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Council President Nikki Bas Says Election for New Mayor Scheduled for April 15

The City is hoping to consolidate the mayoral and City Council District 2 special elections on a single date, which would save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars. To achieve this, Bas will submit a letter to the City Clerk on Dec. 17 stating that she will resign as councilmember of District 2, provided the election results are certified without subsequent challenge, effective at 11 a.m. on Jan. 6.

Published

6 months ago

December 4, 2024

Oakland Post

: Nikki Fortunato Bas. File photo.

Bas also offers timeline for selection of new District 2 councilmember

By Post Staff

Speaking at a press conference this week at City Hall, Oakland City Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas provided a timeline for the election of a new mayor, which is scheduled for April 15, and outlined other steps in the transition to new city leadership in the wake of the recall and Nov. 5 election.

Bas, who represents City Council District 2 and was recently declared the winner in the election for supervisor for Alameda County District 5, emphasized the importance of maintaining a strong and stable leadership in a time that the city is facing many challenges.

“Now, more than ever, it’s critical to come together to support a leadership transition that puts Oaklanders first for the betterment of our communities,” she said.

“We are singularly focused on the issues before us and those issues are making sure that we address both our current budget and our two-year budget and the structural issues that have led to the projected deficit” as well as continuing to enhance public safety,” she said.

On Tuesday, Dec. 3, the Alameda County Registrar of Voters released final election results on Tuesday and certified the results on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The City is hoping to consolidate the mayoral and City Council District 2 special elections on a single date, which would save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.

To achieve this, Bas will submit a letter to the City Clerk on Dec. 17 stating that she will resign as councilmember of District 2, provided the election results are certified without subsequent challenge, effective at 11 a.m. on Jan. 6.

Bas offered the timeline based on the recall of Mayor Sheng Thao and her election to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors.

However, if the results of the supervisor race are contested and Bas cannot take her new position as supervisor on Jan. 6, some parts of the timeline would be modified. Under election regulations, a recount must be requested within five calendar days after the Registrar of Voters certifies the election results.

The timeline is based on a legal opinion published by the City Attorney explaining the applicable law that guides the process to address potential vacancies in the Office of the Mayor and the District 2 Council Office, including a 2025 special election or elections.

The anticipated timeline:

Dec. 5: Alameda County Registrar of Voters certifies election results.

Dec. 17: The Oakland City Council will vote to declare the results of the Nov. 5 election. It is expected the City Council will declare the Office of Mayor vacant, and Council President Bas will serve as interim mayor until the vacancy is filled in a special election that is within 120 days of the vacancy. President Pro Tempore Dan Kalb will serve as acting Council president. The Council will declare a vacancy in the Office of Council District 2 and set the date of the special election for mayor and District councilmember on April 15.

Dec. 23: It is expected the nominations period for mayoral and District 2 Councilmember candidates would begin on Dec. 23 and end on Jan. 17.

Jan. 6: Newly elected councilmembers will be sworn in. The District 2 seat would be vacant, leaving seven Councilmembers. The seven remaining Councilmembers may adopt a motion to appoint a person to serve as the District 2 councilmember until the election and swearing in of a new District 2 councilmember. City Council will elect its Council president and president pro tempore. The Council president will serve as interim mayor until the special election for mayor and their swearing-in, and the president pro tempore will serve as acting council president.

Jan. 17: Nomination period for mayoral and District 2 councilmember candidates anticipated to close.

April 15: The City of Oakland is anticipated to hold a special election for mayor and District 2 Councilmember to complete the current term through Jan. 4, 2027.

Regarding the District 2 Council seat, Bas said she would share more information prior to Dec.17. “It has been a true honor to serve the diverse constituents of District 2,” she said. “Until a new councilmember is elected, I am committed to making sure our residents and businesses receive critical city services in partnership with a caretaker councilmember who understands the needs of our community.”

Bas offered her appreciation to Thao and her staff for their dedication and hard work for the city and concluded the press conference saying:

“We love the city deeply, we believe in the city, we will fight for the city, and so we are working to ensure that our leadership is strong.”

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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

4 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.