Council President Statement, Post-Election (Nov 12, 2024)
Today, the Oakland City Council is convening for the first time since the November 5th election.
We now know that the recall of Oakland's Mayor will be approved by a majority of the city's voters. As President of the City Council, my priority and commitment is caring for Oakland in a time of transition. My duty is to ensure a transparent, responsible and orderly transition of leadership that is beyond reproach. I am working closely with our City Attorney to plan a smooth transition and process of selecting Oakland's next leadership.
First, the Registrar of Voters must certify the election results within 30 days of the election, i.e., by December 5th. Then the City Council would declare the election results no later than its next regular meeting, which would be December 17th. Once the Council declares the results, the Office of Mayor becomes vacant and the Council President serves as Mayor until the vacancy is filled in a special election that is within 120 days of the vacancy.
Also as Council President, I am working with the City Administrator and the Mayor's Office to plan a continuation of our priorities for a clean, safe, housing secure and fiscally sustainable city.
In addition, I want to acknowledge that the news of a future Trump Presidency has been devastating for many of us given the harms of his past administration and his promises of rolling back the rights and protections of so many vulnerable people.
History and our elders remind us of the long struggles we have waged for freedom — from slavery, from internment; for the right to vote, the right to marry, and much more. And we know that true freedom and liberation for all peoples is still something we must fight for.
As a nation and as a city, we know we are not alone and that we are resilient. That we want the best for our communities. The reality is that we have been here before. We are a sanctuary city for immigrants. We are also a pro-choice sanctuary city. During my first two years on Council and under the Trump Administration, I collaborated with our Southeast Asian refugee community to prevent Trump from deporting formerly incarcerated Oaklanders who had served their time; we worked with Gov. Newsom to pardon sons of Oakland and keep their families together.
We know as a City how to fight back, to protect and advance the progress we've made on community safety, housing stability, economic development, and standing with the most vulnerable members of our beloved City.
We must do everything we can to prevent the Trump Administration from harming our communities. We must fight white supremacy, stand with our immigrant communities, defend gender justice, and fight for our democracy at home and peace abroad. We must push back on those who seek to use fear and racism to divide and conquer us. We will lean into and live out our Love Life motto.
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