S.F. The next mayor has their work cut out to get us out of the hole Schaaf has dug us into. He pointed out the citys facing the highest levels of crime and violence in a decade, a huge increase in homelessness, a potential financial collapse and the loss of more than a third of Oaklands Black population. Mayor Libby Schaaf's Final Report Dearest Oaklanders, Born and raised in Oakland, I've always felt such pride in our beautiful, diverse city. While Schaaf ushered in a building boom, Lindheim said the housing crisis in Oakland is worse than ever., They grossly underperformed targets of moderate housing and they greatly over-performed targets of market rate housing, Lindheim said. They are literally the antithesis of everything we say we stand for. December 21, 2022 / 6:55 PM How much should you worry? 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. She is Jewish. Is that fair for an overall eight year period? Since then, her support has only risen, according to polls. Her mother used to work as a flight attendant. She instituted one of the nations largest guaranteed income programs for low-income residents and launched a widely lauded program called Keep Oakland Housed, which provides rent checks and legal representation for residents at risk of homelessness. 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. If Im looking at (her) legacy, I dont think she left her successor in a particularly great spot, Lindheim added. From 2010 to 2020, the city population increased by 50,000, but the Black population shrank by 14% and the number of Black youth under 18 decreased by 29%. $5 million for each longtime Black resident? These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. And the business community must decide whether it wants to unify to be a potent force in the citys electoral politics or become irrelevant. 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. 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. She instituted one of the nations largest guaranteed income programs for low-income residents and launched a widely-lauded program called Keep Oakland Housed, which provides rent checks and legal representation for residents at risk of homelessness. A key component of Schaafs strategy to addressing homelessness is the community cabin program, which moves unhoused people into temporary structures. However, she doesnt only do social works to gain peoples trust. Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Before winning the mayors seat, Schaaf served on the City Council for one term, representing part of the Oakland hills. Still, she acknowledged, its not enough. "Libby Schaaf will go down as one of the worst mayors in Oakland's . Rep. Katie Porter, a Democratic star . "And it will be for others to decide whether that was a good job or not.". And there are moments of unbelievable tragedy and grief, like presiding over the Ghost Ship tragedy.". And respondents were overwhelmingly concerned with gun violence 97% said its an extremely or very serious problem, and 88% said the same about crime. Brown endorses candidate in Oakland mayor's race", "Sen. Boxer endorses Schaaf in Oakland Mayoral Race", "Oakland Launches New Transportation Department", "City Of Oakland Starts New Transportation Department", "Advocates hope Oakland's new Department of Transportation will transform city's streets", "Media Advisory: Mayor Libby Schaaf Launches Oakland's First Transportation Department", "City of Oakland starts new transportation department", "Mayor Libby Schaaf Hires Oakland's First Transportation Policy Director", "Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf Institutes Ban On Nighttime Street Protests", "Protests held in Oakland over mayor's new ban on nighttime marches", "Trump Calls Some Unauthorized Immigrants 'Animals' in Rant", "Trump suggests Justice Department investigate Oakland's Democratic mayor for tipping off immigrants", "Oakland Mayor Criticized For Warning People Of Pending Immigration Sweeps", "Jewish mayor of Oakland defends decision to tip off community to immigration raid", "Oakland will give low-income families of color $500 per month, no strings attached", "California Councilwoman Libby Schaaf Targeted With Swastikas in Oakland", "Flyers Of Jewish Councilwoman With Swastika On Her Face Posted In Oakland", "Jewish Oakland mayor defends decision to warn community of immigration raid", "Mayor - Oakland (RCV) Vote for One (1) Only", "Ranked-Choice Voting Accumulated Results - Mayor - Oakland", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Libby_Schaaf&oldid=1132816232, This page was last edited on 10 January 2023, at 18:57. Schaaf nodded her head and told the woman that the city has nearly quadrupled its shelter bed capacity over the last eight years. As Schaaf prepares to leave office on Jan. 2, still keeping her next move quiet, political experts say her tenure and her success as the citys leader is mostly mixed. As an Oakland native, the town is a road map of Schaafs life history: Its where she grew up as the daughter of a shoe salesman and a flight attendant, where she graduated from Skyline High School and where she raised her two kids. For more news and updates about your favorite stars, please stay connected with us atFeatured Biography. Oakland is a challenging city to govern, said Doug Linney, a political consultant in the East Bay. Every so often, shed pause and point to the building where her mother lived or the white Victorian home where she got married. We built and strengthened enduring PARTNERSHIPS to tackle our most vexing problems. Her stop at the police department wasn't just symbolism it was a signal to the police that they were her top priority. By October, that had plummeted to 35%. But homelessness experts say its a quick and cost-effective way to get people indoors. I believe all observers, regardless of their backgrounds, should be able to see that Schaaf has failed. Stop criminalizing and dehumanizing our unhoused neighbors. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. 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 chambers poll also found that 97% of respondents said homelessness is either an extreme or very serious problem. "I like to think that I'm leaving them with the bases loaded.". Dear Abby: I kept this secret for 30 years, and now I'm devastated by the outcome. Elizabeth Beckman Schaaf (born November 12, 1965) is an American politician who served as the 50th Mayor of Oakland, California from 2015 to 2023. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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. She has provided coverage on wildfires, mass shootings, the fatal shooting of police officers and massive floods in the North Bay. