Oakland's mayor appears to be piloting a major turnaround for the city that experienced soaring crime rates under her predecessor, who was recalled by voters shortly before being indicted by the FBI on corruption charges.

Mayor Barbara Lee was sworn into office on May 20, 2025, after she won a special election to complete the term of former Mayor Sheng Thao, who had assumed the role in 2023. 

During a November 2024 recall election, Thao was kicked out of office alongside the city's district attorney, Pamela Price, by a whopping 65 percent of Oakland voters who had enough of the city spiraling into a dystopian, crime-ridden nightmare.

Just a few months after the recall, Thao was indicted by the FBI for allegedly funneling city contracts to two businessmen in exchange for money and benefits for herself and her boyfriend.

The former mayor is facing bribery, conspiracy and mail and wire fraud charges and could spend the rest of her life in prison if convicted. She has pleaded not guilty. 

Lee, Oakland's new mayor, has plowed forward despite the chaos that previously engulfed her office. During her State of the City address on Tuesday, the mayor highlighted statistics that show a major drop in crime. 

'Burglaries fell 26 percent, violent crime fell 17 percent,' Lee said during her speech in Oakland City Hall after thanking the city's police chief for attending.  

'For three decades, homicides and shootings have fallen by double digits, and gun violence has dropped by more than 50 percent in the last 33 months,' she added. 

The mayor also emphasized that she plans to continue making Oakland safer and to amplify law enforcement efforts. 

'We must do more to make sure that everyone is safe, and yes, feels safe,' Lee said. 'Safe in your home, safe walking down your streets, safe going to work, safe sending your children to school.' 

The mayor then touted the end of federal oversight for the Oakland Police Department, which was achieved under her less than year-and-a-half-long tenure for the first time in 23 years.

'When I first appeared before the federal court as mayor, I said I wanted Oakland to complete the 51 tasks required by federal oversight under my watch, and we did,' Lee said.

The mayor's speech indicates a stark turnaround for Oakland, which under the watch of Lee's predecessor and former District Attorney Price, experienced a 21 percent surge in crime across the board. 

More specifically, Price oversaw a 38 percent increase in robberies and a 45 percent surge in vehicle thefts. 

The city of around 441,000 people had 15,000 cars stolen in 2023, meaning roughly one in every 30 of its residents had their car stolen.

The figure also comes out to around 41 vehicle thefts per day, or about 1.7 per hour.

Additionally, when Price was the District Attorney, career prosecutors resigned, citing misconduct, retaliation, political interference and a refusal to prosecute violent and repeat offenders. 

Thao was also criticized for the way she handled crime. Law enforcement advocates accused her of defunding the police and blasted her for missing out on millions from a retail theft grant from the state after she missed a deadline. 

The former mayor was also slammed for firing popular Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong because he allegedly mishandled two police misconduct cases. An arbitrator later cleared him of wrongdoing.

Thao was the first mayor to be recalled in Oakland in more than 100 years, and Price was the first district attorney to be recalled in Alameda County's history. 

The FBI indictment against Thao also named her live-in boyfriend Andre Jones and two local businessmen, Andy and David Duong.

Federal prosecutors allege that Thao agreed that the city would purchase housing units from one of the Duongs' companies and renew the city's contract with a recycling company owned by David Duong. 

In exchange, David Duong and his son Andy are alleged to have promised to fund a $75,000 negative mailer campaign during the run-up to the 2022 election. 

They are also accused of a plan to funnel $95,000 in payments disguised as wages for a job that Jones did not need to show up for.

Jones is described in the indictment as Thao's 'longtime romantic partner' and is said to have lived with Thao in Oakland. The pair are alleged to have received various kickbacks from the Duongs.