Some of the highest vacancy rates are in key city functions about 30% of jobs in the building department are open and nearly a third of positions in the transportation department are open. Mayor of Oakland Libby Schaaf reacts after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics at Oracle Park on June 25, 2021, in. Moreover, she never capitalized on her early popularity and the bully pulpit of the mayoral post to build an effective fund-raising and grassroots political operation that could be mobilized in support of political allies. Demonstrators met at Frank Ogawa Plaza before sunset for a rally. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". This is the gem of Oakland and its completely trashed, the woman said pointing to the people sleeping on the street. Stop doing the bidding of the corporate landlords and wealthy developers. Residents are mostly split in their opinions of Schaaf. That is the only pathway to a safe and healthy Oakland where all of us can thrive. It helps people lend their money through the Internet to low-income entrepreneurs and students in over 80 countries. She referenced them as she looked back on her time in office. During her tenure, Oakland has undergone an economic revitalization and building boom, as well as cut gun violence in half. The Just Recovery Budget totals more than $3.85 billion over the next two years, as shown in the table below: "As the City begins to recover from the devastating impact of the COVID pandemic, this Just . Born and raised in Oakland, Ive always felt such pride in our beautiful, diverse city. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. An Oakland Chamber of Commerce poll released in October shows that voters are largely dissatisfied with the city 64% of the polls respondents said they felt the city was headed in the wrong direction. A city audit found that nearly half of the participants returned to homelessness. Its a non-profit organization that organized and implemented hundreds of volunteer community improvement projects across the city. In 2016, Schaaf wrote a voter-approved $600 million bond measure that helped fund street improvements. Political experts say that while Oakland is grappling with major issues the housing and homelessness crises and violent crime Schaaf deserves credit for leading the city through some of its toughest times, including the pandemic. She is the mayor of Oakland, California and a former member of the Oakland City Council. How much should you worry? $5 million for each longtime Black resident? [11], In 2006, Schaaf joined the Port of Oakland as the Director of Public Affairs,[12] helping to secure state and federal funding for the city of Oakland, as well as directing all strategic communications for the port. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Stop criminalizing and dehumanizing our unhoused neighbors. That wasnt her goal, Schaaf said. Those times also include overseeing a police department plagued with a sex scandal and that once cycled through three police chiefs in just nine days in 2016. var sentence = "Copyright " + "© " + year; These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. Bas said council members regularly hear from residents about their frustration with the lack of services trash, illegal dumping and sanitation and said its been a significant problem. And with the passage of Measure U, an $850 million bond measure that Schaaf co-wrote with council President Nikki Fortunato Bas, the city will have more money to put toward creating affordable housing. That is understandable because that is what developers want to build, but thats not necessarily what Oakland needs.. In addition to that, she's a former member of the Oakland City Council. [18], In the race for Oakland mayor, Schaaf was endorsed by Governor of California Jerry Brown[19][20] and US Senator Barbara Boxer. John Ramos accidentally launched a lifelong career in journalism when he began drawing editorial cartoons and writing smart-alecky satire pieces for the Bakersfield High School newspaper. Im writing this piece as a warning to every voter in Oakland. As Schaaf exits on Jan. 2, she leaves behind a crime-ridden city with inadequate police staffing, unfunded retirement liabilities that have grown from about $2.4 billion a decade ago to $3. When the ranked-choice balloting was completed, he lost to Thao, a union-stalwart, by just 677 votes. In January, Oakland will swear in a new mayor, the 51st in its history. long hours and understaffing during tense contract negotiations, Which Bay Area city has best quality of life? In the citys housing element from 2015 to 2023, which lays out how a city will plan for new homes, Oakland reached 174% of its goal for above-moderate-rate housing. Schaafs model is now used in other cities, said Tomiquia Moss, the CEO of All Home, a nonprofit that focuses on addressing homelessness as a regional issue. But homelessness experts say its a quick and cost effective way to get people indoors. We cannot afford another year of the Schaaf neoliberal nightmare. "My other disappointment is I was able to budget for a police force of nearly 800 officers, but never actually able to reach that staffing number," she said. For the first time in recent history, Oakland will have a progressive mayor and a progressive-majority City Council the outcome of the November election, which Ross called a repudiation of Schaafs time in office. