Who's going to run Oakland when Mayor Sheng Thao leaves?

OAKLAND, Calif. — The city charter in Oakland contains an extensive set of laws, but it wasn’t exactly set up to address the aftermath of an election that saw the mayor recalled and the next-up city official ascend to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

But that’s where Oakland now finds itself, nearly a month after City Hall was reshaped by the Nov. 5 election. Grey areas have quickly emerged: Who will serve as acting mayor? Does the council need to temporarily fill a spot? Will there be one special election next spring, or two?

It’s all a bit confusing. But a legal opinion published this week by City Attorney Barbara Parker offers a blueprint for the council to use at the final meeting of the year on Dec. 17, ahead of an inauguration ceremony in early January.

Here’s where things stand:

When will Mayor Sheng Thao leave office, and who takes over when she’s gone?

Thao, who was recalled by more than 60% of voters in last month’s election, is expected to leave office after the council approves the results at its Dec. 17 meeting.

The city charter requires a special election to be held within 120 days of the mayor’s office becoming vacant when there is a year left in the mayor’s term. Thao would have been up for reelection in 2026.

This means, the city attorney’s office writes, that the election to replace Thao will most likely take place on April 15, 2025, based on existing laws. The candidate filing period would run from Dec. 23 to Jan. 17.

The council’s president would ordinarily serve as interim mayor until the spring election, but Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas just won election to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, a job she begins in January.

The person to eventually replace Bas in her District 2 council seat would also be chosen in a special election.

The next in line to serve as interim mayor is President Pro-Tempore Dan Kalb, who is retiring from office in January. He could, however, serve until then, buying the council additional time before it chooses new leaders from a reshaped roster. That includes someone who would serve as both interim mayor and council president.

Does that mean there could be two elections next year to replace both Thao and Bas?

This is where the situation becomes even more complicated.

Bas has the option to either leave office in January when she’s inaugurated as a supervisor, or resign before then — perhaps at the Dec. 17 council meeting.

The first option allows Bas to serve as both interim mayor and council president until January, providing a clean bridge to the council before it selects another member for the dual roles.

But it may not be the route Bas ultimately follows, because election laws would require her to leave office earlier in order for the special races for both her and Thao’s seats to appear on the same ballot.

In other words, if Bas waits until January, there likely would need to be two separate elections to replace each city leader. This could quickly become costly — election officials have estimated that conducting a special election could cost up to $5 million.

City officials will want to consolidate the two elections, which means Bas likely won’t be on the council much longer.

With two vacancies on the council, what’s the plan for council voting next year?

Whoever serves as interim mayor could still hold the title of council president, though they wouldn’t actually do both jobs at once.

The council president, who normally runs the meetings, would serve full-time as interim mayor. Instead of being counted as an absence, the president’s vote would register as a “no” on council decisions, but as interim mayor they could still vote to break ties.

Meanwhile, the council seat in District 2 — which represents Chinatown, Jack London Square and areas south of Lake Merritt, including the San Antonio neighborhood — will likely be filled by appointment between Bas’ departure and next year’s special election.

The person appointed to the seat by City Council would not be allowed to run in the special election, which could ultimately limit the number of prospects.

So, who’s going to be Oakland’s next mayor? And its next District 2 council member?

A number of people have floated the idea of running to finish out Thao’s term as mayor, including newly reelected Council member Carroll Fife and former Council member Ignacio De La Fuente, plus longtime lobbyist Isaac Kos-Read.

Loren Taylor, the former council member who lost to Thao in the 2022 election, is the only prominent candidate who’s said he would remain in the special race if Rep. Barbara Lee — a progressive political heavyweight of the East Bay — decided to run.

Renia Webb, a former high-ranking Thao staffer who has accused her ex-boss of unethical practices, said Tuesday she was joining the race.

Meanwhile, candidates are already emerging to replace Bas in District 2, including Charlene Wang and Kanitha Matoury, who respectively finished third- and fifth-place last month in the ranked-choice race for the City Council’s at-large seat.

Harold Lowe, who lost to Bas in the 2022 District 2 race, also said he is strongly considering a run.

Then, Oakland will do it all over again in 2026, when whoever wins the District 2 and mayor races next spring will be up for reelection.

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