(KRON) — The union representing Oakland police officers sent an open letter Tuesday demanding that Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao resign “immediately.” The letter was addressed to Thao and signed by Oakland Police Officers Association President Huy T. Nguyen, Vice President Timothy Dolan, Treasurer Timothy DeLaVega, and Secretary Glen Hara.
“On behalf of the police officers of the City of Oakland, we urge you to resign immediately as Mayor of Oakland,” the letter read.
The OPOA said its four-member executive board voted unanimously on Monday to seek the mayor’s resignation. The union cited the mayor’s policies and those of “the council majority” as continuing to “whittle away at police officers’ ability to protect Oakland from violent crimes, murders, shootings, carjackings, burglaries, robberies, sideshows, and the mayhem that Oakland experiences daily.”
Mayor Thao has been under fire from what people see as an unchecked rise in crime in the East Bay City. Thao, along with Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, is the subject of a recall effort. The mayor was also targeted in an FBI operation in June during which the home she shares with her boyfriend was raided by agents who carted out several boxes and bags of evidence.
In addition to Oakland’s crime rate, the OPOA cited the raid as another reason behind demanding Thao resign.
“The FBI raid of your home and your campaign supporters was a turning point,” the union said. “We believe everyone is innocent until proven guilty. However, your credibility has been irreversibly impacted by your decision to go into hiding and not address the pubic for nearly a week after the raid. When you did provide public comments, none of them rang true.”
Former Oakland city councilmember Loren Taylor supports the call for immediate resignation, he said Tuesday. Thao narrowly defeated Taylor in Oakland’s last mayoral election.
In her first public comments following the raid, Thao claimed the recall effort was being bankrolled by “billionaires,” a claim that later proved to be at least partially true.
Early in her administration, Thao controversially fired former Oakland Police Department Chief LeRonne Armstrong. Armstrong’s successor, Floyd Mitchell, took office more than a year later, which the OPA also mentioned in their letter.
The timing of the OPOA’s letter comes immediately on the heels of the mayor and the City of Oakland agreeing a deal with the African American Sports and Entertainment Group to sell their half of the Oakland Coliseum. This week, the Oakland Athletics ownership, which owns the other 50 percent stake in the property, also agreed to sell their half to the AASEG.
The OPOA characterized the sale as “likely to be a failure” and accused the mayor of selling at a loss.
KRON4 spoke to Mayor Thao who said she is not going to resign.
