MEET THE NEW BOSS
Same as the old boss
Barbara Lee was the Machine's desperation choice to keep power.
Lee's first hire as her chief of staff was Miya Saika Chen, former chief of staff to councilwoman Nikki Bas, an SEIU researcher, and a fellow at George Soros' Open Society. Saika Chen is the one who brought the Defund the Police effort to Oakland in 2020. When city administrator Jestin Johnson resigned in May 2026, Lee tapped Betsy Lake, a former Sheng Thao asst. city administrator.
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Barbara Lee is mayor in name only. The Machine controls City Hall. One clear indicator: A recent public records request shows that mayor Lee has, according to the city, neither sent nor been copied on a single email since taking office.
You can't run a city without sending emails. So who's running Oakland?
Sheng Thao's first hire as mayor was Zach Goldman as her chief of policy and legislative affairs. Goldman came directly from the same job at SEIU. He then went back to SEIU after Thao's recall. Goldman later resurfaced on Lee's charter reform working group.
Piedmont billionaire Quinn Delaney served on Lee's transition team. The same nurses' union that helped bankroll the campaign against Thao's recall also poured money into Lee's election.
Barbara Lee accepted significant political contributions from the Duong family (second only to the amount she received from Rob Bonta and Mia Bonta), and Lee refused to return the Duongs' money.
The Duongs are MAGA who gave money to Trump. After they were indicted, they got special permission to travel to Washington, D.C. for Trump's inauguration. Apparently, supporting Trump and MAGA are totally acceptable in "progressive" Oakland, if you feed the Machine.
Measure E
Measure E (June 2026) was a mask-off moment. The Machine tried to use Lee's popularity and its financial muscle to push yet another tax on Oaklanders. But voters said OH HELL NO, and roundly defeated the parcel tax for the first time in decades.