FBI Raids The Home Of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao

OAKLAND, CA —The FBI raided the home of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao Thursday morning.

FBI agents could be seen leaving the mayor's home at 80 Maiden Lane around 10 a.m. after loading boxes into multiple vehicles. Agents arrived at 6 a.m., according to neighbors.

FBI spokesperson Cameron Polan said, "The FBI is conducting court authorized law enforcement activity on Maiden Lane. We are unable to provide additional information at this time."

The Bay Area News Group reports that the FBI also raided a home on Viewcrest Court, which public records show is the residence of Andy Duong, whose family runs California Waste Solutions.

Councilmember Carroll Fife said in an interview, “I don’t want to get sidetracked by something sensational that none of us have any control over. My goal is to be the leadership needed in the city and continue to move Oakland forward.”

Thao and the mayor's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the raid.

Meanwhile, organizers of the effort to recall Thao say they have enough valid signatures to place her ouster on the November ballot and are calling on her to resign.

Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao leaders said they received a notice from the city Tuesday that a sampling of the 40,595 signatures they turned in shows enough are valid to place the recall on a ballot.

At a news conference on the steps of Oakland City Hall Wednesday morning, recall supporters reiterated their reasons for wanting her removed from office and said Thao should resign since the number of signatures on the petition exceeds the number of votes she received — 39,909 — in the first round of the ranked choice election that she won in November of 2022.

Thao won with 50.3 percent of the vote after nine rounds of counting, outlasting her nearest opponent, Loren Taylor, who ended up with 49.7 percent.

"My message to the mayor is this, the people have spoken, more people signed these petitions than voted for you as the first choice," OUST president Brenda Harbin-Forte said. "Do the right thing by Oaklanders, please, Mayor Sheng Thao, resign now."

Supporters say the recall is justified for a litany of reasons, including the city's financial struggles, the way Thao fired former police chief LeRonne Armstrong, the Oakland A's departure to Sacramento, and her administration's mishandling of a state crime grant application that cost the city $15 million in lost funding.

They also say Thao is trying to close a $177 million budget gap this year by, in part, using the proceeds from the sale of the city's 50 percent stake in the Oakland Coliseum and diverting funds from past ballot initiatives that are supposed to be earmarked for specific purposes — neither of which addresses the city's structural financial problems.

"She is not balancing the budget, she is stealing from the public," said Chris Moore, who is also a leader in the effort to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.

In an emailed statement regarding the recall, Thao's office said she has made significant investments in East and West Oakland and that promoting economic development is one key to solving the city's challenges.

"Oakland, like many big cities and even the state of California, faces difficult post pandemic budget challenges. Despite that, Mayor Thao has navigated the city to a fiscally responsible balanced budget without cuts to current services or laying off city workers who deliver everyday, essential services," according to Thao's office. "Without this work everything from libraries to senior centers to public safety would have faced deep cuts."

OUST members also cite crime as a motivation for removing Thao, although Oakland Police Department year-to-date data shows crime is down 34 percent compared to last year.

OUST says the Oakland City Council is now required to set an election date, a discussion of which the group said is scheduled for a July 2 meeting.

"That should be just a matter of an administrative decision and action to be made, and we expect the City Council to respect the will of the more than 40,000 people who signed those petitions, so our next step is to get in mode for the election," Harbin-Forte said.

Bay City News and the Bay Area News Group contributed to this article