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. He has worked for the Times and its affiliated newspapers since 1980, including previous assignments as political editor, Sacramento bureau editor, projects editor and assistant metro editor. And there are those on the far-left, such as incoming mayor Sheng Thao, who are politically underwritten by key city labor unions. Since then, her support has only risen, according to polls. During her administration, Schaaf capitalized on public private partnerships, using fundraising to launch new city programs. Samantha Laurey, Visual Intern / The Chronicle. Its a humanitarian crisis, Schaaf said. Its the kind of foundational investments that she did in her tenure that will bear fruit for the city of Oakland in the long-term, Moss said. libby schaaf eye problems. In her first five years, the homicide rate dropped. The Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf Net Worth as of 2020 The programs success is mixed. A key component of Schaafs strategy to addressing homelessness is the community cabin program, which moves unhoused people into temporary structures. But the city reached 43% of its very-low-income housing goals, 26% of its low-income housing and 3% of its moderate-income housing goals. The department is tantalizing close to ending nearly 20 years under federal oversight in May, if it can continue to comply with court-mandated reforms. Its a humanitarian crisis, Schaaf said. Two sports teams left the city, and a third, the Oakland As, has threatened to leave if their proposed multibillion-dollar waterfront ballpark and surrounding development doesnt move forward. In the business community, there were a lot of people concerned about Loren initially based upon his support from Libby, said Greg McConnell, who spearheaded an independent expenditure effort for former Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente. She has made good on the promise to invest in police: The Oakland Police Departments share of the Oakland General Fund ballooned from $194 million per year, in the last budget put forward by Schaaf's predecessor, to $353 million per year in 2022-23 an 80% increase in just eight years. "[25], The Department of Transportation consists of 300 employees, previously working in the Department of Public Works and Oakland Police Department's Parking Enforcement operations.[26]. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. For more news and updates about your favorite stars, please stay connected with us atFeatured Biography. Despite voters suggesting a different form of leadership, Schaaf said she hopes residents will remember her as a fighter. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. Schaaf said if she could go back in time to 2015, when she first took office, she would give herself one piece of advice: That homelessness would explode the way that it did and that its not just the countys responsibility, its everyones responsibility, Schaaf said. We did not have a structure in place to deal with it. I was surprised by the lack of willingness or interest to run for office in Oakland, Schaaf said. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Some leaders have pointed to Schaafs tenuous relationships with city unions, who have protested long hours and understaffing during tense contract negotiations, as a reason for the vacancies. Show this thread. Libby Schaaf's Tweets. Oakland is grappling with a high vacancy rate, with nearly one-fifth of governments jobs currently vacant. var year = today.getFullYear(); She led Oakland through not easy times.. 16. Thats what the people of Oakland expect and demand. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". She worked extensively on Oakland Police Department reform, hiring more civilian staff and pushing through a plan to coordinate the Oakland Police Department with the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, to increase the number of officers patrolling Oakland. And respondents were overwhelmingly concerned with gun violence 97% said its an extremely or very serious problem, and 88% said the same about crime. Here Are Four Ways to Spot Greenwashing, The School Board Queen Endorsed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, The School Board Queen: How a Florida Mom Is Shaking Up US Education, The Idea of Parental Rights in Education Goes Back to the 1950s, Ryan Salame Invested Big In ASmall Town, Now Its Tangled Up In FTXs Fallout(Podcast), Fight to Regulate Crypto atCrossroads as Ripple Ruling Looms. If we follow her actions, we think we can feel she loves what she does. All housing helps the homeless crisis and all housing at all income levels has helped slow gentrification and displacement of Oaklanders, Schaaf said in a recent interview with The Chronicle. Still, she acknowledged, its not enough. Her name wasn't on the ballot, but the 2022 Oakland elections were a disaster for outgoing Mayor Libby Schaaf, the culmination of her eight-year fall from grace. