The Mayor
25-year congresswoman · Won special election after Thao recall · Took office 2025
Barbara Lee represented Oakland and the East Bay in the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 25 years (1998–2024). A UC Berkeley graduate with deep roots in the civil rights movement, she began her political career as a staffer for Congressman Ron Dellums and went on to serve in the California State Assembly and State Senate before winning her congressional seat.
In Congress, Lee became one of the most recognizable progressive voices in the country — championing poverty reduction, HIV/AIDS funding, and diplomatic alternatives to military intervention.
On September 14, 2001, Barbara Lee cast the only vote in either chamber of Congress against the Authorization for Use of Military Force — the resolution that became the legal basis for the war in Afghanistan and, through expansive interpretation, two decades of U.S. military operations worldwide.
The vote was 420–1 in the House, 98–0 in the Senate. Lee argued the resolution was a blank check that would lead to open-ended war without congressional oversight. She received death threats and was widely condemned at the time, but the vote is now regarded as one of the most consequential single votes in modern congressional history.
In November 2024, Oakland voters recalled Mayor Sheng Thao amid public frustration over rising crime and fiscal mismanagement. The recall triggered a special election in April 2025, which Lee won decisively.
She took office in May 2025, becoming mayor of the city she had represented in Congress for a quarter century. The transition from federal legislator to local executive was unusual — she went from voting on national policy to managing potholes, police staffing, and a severe budget crisis.
Crime has been dropping under Lee’s administration, continuing a trend that began in late 2024:
The question is how much of this is policy versus broader national trends — but the numbers are moving in the right direction.
Lee proposed a “back to basics” $4.2 billion budget designed to close a $265 million structural deficit over two budget cycles. The approach prioritizes core services — police, fire, streets, sanitation — while trimming discretionary programs and avoiding mass layoffs.
She declared “extreme fiscal necessity” to coordinate union negotiations under a unified framework, arguing that the city cannot afford business-as-usual labor agreements given the scale of the deficit.
Lee inherited a $265 million structural deficit — the gap between recurring revenue and recurring expenditures. The deficit accumulated over multiple administrations and reflects years of deferred maintenance, rising pension costs, and overreliance on one-time revenue sources.
The administration has partially closed the gap through one-time cuts and spending deferrals, but the structural problem persists. Without new recurring revenue, the city faces annual shortfalls that will require ongoing service reductions.
Federal funding to Oakland has been cut approximately 34%, eliminating roughly $25 million from the city’s budget. The cuts affect housing programs, community development, public health, and transportation infrastructure.
For a city already running a structural deficit, the federal pullback compounds an already difficult fiscal picture and forces harder tradeoffs between competing priorities.
In June 2026, Measure E — a parcel tax that would have generated $34 million per year in recurring revenue — failed at the ballot. The measure was designed to help close the structural deficit and fund core services.
Its failure leaves a major recurring revenue gap with no obvious replacement. The administration must now find alternative paths to balance the budget, likely through deeper service cuts, deferred capital projects, or future ballot measures.
A strong-mayor charter reform measure will appear on the November 2026 ballot. If approved, it would fundamentally reshape Oakland’s government:
Currently, Oakland’s mayor cannot vote on the Council, cannot veto legislation, and shares administrative power with an unelected City Administrator. The reform would consolidate executive authority in the mayor’s office.
On June 16, 2026, the City Council voted to place the charter reform measure on the November ballot. The vote was 4–4, with Mayor Lee casting the tie-breaking vote to advance it.
Supporters: Jenkins (D6), Wang (D2), Fife (D5), Brown (At-Large)
Opponents: Unger (D1), Ramachandran (D4), Gallo (D3), Houston (D7)
The split reflects a broader divide in Oakland politics between those who believe the city needs a more decisive executive to address its crises, and those who worry about concentrating too much power in one office.
Oakland’s current system splits power between the Mayor, an unelected City Administrator, and the City Council. The mayor proposes the budget, hires and fires the City Administrator and Police Chief, and sets citywide priorities — but cannot vote on the Council, cannot veto Council decisions, and cannot pass a budget alone. Charter reform would change that calculus significantly.
Oakland’s City Council has 8 members elected by district plus one at-large member (Rowena Brown). The council writes the laws and approves the budget. The mayor runs the administration but does not vote on council matters.
The dynamic creates a push-pull relationship: the mayor proposes, the council disposes. When they align, things move fast. When they disagree — as with charter reform — the result is 4–4 deadlocks and political negotiation.
The 4–4 council vote on placing the strong-mayor measure on the November ballot reveals the current fault lines. Supporters (Jenkins, Wang, Fife, Brown) generally align with the mayor on executive authority and fiscal discipline. Opponents (Unger, Ramachandran, Gallo, Houston) raise concerns about power concentration and council oversight. The mayor’s tie-breaking vote made the difference.
Last updated June 30, 2026 · Sources: city records, Oaklandside, KQED, KTVU, SF Chronicle, Ballotpedia