Bay Area

Anti-Recall Rally Outside City Hall Supports Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao

Bearing “Defend Democracy” signs on the steps of Oakland’s City Hall, about 40 people convened Tuesday in support of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao. The group responded in opposition to a growing movement to recall her. The mayor has been under considerable scrutiny after firing the city’s police chief, LeRonne Armstrong, and forfeiting millions of dollars in grant funding for the city by missing deadlines in 2023.

Published

1 year ago

January 23, 2024

Oakland Post

Oakland civil rights attorney Walter Riley addresses the press at the anti-recall rally with supporters of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao outside Oakland City Hall. Photo by Carla Thomas.

By Carla Thomas

Bearing “Defend Democracy” signs on the steps of Oakland’s City Hall, about 40 people convened Tuesday in support of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao.

The group responded in opposition to a growing movement to recall her.

The mayor has been under considerable scrutiny after firing the city’s police chief, LeRonne Armstrong, and forfeiting millions of dollars in grant funding for the city by missing deadlines in 2023.

Thao is also being blamed for the rise in theft and vandalism plaguing small businesses, leading many business owners to flee Oakland for safer locations or closing all together.

The recall is projected to cost the City of Oakland $4.5 million, an amount many feel would impact the city’s ability to fund much needed services.

Saabir Lockett, executive director of Pathways to Peace says $4.5 million “to recall the mayor is absurd — $4.5 million should be reinvested in our people.

“We are in a budget crisis already,” Lockett continued. “We need to continue the work that has been done; public safety support, enhancements to the 911 system, and tech investments.”

According to him, the recall efforts against Thao and Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price will cost the region $10 million. “We are going to lose money. This is ridiculous. This takes money and resources away from the people that really need it,” Lockett said.

Lockett also led rally supporters in chanting, “Stop using our pain for political gain.”

According to one Thao supporter, the mayor inherited many of the issues Oakland faces from the previous administration and she should not be held to unrealistic expectations. “A lot of these issues were here before she was elected,” said C.C. Wall Street, executive director of the Oakland community venue, Third Eye Oakland.

“The public should give her a chance to do her job,” he said. “There’s so much we can do beyond the political turmoil plaguing the city. I don’t think the mayor has been given a fair shake. No one is perfect. She is being scapegoated and not given the support she requires to do this job successfully.”

Wall Street called on everyone to step up and be solution oriented. “I’m also the new founder of FEEL Inc., Financial Empowerment Emotional Literacy. We can all make a difference.”

Kenzie Smith, who serves on Oakland’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, says he ran for City Council and understands the challenges of the city. “If we work together, we can continue the good work this administration has done. I, for one, have felt supported and know of many programs supported by this administration.”

Smith is also the sibling of local community icon, Mistah F.A.B., owner of DOPE Era Academy and Dope Era Museum at Jack London Square, and the company’s flagship Dope Era retail store on Broadway. “The mayor has been really supportive of us and our events,” he said.

Oakland civil rights attorney Walter Riley accused the movement to recall the mayor of Oakland of being disruptive and deliberately undermining the current administration.

“This action of recall is weaponizing our democracy against itself,” said Riley, a seasoned civil rights activist. “This administration is making up for decades of political savagery by fixing things. We should continue the pathway that we are on. The attacks on the City Council, the school board, and the mayor will not be tolerated.”

Other community attendees at the rally included Ray Bobbitt, the founder and managing member of the African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG); Joyce Gordon, founder of the Joyce Gordon Gallery at the center of Oakland’s Cultural Arts District on 14th Street, and Oakland Private Industry Council president Pastor Raymond Lankford.

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

2 days ago

May 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System

While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

Published

1 week ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

Image courtesy The Richmond Standard.

The Richmond Standard

Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.

The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.

“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”

“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”

The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.

Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.

“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.

Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.

Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.

For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.

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Oakland Hosts Town Hall Addressing Lead Hazards in City Housing

According to the city, there are 22,000 households in need of services for lead issues, most in predominantly low-income or Black and Latino neighborhoods, but only 550 to 600 homes are addressed every year. The city is hoping to use part of the multimillion-dollar settlement to increase the number of households served each year.

Published

1 week ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

iStock.

By Magaly Muñoz

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department hosted a town hall in the Fruitvale to discuss the efforts being undertaken to remove lead primarily found in housing in East and West Oakland.

In 2021, the city was awarded $14 million out of a $24 million legal settlement from a lawsuit against paint distributors for selling lead-based paint that has affected hundreds of families in Oakland and Alameda County. The funding is intended to be used for lead poisoning reduction and prevention services in paint only, not water or other sources as has been found recently in schools across the city.

The settlement can be used for developing or enhancing programs that abate lead-based paint, providing services to individuals, particularly exposed children, educating the public about hazards caused by lead paint, and covering attorney’s fees incurred in pursuing litigation.

Most of the homes affected were built prior to 1978, and 12,000 of these homes are considered to be at high risk for lead poisoning.

City councilmember Noel Gallo, who represents a few of the lead-affected Census tracts, said the majority of the poisoned kids and families are coming directly from neighborhoods like the Fruitvale.

“When you look at the [kids being admitted] at the children’s hospital, they’re coming from this community,” Gallo said at the town hall.

In order to eventually rid the highest impacted homes of lead poisoning, the city intends to create programs and activities such as lead-based paint inspections and assessments, full abatement designed to permanently eliminate lead-based paint, or partial abatement for repairs, painting, and specialized cleaning meant for temporary reduction of hazards.

In feedback for what the city could implement in their programming, residents in attendance of the event said they want more accessibility to resources, like blood testing, and information from officials about lead poisoning symptoms, hotlines for assistance, and updates on the reduction of lead in their communities.

Attendees also asked how they’d know where they are on the prioritization list and what would be done to address lead in the water found at several school sites in Oakland last year.

City staff said there will be a follow-up event to gather more community input for programming in August, with finalizations happening in the fall and a pilot launch in early 2026.