Oakland, California, The political climate is reportedly changing as residents are fed up with rising problems such as housing costs, homelessness, and crime.
“There’s growing opposition to progressives like (Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao), fueled by budget crises, frustration with crime and FBI raids.” The San Francisco Chronicle reported,
Oakland United to recall Sheng Thao (OUST) submitted its petition to recall the mayor in June. Alameda County officials confirmed they had met the threshold of 25,000 voter signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot.
Mayor Sheng Thao reacts as she delivers her first State of the City address at City Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2023, in Oakland, California. (Jen Tiska/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images)
Steven Tavares, a local politics writer for the East Bay Insiders newsletter, said the progressive effort that’s been underway since 2011 is slowing down.
“It was basically total freedom for progressives,” Tavares said of the Occupy movement in San Francisco in 2011. “But now we’re leaving that golden age.”
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He was declared eligible for the November ballot soon after a campaign to oust him from office was launched. The FBI raided his homeSubsequently, Thao’s lawyer abruptly resigned, and soon afterward his chief spokesperson also resigned.
Supporters of the recall say public safety and economic conditions have deteriorated under the politically progressive mayor, and that he should not have fired Police Chief Lerone Armstrong, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Thao has not yet been charged with any crime.
In an interview with the Chronicle, Oakland mayoral candidate Loren Taylor seeks to replace Thao as a more centrist appeal to voters. Taylor lost the mayoral election to Thao in 2022. However, with a recall effort underway, Taylor believes she is the answer.
Homeless encampments are set up in Oakland, California, on Friday, March 15, 2024. The city is plagued by a homeless crisis, with nearby businesses closing their doors due to safety concerns. (DWS for Fox News Digital)
“To say this is the worst compilation of challenging conditions I’ve ever seen is an understatement,” Taylor told the Chronicle. “A financial crisis, costing hundreds of millions of dollars, coupled with a public safety crisis that has people afraid to move around downtown, and businesses leaving downtown, as well as a homelessness crisis that continues to grow even as things are better in neighboring cities … this storm of events is the opposite of what Oakland needs right now as we try to reemerge as a city after the pandemic.”
After interviewing several community members, the Chronicle reported many are dissatisfied with the current state of the city and want change.
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“It’s chaos,” said Smitty’s bartender JJ Jenkins. “Every time I think the pendulum has swung, something like the Juneteenth (shooting) happens. And I don’t think it’s over yet. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
Jenkins expressed concern about rising violence in the city, as he had to close his bar early after a shooting on June 19.
“There’s a big day coming up for the city this summer,” West Oakland pastor Dr. Ken Chambers told the Chronicle.
In addition to being a pastor, Chambers also runs services for the homeless at his West Side Missionary Baptist Church. The Chronicle further reported that Chambers pointed out that the city of Oakland’s International Boulevard is plagued with crime, homelessness, human trafficking and prostitution.
“I’ve been in Oakland for 58 years. I’ve never seen anything like this before. It’s a multi-tasking, problematic, complex situation.”
One resident, Ayodele Nzinga, said Oakland’s problems pointed to a national issue rather than a failure of local governance.
An FBI agent at a home on Maiden Lane in Oakland, California. (KTVU)
“I don’t believe in the annihilation theory,” said Nzinga, a poet and founder of the Lower Bottom Playaz theatre group.
“Oakland has its own problems. Other major cities in the Bay Area have the same situation. But this is not a local weather forecast — it’s national.”
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Oakland has tried to clean up There are a few homeless camps across the city. City officials have shut down more than 500 homeless camps in the past three years. In May, the city shut down 537 homeless camps, with about 1,500 still remaining. according to a city report,
However, the action has angered some residents.
At that time, homeless advocates complained Treatment of homeless people And the city has not yet resolved this issue.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
