From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
The strange case of the 2022 Oakland mayor’s race
Oakland City Hall:
![250px-oakland_city_hall__oakland__ca__2.jpg](/uploads/2023/01/26/250px-oakland_city_hall__oakland__ca__2.jpg)
The strange case of the 2022 Oakland mayor’s race
By Lynda Carson - January 26, 2023
Oakland - Reportedly, on November 22, 2022, Loren Taylor concedes his loss in the Oakland mayor race to Sheng Thao, but denounces the rank choice voting system used in Oakland.
In a narrow victory, on December 8, 2022, former Council Member, Sheng Thao, was officially certified as the new mayor of Oakland, after winning by a narrow margin over former Council Member, Loren Taylor.
In the hotly contested race, oddly among the list of campaign contributors to Sheng Thao, the list included Loren Taylor, who apparently was betting against himself in the mayoral race, with a $100.00 campaign contribution to Sheng Thao. Go figure?
Other campaign contributors to Sheng Thao included the famed actress Jane Fonda with an $1,800.00 campaign contribution, former Council Member Nancy Nadel, some local tenants right’s attorney's and activists including Anne Omura of the Eviction Defense Center, and Marc Janowitz of the East Bay Community Law Center, plus plenty of union action, community organizers, and other campaign contributors.
Of note, the Nate Miley for supervisor campaign also made a $250.00 campaign contribution to Sheng Thao, in opposition to Loren Taylor.
Indeed, this was the same Nate Miley, president of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors who reportedly later voted along with Keith Carson and the other Alameda County Board of Supervisors, to have an election recount of the Oakland mayor’s race, and the District 4 School Board seat, after being pressured by the local Oakland NAACP to have an election recount.
Reportedly, the 1051 Oakland Branch NAACP is an organization https://oaklandnaacp.org/ under the parent exemption from the NAACP Empowerment Programs Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/national-association-for-the-advancement-of-colore,131084135/ , and reportedly, the Oakland Branch NAACP refused to pay the $21,000 costs per day for an election recount to occur.
In contrast to the local Oakland NAACP, an affiliate of NAACP Empowerment, and their refusal to pay for an election recount that they demanded, according to public records in 2020, after subtracting their liabilities from their assets, NAACP Empowerment Programs Inc., had net assets or a fund balance of $50,719,056.
Additionally, on January 5, 2023, Supervisor Keith Carson, who reportedly during March of 2021, had some of his own campaign problems that required him to pay a $4,000.00 fee or fine, sent a notice to the other Board of Supervisors in Alameda County, requesting an election recount for the Oakland mayor, and and the District 4 School Board seat.
This occurred after Sheng Thao has been certified as the new Oakland mayor. Now the voters of Oakland do not know how the strange case of the 2022 Oakland mayor’s race is going to affect the rank choice voting system used by Oakland voters for the past ten years, or the fate of Tim Dupuis, the Alameda County Registrar, who reportedly has screwed up a few times in recent years.
Apparently, the Alameda County Register of Voters office will get stuck with paying the costs of the recount since it is being requested by elected members of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, after they were facing pressure from the Oakland NAACP.
Indeed. When considering that Loren Taylor has already conceded to Sheng Thao that he lost his bid to be mayor of Oakland, and when considering that Sheng Thao has already been certified as the new mayor of Oakland, one has to wonder why an election recount is taking place that may result in a quagmire of court ruling shenanigans that may go against the will of the voters in Oakland who voted Sheng Thao into office as the mayor of Oakland.
Lynda Carson may be reached at newzland2 [at] gmail.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
By Lynda Carson - January 26, 2023
Oakland - Reportedly, on November 22, 2022, Loren Taylor concedes his loss in the Oakland mayor race to Sheng Thao, but denounces the rank choice voting system used in Oakland.
In a narrow victory, on December 8, 2022, former Council Member, Sheng Thao, was officially certified as the new mayor of Oakland, after winning by a narrow margin over former Council Member, Loren Taylor.
In the hotly contested race, oddly among the list of campaign contributors to Sheng Thao, the list included Loren Taylor, who apparently was betting against himself in the mayoral race, with a $100.00 campaign contribution to Sheng Thao. Go figure?
Other campaign contributors to Sheng Thao included the famed actress Jane Fonda with an $1,800.00 campaign contribution, former Council Member Nancy Nadel, some local tenants right’s attorney's and activists including Anne Omura of the Eviction Defense Center, and Marc Janowitz of the East Bay Community Law Center, plus plenty of union action, community organizers, and other campaign contributors.
Of note, the Nate Miley for supervisor campaign also made a $250.00 campaign contribution to Sheng Thao, in opposition to Loren Taylor.
Indeed, this was the same Nate Miley, president of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors who reportedly later voted along with Keith Carson and the other Alameda County Board of Supervisors, to have an election recount of the Oakland mayor’s race, and the District 4 School Board seat, after being pressured by the local Oakland NAACP to have an election recount.
Reportedly, the 1051 Oakland Branch NAACP is an organization https://oaklandnaacp.org/ under the parent exemption from the NAACP Empowerment Programs Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/national-association-for-the-advancement-of-colore,131084135/ , and reportedly, the Oakland Branch NAACP refused to pay the $21,000 costs per day for an election recount to occur.
