Youth press Mayor Thao about jobs, housing, policing, saying city has ignored concerns of young people

At a youth town hall meeting Tuesday, Mayor Sheng Thao said she was interested in how the government can better support young people and the importance of transitional housing for 18-year-olds as they become adults.

She also said that the FBI raid on her house was an attempt to stop her from creating meaningful change in Oakland. 

“I know I did nothing wrong, so I’m not even tripping,” Thao said.

The mayor faces a recall on Election Day after less than two years on the job. She has urged voters to let her finish out her term. On June 20, the FBI raided Thao’s home and three properties connected to the Duong family, who control the city’s recycling contract. The FBI has not released any information about the investigation. Five years ago, the Public Ethics Commission investigated allegations that the Duongs had used straw donors to contribute to preferred candidates, and the investigation is ongoing.

The 20 or so people at Youth Power Zone were interested in issues more relevant to young people. The meeting was organized by the youth advocacy group LoveLife Foundation to bring youth leaders and the mayor together for a discussion about how to create a better Oakland.

Police and profiling

Jahkai Fowler, 17, advocated for an increase in after-school activities and for more employment opportunities for youth. He’d like more mental health resources for minors and for city police to develop better relationships with community members, particularly with young men. 

“We want police to get to know the communities they’re patrolling, and to get out of the car and actually talk to the people and the minors on the street,” Fowler said. 

Thao said she is still “trying to figure out how we can get our beat officers — the ones you see driving around in your neighborhood —  to build stronger community relationships.”

Surijhyah Farr, 17, said she would like to see a program where professionals meet with high school seniors to discuss potential job opportunities. She’d also like for the Oakland Police Department to undergo more sensitivity training around racial profiling. She feels the current training doesn’t do enough to prevent it.

“There’s been a lot of African Americans dying at the hands of police when they aren’t even doing anything wrong,” Farr said. 

Amina Day, 18, echoed Farr’s suggestion that the city could do more to help students find jobs and internships. She also advocated for fixing potholes and helping youth find housing.

“The government is not giving people the resources that they need to acclimate into society,” Day said, adding that there are not enough jobs or housing units to get people off the streets. 

Day said the city doesn’t listen when youths express concerns. She said Thao hasn’t kept promises she made on the campaign trail about creating more violence prevention programs, getting guns off the streets and creating more jobs. She said she doesn’t trust that Thao is leading honestly.

Day also said she cares about public safety and worries about her younger family members in Oakland. 

“I have a nephew that’s going to be growing up in these streets and family that’s going to grow up here after me,” Day said. 

Community resources

Thao said the city has neighborhood councils, community resource officers, and neighborhood service coordinators who should be working with the community to create a safer environment. 

When the mayor asked the crowd if they knew where their neighborhood councils meets, no hands were raised. 

“That’s a big problem,” she said. “That means that the city isn’t doing our job to promote the neighborhood councils good enough. I’m going to go back, and make sure that is being implemented.”

After the event, Day and Farr said their hope is for the mayor to follow through on the promises she made to Oakland youth about improving the city.

“I don’t feel like it’s pointless to have these kinds of meetings and to say the things that we need,” Day said. “But I feel like sometimes the things we say fall on deaf ears.”

(Photo: Mayor Sheng Thao at the town hall, with (from left) Jahkai Fowler, LoveLife Foundation founder Donald Lacy, Surijhyah Farr and Amina Day, by Fiona Ulrich)

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