Janani is Oakland's new shot-caller

Mayor, council president followed Ramachandran's lead on pay increase; San Leandro begins rent control discussions; How might DA Price fund her campaign to fight off a recall?

Oakland Councilmember Janani Ramachandran at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

CITY NEWS

OAKLAND

—ITSY BITSY RAISE—On the morning of an Oakland City Council vote on Tuesday to give Mayor Sheng Thao a whopping $75,000 raise after just six months in office, Thao said she would only accept the lowest possible rate, a $13,000 increase, which amounts to $216,202 a year salary.

—And that’s what Thao is getting after the Oakland City Council voted, 6-2, on Tuesday evening to approve the smaller pay increase. Councilmember Noel Gallo and Treva Reid voted no.

—The council also directed staff to study a possible Charter amendment for voters to decide in November 2024 that would give power to increase the mayor’s pay to the city’s Public Ethics Commission.

—OWNAGE—Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao acquiescing to a smaller pay increase is a big victory for first-year Councilmember Janani Ramachandran.

—Last week, during a Finance Committee meeting, Ramachandran was the only voice in opposition of Thao’s recommended $75,000 increase.

—In principle, Ramachandran was not against a raise for the mayor, she said, but instead advocated strongly for the lowest possible amount in light of the city’s struggling economy..

—Fast forward one week and that’s exactly the plan the City Council approved last night.

—When Ramachandran reiterated her concerns about giving the mayor a large pay increase on Tuesday evening she enjoyed a hearty round of applause from those attending the council meeting.

—Tuesday’s discussion also put Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas on the defensive. At last week’s Finance Committee meeting, Bas provided full-throated support for giving Thao the largest possible pay increase under the City Charter.

—Ramachandran outmaneuvering her more seasoned council colleagues appeared to upset Councilmember Carroll Fife, in particular, who attempted to take credit for a motion that was lower than the number Ramachandran offered last week.

—The two repeatedly sparred over where a potential Charter amendment should reside. Fife wanted the Public Ethics Commission to handle it. Ramachandran wanted city staff to study a more upended question of who might determine a mayor’s pay raise.

—On a city council that has long been atrophied by the loudest and most reactionary councilmembers, Ramachandran appears to have figured out quite quickly that an Oakland elected official can be a progressive at the same time threading the needle to actually get tangible results.

MORE INSIDE:

• CITY NEWS: San Leandro begins rent control discussion

• Holy shirt! The matching t-shirt donned by ‘Dro mayor and councilmember

• Fremont mayor attends CasteCon event created to diminish Wahab

• DA RECALL: Labeling recall opponents as right-wingers is part of the playbook

• How might DA Price fund her campaign against a recall