Timeline: Oakland will see 4 mayors over next 4 months

OAKLAND, Calif. - In preparation for the Alameda County Registrar to certify the Nov. 5 election results on Thursday, Oakland Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas laid out the timeline for who will be mayor in the wake of a recall and her own move to the board of supervisors. 

Bottom line: Oakland will see four mayors over the next four months. 

"I want to say it has been my tremendous pleasure and honor to serve as council president as well as serve as District 2 council member," Bas said at a Wednesday news conference at Oakland City Hall. 

Thao will serve as mayor until Dec. 17

Because Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao was recalled and Bas will be leaving the city council to become an Alameda County supervisor, Bas said she will submit a letter of resignation on Dec. 17, effective Jan. 6, when she takes on her new county role. Thao remains mayor until Dec. 17. 

Jan. 6 is also when three new city councilmembers will be sworn in. 

Until then, Bas said she would be the interim mayor, and Councilman Dan Kalb will serve as council president. 

But both of these roles will be for just a short time. 

Not only is Bas leaving for the county, Kalb is stepping down after he ran and lost to former Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, who is now a state senator. 

Bas will serve until Jan. 6

So, because both Bas and Kalb are leaving, the council on Jan. 6 will also select its next council president and president pro tempore. 

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New city council president will serve as interim mayor

That council president will become the interim mayor. 

Dec. 17 is also the date when the city council will declare the office of the mayor and District 2 vacant. 

Bas said a special election must be held within 120 days of those vacancies, which would be on April 15. 

That person will keep the job as mayor until Jan. 4, 2027. 

Special election on April 15

On that day, Oaklanders will elect a new mayor – the third since Thao. 

Bas said she's going to recommend that a special election be held for both the mayor and her old District 2 seat on the same day to save money. 

Under this scenario, there will be seven councilmembers with one vacancy – hers, in District 2. 

The councilmembers, by majority vote, could appoint a person to serve in that role until the special election so that there will be eight councilmembers, she said. 

"I do want to say very clearly that my office and I are committed to ensure District 2 residents are represented and served on the city Council during this time of transition," Bas said. 

She would not state who her recommendation is to fill her seat; she said she'd share more on Dec. 17. 

When the recall against her was in full swing, Thao told KTVU in a September interview, that the entire process to fill her seat would be complicated. 

"So that's four mayors in two years," Thao said at the time. "I mean, talk about instability."

Thao added that any time a new mayor comes in, they bring their own executive team, who need time to learn the ropes and get established.

"That would be so much turnover," she said, "when we are already headed on the right track."

With so much instability and Oakland bracing for budget shortfalls, Bas said she wanted the public to know that she and her colleagues are focused on "stable and strong leadership." 

The candidate filing period would run from Dec. 23 to Jan. 17.

Bas acknowledged that Oakland faces challenges. 

But she vowed to stay committed to seeing these challenges through. 

"We love the city deeply," she said. "We believe in the city. We will fight for the city. And so we are working to ensure that our leadership is strong, that we, again, are singularly focused on the issues before us, and those issues are making sure that we address both our current budget and our two-year budget and the structural issues that have led to the projected deficit that we are working to address."