OAKLAND – Mayor Libby Schaaf has less than two weeks left in office, the time she says will not be spent on anything other than serving the city’s highest political office.
In her latest press conference on Wednesday, Schaaf dropped some hints about her next big career move after two consecutive terms as mayor, one as councilman and years of work at Oakland City Hall and the city’s port.
“I’m really focused on being the mayor of Oakland, 1000%, to the last second,” Schaaf said. “I’m going to decide next year what I’m going to do with my career.”
The mayor was in her comfort zone on Wednesday, celebrating new education partnerships paid for by a package tax that she and other city officials won a three-year legal battle after 62% of voters approved in 2018.
The $198-a-year tax on single-family home packages will last three decades, with nonprofits First 5 Alameda County and Oakland Promise collectively paying $34.5 million to boost access to preschool for children in low-income families and helping them on their way to university as part of a cradle-to-career journey.
The tax was challenged in court by property owners who believed two-thirds of voters should pass the tax before an appeals court ruled last winter that state precedent allowed for the policy by a simple majority.
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 21: Mayor Libby Schaaf of Oakland, left, interacts with guests after her final press conference as mayor on Wednesday, December 21, 2022 in Oakland, California (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
It’s another political step toward Schaaf’s education policy goals after she completed a fundraising effort of $50 million in donations for a separate Oakland Generation Fund earlier this year.
The mayor, known for tracking down money – both through philanthropy and tax initiatives – to support her policy goals, suggested the education sector could be part of her future plans.
“You can tell I have a passion for this work, so don’t be surprised if I find a way to stay involved in supporting cradle-to-career initiatives in Oakland and potentially other communities,” she said.
Schaaf leaves his office at an uncertain time for Oakland. The pandemic seemed to make everything from violent crime to the health of local businesses worse, and a looming economic recession threatens to further exacerbate the city’s persistent homelessness problem.
And one of Schaaf’s favorite projects to promote — Oakland A’s new waterfront baseball field and a major housing development near Jack London Square — is on the line, while the team’s future is still teetering as she leaves her office.
Then the Commissioner of Major League Baseball suggested in October that the A’s time in Oakland was likely limitedSchaaf barged in to smooth things over and shortly afterwards assured the public that a deal was on track.
On Wednesday, Schaaf said she is “very confident” that Mayor-elect Sheng Thao can reach an agreement with the team, distancing herself from the idea that she will remain involved in the negotiations if she leaves the mayor’s pulpit. .
“I’d like to think I leave them with the bases loaded,” Schaaf said of the A’s and the new mayor, who will be sworn in the first week of January. “We’ve come a long way, (and) we’ve worked out great aspects of what is a complicated deal.”
Schaaf did not support Thao, a union-backed critic of the mayor, instead designating now-outgoing Councilman Loren Taylor as her preferred successor. Still, after Wednesday’s press conference, she said she was happy that Thao plans to keep all the furniture the mayor bought for the office.
When Taylor, after losing to Thao in the Nov. 8 election, attacked the city’s voting system as playing a role in his defeat, his criticism didn’t gain much sympathy from the outgoing mayor, who said the two had solved the problem.
“Everyone criticizes the process when they lose,” she said.