3 days Ago By Shomik Mukherjee
OAKLAND — There was already plenty of cause for stress at City Hall before a in Oakland last week cast a shadow over Mayor Sheng Thao and the flow of political money in the Bay Area. For months, Oakland has been — a projected $155 million budget shortfall, largely due to tax revenue that has fallen well short of expectations — and the deadline to is fast approaching. By the end of this week, the Oakland City Council must pass the mayor’s proposal to close the revenue gap, as well as fix a structural deficit expected next year.
But the mysterious FBI raids on Thao’s family home and three other addresses with ties to the politically influential Duong family — which has a city contract to provide recycling services and donates widely to California politicians — has presented City Hall with a major distraction. Thao has given no other public statements since the raids besides a fierce declaration on Monday of her innocence. Her absence from public view has led critics around town to wonder who’s been running City Hall, though observers say there’s little reason to worry.
“Everyone’s all freaked out about ‘What’s going to happen to the city? The mayor is missing!’ ” said Dan Lindheim, the former city administrator and now a professor of public policy at UC Berkeley. “The reality is, nothing is going to happen. The mayor isn’t involved in daily operations.
That’s the city administrator’s job.” The City Council is responsible for reviewing and.
