Mayoral candidates discuss public safety and city finances at forum

The four candidates for Oakland mayor talked about the city budget, economic revitalization and other issues at a voter forum Saturday at City Hall, but the discussion kept returning to public safety. 

Around 40 people attended the forum, which was organized with the League of Women Voters of Oakland. First-term Mayor Barbara Lee will face challengers Brenda Grisham, a business owner and longtime community advocate; Mindy Pechenuk, an educator and researcher; and Julius Robinson, a community investment executive, in the Nov. 3 election. 

Lee said that while crime is down, there is more to do to make the city safer. She pointed to Measure NN, a parcel tax approved by voters in 2024 that raises $47 million a year for police, fire, 911 dispatch and violence prevention programs, and requires the city to maintain a minimum number of police officers.

“I want to make sure that we continue our efforts to recruit more police officers, to get to the 700 mandated by Measure NN,” she said. 

Robinson called public safety “the bedrock of all economic development,” adding, “Visitors to the city need to be comfortable at night walking from restaurant to restaurant.” 

Pechenuk identified public safety and addressing drug activity as key priorities, saying drugs have been an obstacle to revitalizing East Oakland. 

“We have to go after the open-air markets so that we stop the drug flows through the streets of Oakland,” Pechenuk said. 

The candidates also focused on managing the city’s finances, including how to create a sustainable fiscal base and address Oakland’s deficit. 

Grisham said the city should seek funding from philanthropic organizations, and state and federal agencies to help close its budget gap, rather than rely on additional taxes on residents.

“We cannot continue to tax our people,” Grisham said. “That’s unfair.”

Robinson also opposes additional taxes but argued that outside grants and philanthropy are not sustainable solutions. He called for reducing waste in city government while attracting businesses, visitors and investment that could generate long-term revenue. 

Pechenuk pointed out businesses, such and In-N-Out Burger, and sports teams that have left Oakland and said the way to offset those losses is by attracting new businesses, data centers and manufacturers, along with speeding up the permitting process.

Lee emphasized the need to address the city’s structural deficit, so Oakland isn’t in a budget crisis year after year. The city has a long history of deficit spending brought about by, among other things, run-away overtime in the Police Department. This year, the city closed its budget gap with revenue from the sale of the Coliseum. Lee boiled down the solution in a few words: 

“We don’t spend what we don’t have,” she said. 

Lee has been mayor since May 2025, winning in a special election after former Mayor Sheng Thao was indicted on federal corruption charges. She pointed to her administration’s balanced budget without layoffs and the sale of $337 million in bonds for infrastructure, housing and transportation as examples of her efforts to stabilize the city’s finances.

After the forum, resident Scott Figgins said he is looking for a mayor who would make the city administration more responsive to the community. It might seem silly to be concerned about things like potholes he said. “But I think things like that are symptomatic of a city government that is neglecting to deal with really just some of the basics of administration.”

Resident Evan Morganstein found the forum useful. “There really is a difference when you listen to them speak and you think about what they say and look at their resumes,” he said. 

(Photo illustration of Barbara Lee (top left), Mindy Pechenuk, Julius Robinson and Brenda Grisham, by Yuan-Hsi Chou)

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