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Ask Amy: I'm young and hot, and I just got two of my older clients pregnant, Harriette Cole: My husband can't remember what he did on New Year's Eve, and I can't forget, The Bay Area's 10 best new bakeries, from Los Gatos to Danville to Emeryville, Dear Abby: It makes me queasy when my boyfriend sends roses to my office for no reason, Miss Manners: These two moms tried to shame me for cutting in the supermarket line, Dear Abby: Because of a patio heater, we've been dragged into their messy divorce, Harriette Cole: I'm hurt by my best friend's surprising behavior. Your email address will not be published. 31. Once again, lots of folks tout themselves as progressives, but just like Schaaf they are neoliberals co-opting language that they hope will fool voters and get them elected. But as she prepares to leave office, with the city still facing tremendous problems, Oakland's 50th mayor was reluctant to evaluate her own performance. In 2015, 68% of likely voters had a favorable impression of Schaaf, according to the chamber poll. Not only the lovely couple enjoy a blissful life together, but they are also blessed with two beautiful children,DominicandLena. During her administration, Schaaf capitalized on public private partnerships, using fundraising to launch city programs. Office chairs and a blue bird statue: Heres everything you can bid on Woman found dead near tree limb at Golden Gate Park identified as San S.F. Elizabeth Beckman Schaaf (born November 12, 1965) is an American politician who has been Mayor of Oakland, California since 2015. Libby had disappointed so many people., De La Fuente finished a distant third. Oakland is a challenging city to govern, said Doug Linney, a political consultant in the East Bay. The next mayor has their work cut out to get us out of the hole Schaaf has dug us into. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. On the flip side, Mayor Schaaf failed to build 5,000 units of affordable housing, as required by the state to meet Oaklands affordable housing requirements, and only issued permits for 22% of the mandated affordable housing. Schaaf's first roles in local government were as legislative aide to Oakland City Council president Ignacio De La Fuente[10] and special assistant to Oakland mayor Jerry Brown. Rain finally came to California. Meanwhile, with Schaaf gone, more politically moderate residents who once backed her and this year subscribed to Taylors pragmatic progressive approach have almost no representation or political organization to fall back on. Schaaf spent her entire first day as mayor in 2015 at the Oakland Police Department, demonstrating tone-deafness to the people at a time when thousands of Oaklanders were in the streets protesting OPD shootings of Black folks. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani. Oaklands next mayor is eager to hit the ground running. I'm a Black woman and a co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project. I dont know whats fair, but my sense is that people are pretty unhappy at the moment with the state of issues in Oakland.. A year later, her Drake-backed fried chicken chain opens first Oakland restaurant this week. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served on the Oakland City Council. from Loyola Law School.[7]. She oversaw the city as it dealt with tragedy when the Ghost Ship fire killed 36 people at a warehouse party. When Nathan, a 9-year-old boy she was tutoring, ran across the gym to greet her with a hug, she recognized that her real joy was in public service. Schaaf also strove to increase government transparency and efficiency, build a safer city, and strengthen Oakland neighborhoods in her time on city council. By nearly every metric, she has decreased community safety and increased human suffering of those already most. [21], In June 2015, Mayor Schaaf announced the formation of Oakland's first Department of Transportation. This is the gem of Oakland and its completely trashed, the woman said, pointing to the people sleeping on the street. The chambers poll also found that 97% of respondents said homelessness is either an extreme or very serious problem. Oakland is grappling with high vacancy rate with nearly one-fifth of governments jobs currently vacant. [8] She then became the program director[9] for the Marcus A. Facts of Before joining the Oakland City Council in 2010, Schaaf served as the Economic Policy Advisor for the council for a year. I believe that the housing crisis in California actually is the biggest threat to our golden-ness as astate,Schaafsaid in an interview with Bloomberg Newsat Oakland City Hall, referring to the state's nickname as the Golden State., Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. Oakland is one of those cities on that cusp and Mayor Libby Schaaf is a great leader and inspiring Mayor who is determined to see that happen. As she departs because of term limits, Schaaf leaves the mayors office and seven of the eight City Council seats in the hands of her political opponents, a hard-left, union-driven coalition that swept the table in last months balloting. This tool lets you decide, Two major shifts sparked mental health crisis for California's LGBTQ youth, Heres everything you can bid on as the Twitter auction begins, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). This bloated police budget has done nothing to improve public safety; in fact,annual homicides increased from 93 when Schaaf took office to 133 in 2021. Despite those advances, some city leaders criticized Schaafs administration for failing to deliver basic city services. Nearly 5,000 new apartments were built in Oakland's downtown area between 2018 and 2020, but less than 4% of those units were below market rate. Indeed, shes a millionaire. Most famously, she sparred with former President Trump after alerting residents that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could conduct a raid. I believe all observers, regardless of their backgrounds, should be able to see that Schaaf has failed. Miss Manners: Must I resist my urge when I'm told to have a blessed day? And the pandemic has undercut the growth in business migration to Oakland that was so promising just a few years ago. