Dearest Oaklanders,
Born and raised in Oakland, I’ve always felt such pride in our beautiful, diverse city. It’s been the honor of a lifetime to serve as Oakland’s 50th Mayor during the eventful years of 2015-2022. Despite the unrelenting challenges of these times, we made historic accomplishments together.
We built and strengthened enduring PARTNERSHIPS to tackle our most vexing problems.
Our Ceasefire Partnership gave Oakland its lowest 5-year homicide rate on record.
We achieved OPD's long-sought compliance with court-ordered reforms with our new Police Commission.
The Mayor’s Housing Cabinet’s 17k/17k Housing Plan helped protect more than 36,000 low income Oakland households from displacement, roughly doubled affordable housing production, and built nearly 20,000 new homes – Oakland’s biggest building boom in more than a century!
We created several public-private partnerships to test innovative approaches with private dollars, like the Cabin Community Shelter Model and Keep Oakland Housed that prevented 1800 families a year from entering homelessness and won HUD's National Partnership Award.
We tackled the unsexy basics – like finances and POTHOLES.
We created Oakland's first Department of Transportation, 311 Call Center, Infrastructure Bond Program, and Equity-driven Paving Plan, which delivered Oakland's all-time record for roads replaced — 100 miles in 3 years!
We created Oakland's first Rainy Day Fund, adopted stronger fiscal practices, and grew the economy — leading to Oakland's highest credit rating on record.
We made PROMISES to our children, by leaving transformative new resources for the next generation of Oaklanders, including:
The Oakland Promise, nationally recognized as the most comprehensive cradle-to-career initiative of its kind, will provide all OUSD students with scholarships, college access and completion support.
The Generation Fund, a $50 million quasi-endowment I personally raised to fund 30,000 college savings accounts for babies and scholarships — it should serve EVERY low-income baby and OUSD graduate through 2035.
Universal Pre-school Access for all 3 and 4 year olds within a decade, funded by the voter-approved parcel tax Measure AA.
Finally, when needed, we were unafraid to throw a few PUNCHES for Oakland and her values:
We stood up against President Trump when he attacked our city and threatened Oakland's beloved immigrants.
We fought against coal and for the planet, advanced public access to our waterfront while keeping our A's in Oakland, and became the first city to give municipal land back to our Indigenous people.
After 22 years with the City of Oakland, I believe more than ever in the power and promise of local government. I have seen true heroism in the public servants who I’ve had the honor of serving with and learning from -- especially those magical, brilliant professionals who made up the Mayor’s Office, aka Team MLS.
Thank you to everyone who helped us leave Oakland a more vibrant, equitable city.
With Oakland-love Always,
Libby Schaaf
