Bay Area

Pressure Rises as More People Call on Mayor Sheng Thao to Resign from Office

The Oakland Police Officers Association is the newest set of upset residents calling on Mayor Sheng Thao to resign from office because of her alleged mismanagement of the city. Thao is already facing a recall election that will take place this November. Opponents have said on numerous occasions that they would rather she resign than have to go through the process of an election.

Published

9 months ago

August 19, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor-Elect Sheng Thao. Photo courtesy of Sheng Thao.

Mayor Sheng Thao

By Magaly Muñoz

The Oakland Police Officers Association is the newest set of upset residents calling on Mayor Sheng Thao to resign from office because of her alleged mismanagement of the city.

Thao is already facing a recall election that will take place this November. Opponents have said on numerous occasions that they would rather she resign than have to go through the process of an election.

OPOA’s executive team sent Thao a lengthy letter Monday citing all the failures she’s had under her administration, with lack of police staffing being the No. 1 problem.

“Every day you are in office, Oakland is less safe. Your administration has turned Oakland into an international embarrassment,” the letter reads.

Because of budget cuts, the Oakland Police Department only has enough funding for 678 sworn officers, down from 803 officers a few years ago.

OPOA said the Oakland Coliseum sale that is intended to save Oakland from its budget crisis is not a guarantee and they fear what will happen if the funds do not come through as promised by city officials and developers.

The letter said City Councilmembers Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Rebecca Kaplan, Carroll Fife and Dan Kalb are equally to blame for passing a budget that relied heavily on funds that may not be seen.

According to OPOA Vice President Timothy Dolan, nine people were shot over a 30-hour time period last weekend. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to manage the number of 911 calls they receive and who they can send out to respond to crimes.

Dolan said the department was up to 250 calls when he started his shift over the weekend.

OPOA is calling for Thao to resign by Aug. 9, the last day potential candidates can file paperwork to run for mayor.

OPOA President Huy Nguyen said her resignation could “save millions” that could then be invested into hiring more police officers. He said there needs to be at least 1,000 officers on staff in order to fully function.

According to a memo by the City Clerk’s office, the recall election for Thao, which is being consolidated with the November general election, will cost the city up to $1.2 million.

Dolan said there are 105 officers a day over three shifts patrolling the city, meaning only 35 officers are on the streets at any given moment. Three hundred officers on patrol a day is the minimum in order to answer more calls and reports, OPOA staff said.

Nguyen said he’s heard directly from residents that they fear leaving their homes or work because they do not want to be the next victims of crimes. He added that members of the association are also expressing worry over the lack of staffing and the work that is quickly building up.

Nguyen also criticized the police crime data that Thao uses to show that crime has drastically gone down since last year. He said property crimes and crimes that are reported online are backlogged almost four months, so the data is not accurate to the total picture Thao is trying to paint.

But OPOA are not the only ones turning up the heat on forcing Thao out of office.

A recent survey of Oakland voters shows that 73% of Oakland voters say the city is on the wrong track, 66% disapprove of the mayor’s job performance, and 65% disapprove of the job performance of the City Council.

Oakland NAACP President Cynthia Adams used this data in a recent press release to “call upon voters of Oakland to come together and elect leaders who will focus on ending the rampant crime that is devouring our city.”

Adams has been vocal about wanting Thao out of office, blaming her for a lack of a permanent police chief for a year and the rise in crime.

“It is time to clean house. We must rid Oakland of elected officials who enable criminality by voting to defund or reduce funding for public safety!” Adams said.

Recall group Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao doubled down on their calls for the mayor’s resignation following OPOA’s announcement.

“Every day that Mayor Thao remains in office, Oakland’s safety diminishes,” Brenda Harbin-Forte, leader of Oakland United, said.

Thao released a video statement Tuesday saying OPOA is “obviously playing politics” and that she has done a lot of work in public safety since her start last January.

She told the press that she has no plans to resign.

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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.