By City of Oakland

The Oakland City Council voted Monday to appoint Councilmember Kevin Jenkins as Council President, and Councilmember Noel Gallo as Council President Pro Tem.

Effective immediately, they will serve as interim mayor and interim City Council president, respectively. The City Council also voted to temporarily appoint Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan to hold the District 2 City Council office.

Interim Mayor Jenkins, Interim City Council President Gallo, and Interim District 2 City Councilmember Kaplan will all hold these roles until a special election is held in April to fill the vacant permanent positions of Mayor and District 2 City Councilmember.

“What Oaklanders and Bay Area residents can expect over the coming months is we’re going to have a special election that will be held on April 15 to elect a new mayor as well as to fill the District 2 vacancy,” said Oakland City Attorney Ryan Richardson.

The special elections are required because voters recalled former Mayor Sheng Thao in November and District 2’s former representative, Nikki Fortunato Bas, was elected to the Alameda County Supervisors.

Those newly elected positions are expected to be sworn in sometime in May.

Jenkins made it clear that he would not be seeking nomination to stay in office beyond May. “I will not be the next mayor of Oakland,” Jenkins said, according to ABC News 7.

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“There’s some serious issues in the city, but we’re only going to get past it working together, the residents of Oakland absolutely demand it,” Jenkins said, according to Bay City News. “We want to get back to a place where we’re doing our basic services well, where we’re getting our unsheltered folks housed, where we’re filling our potholes, where our fire stations are open.”

Ready to get started right away, Jenkins approached his new office, saying, “I think the first thing is meeting with staff and working with the city administrator on the budget. We have to get back to basics as a city.”

Potential candidates seeking office have until Jan. 17 to file their paperwork at City Hall.

City Administrator Jestin Johnson thanked and congratulated Interim Mayor Jenkins, Interim Council President Gallo, and Interim City Councilmember Kaplan for stepping into these critical leadership roles at an especially important time for the City of Oakland, as the City takes on critical work to resolve the structural imbalance in its budget while prioritizing public safety and other essential public services.

The Public Information Office of the City of Oakland, ABC News 7 and Bay City News are the sources for this report.

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