Interim Oakland Mayor Kevin Jenkins fires more top staff ahead of special election

OAKLAND, Calif. - Interim Oakland Mayor Kevin Jenkins on Monday fired several top staff members a week before the city’s special mayoral election. 

In a quick phone interview, Jenkins insisted that the terminations were part of the transition process that happens when a new mayor is about to assume office.

"I want to thank everyone who is leaving the office for their service," Interim Mayor Jenkins said. "It has always been our intention to allow our next Mayor to choose their own staff after the April 15 special election. In the meantime, my team and I are laser-focused on preparing the Mayor’s draft budget for on-time release on May 1."

Oaklanders are being asked to vote for a new mayor on April 15, after former Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was recalled in November. 

The top staffers include his chief of staff, whom he fired Sunday, and his director of community resilience. 

At least three others were also let go. 

City shakeup

What we know:

That director, Brandon Harami, confirmed to KTVU that he was placed on administrative leave and informed his position would be terminated Friday.

Harami disagreed that being let go was a normal part of cleaning house. 

"This is clearly retaliatory action in response to an inaccurate and misleading release from the leadership of the Oakland NAACP, who has reason to dislike me after I landed a settlement with one of their officers for harassment. I am pursuing next steps with both my Union and other avenues," he said.

Dig deeper:

Earlier this year, the city filed a restraining order on Harami’s behalf against Seneca Scott, a former Oakland NAACP executive and one of the leading voices behind Thao's recall. 

That case was settled in February, according to The Oaklandside and San Francisco Chronicle, which first reported the recent firings.

Harami did not specify if that was the case he was referring to in his statement.

Harami was brought in under Thao, who is currently at the center of a federal investigation for corruption.

Jenkins also fired Chief of Staff Leigh Hanson over the weekend over a note she wrote last year that appeared to refer to Black people as tokens while working under then-mayor Thao.

The memo

The backstory:

The March 2024 note read "CM Fife can reach out to NAACP. Use BP as tokens." (CM Fife is Councilmember Carroll Fife.) The note was found in a batch of documents released by the city related to the FBI investigation into Thao. 

Hanson confirmed to the San Francisco Chronicle that BP was an abbreviation for Black people but added it was taken out of context.

She told the news organization that the note was written during an anti-recall planning meeting where Thao and others discussed their perceptions of the recall effort’s plans to recruit Black people to their cause. 

In a four-sentence statement texted to KTVU on Monday, Hanson said: "These handwritten meeting notes record a group discussion that included proposed messaging points that the anti-recall campaign wanted to provide to potential surrogates.

"They are a specific reference to Seneca Scott, a paid African American political operative, who was hired by the wealthy white funders of the recall campaign to obscure the public’s understanding of the recall’s political origin. 

"It was Mayor Thao and her political team’s belief that this operative’s paid involvement constituted tokenization by the recall’s financier, and Oakland voters had a right to understand this connection.

"I regret that my short-hand note-taking has been taken out of context on social media and  inadvertently harmed close friends, colleagues and members of my community who have been marginalized by our political system."

Other staffers reportedly fired include Brooklyn Williams, chief of education and community safety; Joe Genolio, policy director; and Mary Olsen, the mayor’s liaison.

Who is left?

What they're saying:

Deputy mayors Burt Jones and LaNiece Jones are the remaining staff under Jenkins along with an executive assistant and scheduler.

The top two candidates in the Oakland mayoral race, former Councilmember Loren Taylor and former Congresswoman Barbara Lee, both issued septate statements on the firings.

Lee said she supported Jenkins' actions.

"Everyone in public service — whether staff or elected — must uphold a high standard of ethics and integrity. Racism and anti-Blackness are unacceptable, and have no place in Oakland politics," Lee said. There is no justification for language that dehumanizes or marginalizes Black communities or any group of people. Similarly, threats of violence and discrimination have no place in public discourse. Oaklanders deserve an accountable, transparent government that can make our lives better."

Taylor applauded Jenkins fore firing Hanson. He also called out his opponent, Lee, who he said featured Hanson as an endorser and supporter.

"The revelations shine a light on some of the deeper issues inside City Hall–a culture of self-interested decision-making that reduces our presence to performance is exploitation," Taylor said. "I call on Former Congresswoman Barbara Lee—who publicly featured Leigh Hanson as an endorser and supporter—to explicitly condemn Hanson’s conduct instead of simply removing her from an endorsement page. The Black community deserves authentic inclusion and respect. As mayor, I will center Oakland’s diverse communities in every room, every policy, and every decision."