Bay Area

Mayor Sheng Thao Speaks on Public Safety, Oakland-Vietnam Trade Opportunities

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, just back from a Vietnam trade mission, spoke at a press conference this week to discuss the results of her international meetings and also to address community concerns about crime in the city. She said she is “working day and night” to increase public safety: investing in violence prevention programs, seeking more funding to expand public safety resources, and collaborating with the governor to bring in the California Highway Patrol and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

Published

2 years ago

August 31, 2023

Oakland Post

As Mayor Sheng Thao speaks, members of her administration stand by: (l.-r.) Cheryl Ho (Port of Oakland); Ken Maxey (Chamber of Commerce); Bryan Brandice (Port of Oakland); Larry Gallegos (Economic Workforce Dev.); Mayor Sheng Thao, Sophia Navarro (Economic Workforce Dev); Michael Colbruno (Port Commissioner) and Jimmy Hoang (Mayor’s office).

By Ken Epstein

She said she is “working day and night” to increase public safety: investing in violence prevention programs, seeking more funding to expand public safety resources, and collaborating with the governor to bring in the California Highway Patrol and Alameda County Sheriff’s Office.

As the mayor of Oakland, she said, “I was able to call the governor directly, and this is now why we have the resources of CHP here in the City of Oakland.

Pointing out that the city now has the highest number of officers in uniform in the past three years, she said there is still work to be done to put the officers where they are needed most.

Thao also discussed the recent successful trade delegation to Vietnam, which ended Aug. 8 and included the mayor, Alameda County officials and Port of Oakland board members, and was designed to promote Oakland as a trading partner with Vietnam.

“This trip was an investment in Oakland’s future, by cultivating critical relationships that will grow our city’s economy” Thao said in a statement.

The Oakland delegation met with representatives from private industry, Long An International Port, the mayors of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

In-depth discussions with Pham focused on climate change issues, including establishing “green corridors” for all Vietnam ports and the Port of Oakland.

Other productive meetings were held with several companies, including electric vehicle manufacturer, VinFast, where discussions focused on importing their vehicles through the Port of Oakland; and airline, VietJet, which launched discussions on a possible new international route to Oakland Airport. An MOU was signed with THACO Industries, a leading manufacturer in mechanical products and technology.

Elaborating on the city’s commitment to reduce crime and make Oakland residents safer, Mayor Thao said,
“To actually catch the perpetrators, that means we have to have the manpower for that. We are talking about how we free up our officers, whether it’s ‘civilianizing’ some positions, so we can get more officers doing investigative work.”

Despite inheriting a major deficit from the previous administration, the mayor said the city’s new budget did not cut funds for violence prevention and received $1.2 million from the state to fund technology upgrades.

Specifically, she said the city is expanding Ceasefire, the Oakland Police Department’s anti-violence program, installing more license plate readers throughout the city, and working with the sheriff’s office to set up check points for intoxicated drivers.

She added, “Arguably, I would say that crimes would be even higher than it is today if I were to have cut in my budget the programs for our after-school programming, for summer programming.”

Thao emphasized that the changes will not occur overnight, but the public can expect to see progress.

“Although this is a hard moment in time – this, too, shall pass,” she said. “Because we are now in the phase of implementing. But I promise you, you will start seeing some of those results moving forward, towards next year.”

Property crime in Oakland has increased 28%, according to an ABC7 report in July. Homicides, so far, in 2023 are down 13% compared to 2022, while burglaries are up 41%. Vehicle thefts have increased 50%.

While rising crime is an issue that is frequently connected to “law and order” partisan political campaigns and is often viewed as an intensely local concern, the data points to more complex national reasons and solutions, spurred by the pandemic and other intersecting crises.

According to a report from the Brooking Institution in April, “Cities and towns of all sizes saw their murder rates increase … rising over 35% in cities with populations over 250,000; 40% percent in cities with populations of 100,000 to 250,000; and around 25% in cities with populations under 25,000.

In an article about “recent trends in violent crime,” from the Brennan Center for Justice, which opposes mass incarceration, the dramatic growth in crime across the country started during the pandemic.

“Despite politicized claims that this rise was the result of criminal justice reform in liberal-leaning jurisdictions, murders rose roughly equally in cities run by Republicans and cities run by Democrats. So-called red states actually saw some of the highest murder rates of all.

“This data makes it difficult to pin recent trends on local policy shifts and reveals the central flaw in arguments that seek to politicize a problem as complex as crime. Instead, the evidence points to broad national causes driving rising crime.”

This news story included reporting from KGO7, SF Chronicle, KRON4 and the Oakland Post.

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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

3 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.