Staffers with ties to recalled Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao fired in city hall shake-up
Another Oakland City Hall shake-up is underway involving staff with ties to former Mayor Sheng Thao.
Oakland Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins announced Monday morning that most of the Mayor's Office staff will be let go this Friday. Those staffers will be on paid administrative leave until that date, the interim mayor's office said.
Jenkins's statement on Monday specifically addressed the staffers who are being let go as of April 11.
"I want to thank everyone who is leaving the office for their service," the statement read. "It has always been our intention to allow our next Mayor to choose their own staff after the April 15 special election. In the meantime, my team and I are laser-focused on preparing the Mayor's draft budget for on-time release on May 1."
This comes after City Hall's Sunday announcement that Thao's former Chief of Staff Leigh Hanson was fired.
Hanson had been serving as chief of staff for Jenkins since he took office as interim mayor.
"Effective Sunday, Leigh Hanson is no longer an employee of the city of Oakland," a statement issued by Jenkins's office Sunday evening read.
CBS News Bay Area spoke to Hanson Sunday, who made the following comment regarding the incident.
"These handwritten meeting notes record a group discussion that included proposed messaging points that the anti-recall campaign wanted to provide to potential surrogates. They are a specific reference to Seneca Scott, a paid African-American political operative, who was hired by the wealthy white funders of the recall campaign to obscure the public's understanding of the recall's political origins. It was Mayor Thao and her political team's belief that this operative's paid involvement constituted 'tokenization' by the recall's financier, and Oakland voters had a right to understand this connection.
I regret that my short-hand note-taking has been taken out of context on social media and inadvertently harmed close friends, colleagues and members of my community who have been marginalized by our political system."
The Oakland NAACP held a press conference Monday thanking the interim mayor for firing Hanson.
"We urge Mayor Jenkins to continue to root out other employees who may have undermined our city and terminate them swiftly without delay." said Patrice Waugh with the Oakland NAACP.
Oakland voters recalled Thao from office back in November, but her legal troubles started in June when the FBI raided the home that Thao shares with partner, Andre Jones. In January, Thao, Jones and two members of the politically influential Duong family were indicted on corruption charges.
In her first public comments days after the raid, Thao offered a blanket denial of wrongdoing. When CBS News Bay Area interviewed Thao last summer, she maintained those denials and dismissed claims that her boyfriend Jones had any involvement in her administration.
A special election to replace Thao is scheduled to be held next week on April 15. The field of candidates includes former Congresswoman Barbara Lee and former candidate for Oakland mayor Loren Taylor as the leading contenders.