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". 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. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. By nearly every metric, she has decreased community safety and increased human suffering of those already most. Report a Problem to OAK 311. 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. All Rights Reserved.Site by Value-Centered Solutions. Come January, Thao, as the new mayor, and her labor allies on the council will no longer be able to use Schaaf as their political foil to hide their own failures to address the citys problems. Overall, since Mayor Schaaf took office while the total OPD budget grew by over 80% Oaklands Public Works budget has increased by only 38%. As Schaaf prepares to leave office on Jan. 2, still keeping her next move quiet, political experts say her tenure and her success as the citys leader is mostly mixed. Stop doing the bidding of the corporate landlords and wealthy developers. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. The tiny Bay Area town modern life forgot: Canyon, California, The wondrous story of Tahoe's most eccentric tycoon, The story behind that odd pantry in the wall in old SF homes, Remembering the ugliest thing San Francisco ever built, Your Privacy Choices (Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads). She is right that the contentious environment on the council discouraged prospective candidates. 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. Meet Mayor Libby Schaaf. Fort Funston visitors beware: A World War II era structure fell off a proposed multibillion-dollar waterfront ballpark and surrounding development, ending nearly 20 years under federal oversight, Oakland Chamber of Commerce poll released in October, equipped an entire generation of children, one of the nations largest guaranteed income programs. She could have given speeches decrying the "defund" movement as the lie it was, and calling out the likes of . var sentence = "Copyright " + "© " + year; During her administration, Schaaf capitalized on public private partnerships, using fundraising to launch new city programs. We did not have a structure in place to deal with it. She oversaw the city as it dealt with tragedy when the Ghost Ship fire killed 36 people at a warehouse party. Even the United Nations condemned Schaafs treatment of the unhoused, saying it constitutes cruel and inhuman treatment and is a violation of multiple human rights, including the rights to life, housing, health and water and sanitation.. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf (left) and her assistant, Sun Kwong Sze, wave to honking motorists as they stand at the intersection of 82nd and Bancroft avenues during a Ceasefire Night Walk in 2020. 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. Libby Schaaf is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. Thats what the people of Oakland expect and demand. "I know I put my heart and soul into serving my beloved hometown," she said. Before the sun rose on a brisk February morning, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf looked around Lake Merritt and counted the number of people sleeping on the street for the biennial point-in-time count. Schaaf presided over a city that has gone through a complete transformation, from a housing boom to exploding homelessness. I dont know whats fair, but my sense is that people are pretty unhappy at the moment with the state of issues in Oakland.. 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. Its a non-profit organization that organized and implemented hundreds of volunteer community improvement projects across the city. In addition toOakland Cares, Schaaf is also active as the Leadership Council atKiva, another non-profit organization. [42], Since 2010, Oakland elections have utilized ranked choice voting.[43]. San Francisco Mayor London Breed (left) and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf hold baseballs before a between the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland As last year at at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Some political experts say Oakland is a tough city to be in charge of balancing the different interests of residents. The 50th Mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf, is a happily married woman. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. A city audit found that nearly half of the participants returned to homelessness. 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. That dissatisfaction also extended to the citys leadership 42% of the polls respondents rated Schaafs performance poorly. My general sense is if Libby cant do it, boy, its going to be hard for anybody because she really had the experience, the skills and the general chops to be able to do it.. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. When I became the mayor, it wasnt a top concern. Jerry Brown lends support to ex-aide in Oakland mayor's race", "Gov. Sarah Ravani covers Oakland and the East Bay at The San Francisco Chronicle. OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf says the city is working to deal with a spike in homicides with more than a dozen seen this year so far. She led Oakland through not easy times.. Then theyll need to lift us up. Its a humanitarian crisis, Schaaf said. The housing shortage in California is at the root of the states biggest problems,said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, who wants to expand the use of local bonds to promote more building in one of the countrys priciest areas for real estate. She added that the city has 2,200 affordable homes in the pipeline ready to be built. Schaaf said building housing at all income levels is key if the city hadnt, high-income workers would have taken over the existing naturally affordable units. They have two children, Dominic Fahey and Lena. 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. "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. Despite those advances, some city leaders criticized Schaafs administration for failing to deliver basic city services. That is the only pathway to a safe and healthy Oakland where all of us can thrive. At best, her tenure has been mixed, said Jim Ross, a political consultant based in Oakland. We created Oakland's first Department of Transportation, 311 Call Center, Infrastructure Bond Program, and Equity-driven Paving Plan, which delivered Oakland's all-time record for roads replaced 100 miles in 3 years! To 35 % best, her support has only risen, according polls. 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