Oakland's Progressive Mayor Will Face Recall (Along With Its

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Another sign that people are fed up, even in deep blue California. The city of Oakland has seen a serious increase in crime. CNN published this summary back in February.

Robberies grew 38% last year in Oakland, according to police data. Burglaries increased 23%. Motor vehicle theft jumped 44%. Roughly one of every 30 Oakland residents had a car stolen last year, according to a San Francisco Chronicle analysis.

A recall effort was started against Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao and yesterday the leaders of that effort were notified that they had gathered enough signatures to get it on the ballot in November.

The decision means that Oakland voters will in all likelihood be given the opportunity to weigh in on whether to remove Thao from office less than two years into her tenure, pending any legal twists…

A progressive wave that surged during the pandemic amid protests over the death of George Floyd — and focused in part on reforming criminal justice systems — has been met by an increasingly bold opposition, particularly after Chesa Boudin, a reform-minded prosecutor in San Francisco, was successfully recalled in 2022…

“With businesses closing daily, Oakland is effectively under siege,” the group’s website says. “A new mayor is crucial for our city’s recovery.”

Seneca Scott, one of the leaders of the recall effort, told NBC Bay Area the public response to their effort was strong.

The efforts to recall Mayor Thao began in January and Scott says they were able to gather just over 40,000 signatures.

“I think the numbers are clear, voters want Thao gone, voters want her gone,” Scott said.

Mayor Thao’s recall won’t be the only one on the ballot. A similar effort to recall progressive DA Pamela Price has already been approved.

A group that calls itself SAFE, or ‘Save Alameda for Everyone,’ has been on the ground collecting signatures county-wide since October to recall Price.

Of the more than 123,000 signatures they collected and turned in last month, the Registrar of Voters says nearly 75,000 were valid, which is about 1,000 more than what was required to force a recall election (73,195).

Of course getting a recall on the ballot doesn’t guarantee its success but in Price’s case, she has other serious problems surrounding her at the moment. Back in March she was accused of retaliation and discrimination by a former spokesperson named Patricia Lee. Last week Lee filed a lawsuit based on those claims.

A former public information officer for Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price has sued Price and the county, alleging that Price’s agency fired her for speaking out against the altering or deleting of public records and because she is Asian American…

In her time working for the DA’s office, Lee claimed she “experienced a clear anti-Asian sentiment,” including racist remarks from supervisors and Price herself. On one occasion, Price told Lee “that her enemies were ‘the media and the Asians,’” Lee alleged.

Lee also claims that Price intentionally hid documents that were sought under California’s public records act. When Lee complained about what she witnessed, she was fired and given 8 minutes to clear out her office.

In less than 5 months we’ll find out if the city of Oakland is ready to cast aside progressive leaders and move in a more moderate direction. That would be an excellent start and another sign that even in deep blue California there are still a lot of “normie voters” willing to limit how far left things can go, especially when the results aren’t good.