Oakland mayor’s chief of staff fired after handwritten note is revealed in public records

Leigh Hanson, a high-ranking official from the city corridor of Oakland, was dismissed yesterday after media stories about handwritten notes that she had made in a gathering final 12 months that contained a reference to black folks that led indignation of many quarters.

Hanson was the Chief of Employees of Sheng Thao and continued to work for councilor Kevin Jenkins when he was elevated to the function of Interim Mayor after the recall of Thao. The notes, written throughout a gathering of 4 March 2024 by Thao supporters, had been a tough blueprint of how to battle in opposition to the recall that Thao was confronted with. One notation of 4 phrases mentioned: “Use BP as tokens” or use black individuals as tokens.

Critics of the previous mayor bounced on the expression, accused Hanson of racism and claimed that Thao and her supporters had been planning to make use of black individuals as a political device.

“Efficient Sunday, Leigh Hanson is now not an worker of the town of Oakland,” mentioned metropolis supervisor Jestin Johnson in an announcement on the weekend. He thanked Hanson for her service and mentioned that Vice -Mayor Burt Jones will function an extra discover because the mayor’s workers chief.

Hanson didn’t instantly reply to a request for feedback from the Oaklandsside, however mentioned through the weekend in statements to different media that the memorandum was faraway from the context. “” I remorse that my notes with brief hand had been taken out of context on social media and unintentionally good buddies, colleagues and members of my neighborhood have harginalized which have been marginalized by our political system, “Hanson NBC Bay Area told.

The San Francisco Chronicle For the primary time reported Hanson’s termination. As Employees Chef from Thao, Hanson performed a key function within the mayor’s workplace. She was an energetic a part of the town’s negotiations on crucial offers, together with efforts to maintain the A’s in Oakland, and the efforts to promote the significance of the town within the Coliseum to a personal developer, the African sports activities and leisure group.

The notes of Hanson had been included in hundreds of pages with paperwork associated to the FBI analysis into Thao, which has been charged with conspiracy and bribery with regard to metropolis contracts by federal prosecutors. Hanson and different staff needed to flip their knowledge after a federal giant jury had summoned them final 12 months.

The Hanson calendar was recorded, which contained the anti-recall conferences of 4 March.

The brief reference to black individuals instantly follows the point out of councilor Carroll Fife and a transparent proposal that she reached the department of Oakland of the NAACP, which one tail supporter of the recall.

In an announcement shared with NBC Bay AreaHanson mentioned that the assembly contained a dialogue about proposed message factors that the anti-recall marketing campaign wished to supply to potential surrogates.

“They’re a selected reference to Seneca Scott, a paid African -American political operation, which was adopted by the wealthy white financiers of the recall marketing campaign to cover the understanding of the viewers of the political origin of the recall,” Hanson mentioned in her assertion. “It was mayor Thao and the conviction of her political group that the paid involvement of this operation was tokenization by the financier of the recall, and the voters of Oakland had the correct to grasp this connection.”

The recall marketing campaign was largely paid by Philip Dreyfus, a resident of Piedmont who works for the San Francisco Hedgefonds Farallon Capital.

In an announcement on Monday, the NAACP Oakland Department Hanson and one other worker accused Thao authorities, Brandon HaramiFrom the orchestrate of a “deliberate marketing campaign to direct and manipulate black leaders and organizations.” The group is holding a press convention this morning to demand the termination of Hanson, which has already occurred. The NAACP additionally desires Jenkin’s Harami to dismiss, the group claims that “recurrently beat and offended Black Oaklanders and leaders.”

Loren Taylor, a candidate within the race for mayor of Oakland, mentioned at the moment in an announcement that he’s “deeply nervous” by the notes of Hanson.

“Black Oaklanders should not props or political pawns – we’re leaders and changemakers,” mentioned Taylor. “To scale back our neighborhood to efficiency shouldn’t be solely disrespectful – it’s exploitation.”

Taylor additionally known as on his most essential opponent, former Congressman Barbara Lee, to sentence the notes of Hanson.