Oakland California’s Democratic Mayor Sheng Thao is under fire… again.
Her home was recently raided by the FBI as part of an on-going corruption scandal. And she was recently linked to a karaoke-bar-turned-brothel that allegedly funnelled thousands of dollars into her campaign.
Now with a spike in violent crime hitting Oakland, police leadership is calling on Thao to step down… immediately!
As first reported by Fox News, a police union representing officers in Oakland is calling for Thao to resign “immediately,” citing a lack of resources for police to respond to reports of criminal activity.
Oakland Police Officer’s Association president Huy Nguyen told local affiliate KTVU during a news conference on Tuesday the union is asking Thao to resign as mayor “immediately for a lot of the failures in this city, going from crime, the budget crisis, the distraction of the FBI raid that prevents our ability to function as a city.”
“Every day, our citizens feel the tragedies. That they cannot exit their own home or walk to the streets of Oakland, calling 911 and not getting the services they need,” Nguyen continued.
Nguyen continued saying officers are unable to respond to every emergency call or that they have slower response times because the police department is understaffed.
Thao released a video statement yesterday in response to Nguyen’s comments, in which she said crime in Oakland has declined.
“It’s unfortunate that the POA is obviously playing politics,” Thao said. “Right now, during this very sensitive time, we need to come together. We see that what we are working on in terms of the comprehensive approach for public safety is working.”
The mayor emphasized that Thao’s budget prioritized public safety, funded new police academies and saved 80 police jobs, but the police union said that is not sufficient.
“This is a time to invest more in the city, hire more police officers, retain the police officers and fix the crime issue. And going forward, that’s what we’d like to see from the next mayor,” Oakland POA vice president Tim Dolan said.
Thao’s statement comes in light of an uptick in crime in the Oakland area, including a shooting on Sunday at a sideshow near Fruitvale Ave. and MacArthur Blvd. that left five people wounded and a separate shooting on Monday in West Oakland hospitalized two teenagers and one adult.
Per the Fox News report, a organized recall effort to remove Thao from office is underway, although the police union said she should go ahead and step down to save the time and resources the recall would require.
“If she resigns by this week, the election will take place in November, versus waiting through the recall,” Nguyen said. “Then it will happen in April and the process drags out longer when we need to work into the new budget immediately.”