In contrast to the local Oakland NAACP, an affiliate of NAACP Empowerment, and their refusal to pay for an election recount that they demanded, according to public records in 2020, after subtracting their liabilities from their assets, NAACP Empowerment Programs Inc., had net assets or a fund balance of $50,719,056.
Additionally, on January 5, 2023, Supervisor Keith Carson, who reportedly during March of 2021, had some of his own campaign problems that required him to pay a $4,000.00 fee or fine, sent a notice to the other Board of Supervisors in Alameda County, requesting an election recount for the Oakland mayor, and and the District 4 School Board seat.
This occurred after Sheng Thao has been certified as the new Oakland mayor. Now the voters of Oakland do not know how the strange case of the 2022 Oakland mayor’s race is going to affect the rank choice voting system used by Oakland voters for the past ten years, or the fate of Tim Dupuis, the Alameda County Registrar, who reportedly has screwed up a few times in recent years.
Apparently, the Alameda County Register of Voters office will get stuck with paying the costs of the recount since it is being requested by elected members of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, after they were facing pressure from the Oakland NAACP.
Indeed. When considering that Loren Taylor has already conceded to Sheng Thao that he lost his bid to be mayor of Oakland, and when considering that Sheng Thao has already been certified as the new mayor of Oakland, one has to wonder why an election recount is taking place that may result in a quagmire of court ruling shenanigans that may go against the will of the voters in Oakland who voted Sheng Thao into office as the mayor of Oakland.
Lynda Carson may be reached at newzland2 [at] gmail.com
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
Thao's campaign was backed by a record-breaking $1.5 million, most of it in five-figure contributions. Also, evidence suggests Thao received illegal money from "straw donors." ( http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/10/12/letters-1010/ ) Money can buy an election, even if by a tiny margin of less than 700 votes.
I disagree with the idea of a Recount of the Oakland Mayoral race would go against the voters wishes. The truth be told, it is the people of Oakland that want this recount. I voted for Loren Taylor and everyone that I know also voted for him. Sheng Thao does not have the experience to run a complex city like Oakland. Please refe to the Chief of Police situation that is going on right now. Thank you.
He was involved with his kids' PTA, then started sucking up to Libby Schaaf. He literally wrote her an email like 5 or 6 years ago asking what he could do to get involved in Oakland politics. He wanted to be appointed to a board or something. She backed him for the council instead. So, it's not like he has some kind of serious governing experience that Sheng Thao doesn't. A Taylor mayorship would have been the third Schaaf term, and fuck that. Bending over backwards for gentrifying developers, creating a bad deal that would tie up the city's finances for decades to benefit billionaire John Fisher, every last nickel funneled to a corrupt OPD while other city services face shortfalls, endless homeless sweeps without any serious commitment to permanent housing, and on and on.
In his last year as a councilmember, he got Nancy Skinner to give $8M to his friends' business, a business he was listed as being a founder of on its webpage. From the looks of it, it's not much of a business. They do seminars on how to start a business, and never had a real budget. Barely even a start-up. The money was supposed to go through the city council, but the council voted to give half of the money to this "company" of two or three of Taylor's friends up front, get some reporting back on how it was going, that everything was on the up and up, before the other half was dispersed. Not wanting to be accountable in the least, Taylor somehow got Skinner to cut the council out and give the money directly to his pals. It's a private for-profit corporation, so now it's accountable to absolutely no one. Eight million fucking dollars of taxpayer money.
Oh, and, shortly before he declared his intention to run for mayor, Taylor got his brother to create a wikipedia page for him that reads more like a campaign press release. That's a big no-no. Funny thing is, he got caught and now his page will be forever labelled an "autobiography." Dude is a fraud, and not even close to as skilled a political actor as his evil mentor Libby Schaaf.
In his last year as a councilmember, he got Nancy Skinner to give $8M to his friends' business, a business he was listed as being a founder of on its webpage. From the looks of it, it's not much of a business. They do seminars on how to start a business, and never had a real budget. Barely even a start-up. The money was supposed to go through the city council, but the council voted to give half of the money to this "company" of two or three of Taylor's friends up front, get some reporting back on how it was going, that everything was on the up and up, before the other half was dispersed. Not wanting to be accountable in the least, Taylor somehow got Skinner to cut the council out and give the money directly to his pals. It's a private for-profit corporation, so now it's accountable to absolutely no one. Eight million fucking dollars of taxpayer money.
Oh, and, shortly before he declared his intention to run for mayor, Taylor got his brother to create a wikipedia page for him that reads more like a campaign press release. That's a big no-no. Funny thing is, he got caught and now his page will be forever labelled an "autobiography." Dude is a fraud, and not even close to as skilled a political actor as his evil mentor Libby Schaaf.
For the record.
I did not post a comment earlier in support of Loren Taylor that has my name on it.
Someone else did that, and posted my name.
I am not a supporter of Loren Taylor, and am glad that he lost the election to Sheng Thao.
Sincerely,
-Lynda Carson
>>>>>>>
I did not post a comment earlier in support of Loren Taylor that has my name on it.
Someone else did that, and posted my name.
I am not a supporter of Loren Taylor, and am glad that he lost the election to Sheng Thao.
Sincerely,
-Lynda Carson
>>>>>>>
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network