schaaf’s entreaties. The Raiders left for Las Vegas after their 2019 season. The Warriors left the same year for San Francisco. Schaaf’s attempts to save the A’s included efforts to hand the team a waterfront ballpark site, but this too would ultimately fail in 2024.
DARWIN BONDGRAHAM
Before joining The Oaklandside as News Editor, Darwin BondGraham was a freelance investigative reporter covering police and prosecutorial misconduct. He has reported on gun violence for The Guardian and was a staff writer for the East Bay Express. He holds a doctorate in sociology from UC Santa Barbara and was the co-recipient of the George Polk Award for local reporting in 2017. He is also the co-author of The Riders Come Out at Night, a book examining the Oakland Police Department’s history of corruption and reform.More by Darwin BondGraham
