Sheng's sinking ship

Thao creates legal defense fund, hires new comms guy. Devastating poll shows support for recalling Thao is high; Alameda County supes again take on sheriff's oversight and just cause, but will they?

Bing Image Creator: “Boat sinking in Oakland Lake Merritt.”

CITY NEWS

OAKLAND

—LEGAL DEFENSE—Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao insists she was not the focus of the FBI raid last month at the home she shares with her partner.

—Just to be safe, Thao created a committee on Monday to raise money for her legal defense fund.

—The committee is simply named the “Sheng Thao Legal Defense Fund.” A brief description of its activities: “FBI investigation.” Thao is listed as the committee’s treasurer.

—There are indications that labor, which fully backed Thao’s campaign for mayor, will not provide anywhere near the same support to fight the recall this fall.

—A legal defense fund, however, provides labor with a conduit for at least helping Thao limit her exposure to potential legal problems that arise from the FBI’s investigation.

—TEMP JOB—Since the FBI raids in Oakland on June 20, Mayor Sheng Thao has laid low. But recently, Thao’s been slowly reappearing around town. In addition, her social media activity has picked up, although with few mentions to the dark cloud hovering over her administration.

—Thao made another move on the communications front with the hiring of Casey Pratt, the ABC7 producer who became the high-profile and go-to source on the A’s stadium saga.

—Pratt’s jump into Oakland politics is a precarious move. Even if Pratt could conjure up on daily basis a magnificent mixture of Dave Stewart’s split-finger fastball and Sam Singer’s deft touch, there’s very little indication that Thao gets out of this predicament.

—In addition, the current state of affairs in Oakland comes without knowing what exactly the FBI is investigating and whether indictments are coming.

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MORE INSIDE:

• CITY NEWS: New poll is disastrous news for Thao’s chance to avoid recall

• Alameda shies away from charter amendment measure

• COUNTY NEWS: Sheriff has some issues with oversight ordinance

• Sheriff’s oversight returns to the board, along with just cause. But will they?

• ELECTION 2024: Who pulled papers to run in November?