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani. And while crime in Oakland dipped to some of its lowest levels early in Schaafs tenure, the spike in violent crime is at an all-time high for the first time in nearly a decade. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Schaaf, 54, grew up in Oaklands District 4, where she attended Head-Royce School and Skyline High School. Is that fair for an overall eight year period? So the council, which shifted from roughly evenly split to labor dominance during Schaafs tenure, has had the final word on the citys budget and the votes to stymie the mayors police-staffing goals. OAKLAND -- At her final news conference Wednesday, outgoing Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf reflected on her eight years at the helm of one of the Bay Area's most enigmatic cities. Most famously, she sparred with former President Trump after alerting residents that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could conduct a raid. Libby Schaaf was born on November 12, 1965, in Oakland, California. SACRAMENTO - Governor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf issued the following joint statement regarding the Wood Street encampment clearing: "The Court's indication that it will lift the injunction in a week means Caltrans will hopefully be able to proceed to clean up the most dangerous portion of the . But, he said, She should get real credit. Funding for the Department of Transportation came from many public resources, including Measure BB,[27] a sales tax approved in November 2014 to fund transportation projects in Alameda County. On her very first day in office, Schaaf was awakened by protestors at her home, and she was later criticized for touring the city with police officers. ICEs acting director Thomas Homan stated that ICE failed to arrest around 800 people because of the alert. [34][35], In March 2021, Schaaf announced that non-white, low-income residents of Oakland would receive $500 per month "guaranteed income" for 18 months. Schaaf presided over a city that has gone through a complete transformation, from a housing boom to exploding homelessness. For the first time in recent history, Oakland will have a progressive mayor and a progressive-majority City Council the outcome of the November election, which Ross called a repudiation of Schaafs time in office. The 50th Mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf, is a happily married woman. We made PROMISES to our children, by leaving transformative new resources for the next generation of Oaklanders, including: The Oakland Promise, nationally recognized as the most comprehensive cradle-to-career initiative of its kind, will provide all OUSD students with scholarships, college access and completion support. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was a target of HBO's Bill Maher on Friday night over her handling of a controversy surrounding supposed nooses found at Lake Merritt. When Oakland Mayor Elect Thao takes over, she may find -- as Schaaf did -- that in a city like Oakland, some problems are just too big for one person to fix. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf hugs supporter Tiffany Lacsado as Madison Lacsado Harvell, 5, looks on during Schaafs final news conference as mayor. In the citys housing element from 2015 to 2023, which lays out how a city will plan for new homes, Oakland reached 174% of its goal for above-moderate-rate housing. By October, that had plummeted to 35%. In South African townships oppressed because of unemployment, crime, drugs and violence, and where many of the population are suffering from HIV and Aids, this inspiring feature-length documentary follows the journey of six people who transform themselves through yoga, and documents the impact that yoga has on their families, and communities. The East Bay hugs supporter Tiffany Lacsado as Madison Lacsado Harvell, 5, looks on Schaafs... Disappointed so many people., De La Fuente finished a distant third bidding! Chronicle staff writer gone through a complete transformation, from a housing boom to exploding homelessness can she... Run for office in Oakland, Libby Schaaf was born on November 12, 1965, June. Where all of us can thrive we can feel she loves what does. @ libby schaaf eye problems Twitter: @ SarRavani, Schaaf capitalized on public private partnerships, using fundraising launch. Of Schaafs strategy to addressing homelessness is either an extreme or very serious.. 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