Oakland mayor's race: Barbara Lee shares how she would handle budget deficit, homelessness and more

ByPhil Matier, Julian Glover, and Monica Madden

Friday, March 28, 2025 3:44AM

Oakland mayor election: Barbara Lee shares vision for city

Oakland mayoral candidate Barbara Lee sat down one-on-one with ABC7 News to share her vision for the city ahead of the April 15 special election.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The race for Oakland mayor is on, and former congresswoman Barbara Lee is making her case ahead of the April 15 special election.

ABC7 News anchor Julian Glover, ABC7 News reporter Monica Madden and ABC7 News Insider Phil Matier talked to those candidates about the issues facing the city, like crime, homelessness, the economy and more.

WATCH: Oakland mayoral election: Top candidates share vision for city, crime and more with ABC7

Here's where Lee stands on some of the major issues:

Oakland's Budget Deficit

During the interview, Lee touched on how she plans to address Oakland's budget and what she thinks has led to the deficit.

Lee said from what she has seen, there are structural issues with the budget, and she plans to call for a forensic audit to look at where the waste, abuse and fraud could be in the city departments.

She said another issue that led to the budget deficit was Oakland not collecting fees, fines, permits and business tax licenses during the COVID pandemic, which she says is still lagging.

"The only way to get the budget under control is by raising revenue and reducing expenses," said Lee.

She also threw her support behind Measure A, which would enact a .5% sales tax for 10 years and provide approximately $29,800,000 annually for general government use.

Lee says core services, like public safety programs, which include the police and fire departments, would be the last thing she would cut while reworking the budget.

"When you talk about who you say no to when balancing a budget, you have to bring people together for a common good to make life better in Oakland... Everything is on the table," said Lee.

Public Safety

When it comes to public safety, Lee continued to express her support for Measure NN, which was passed by voters in the November 2024 election.

Measure NN helps fund the police department, fire department and violence reduction services by increasing an existing property tax and parking tax surcharge for nine years.

"I believe we need to strengthen MACRO. We don't need to call the police department if people are having mental health challenges. Police need to be able to police," Lee said.

She went on to call Measure NN the "north star" and hopes to immediately execute it if she were elected mayor.

Lee also recognized that there needs to be a regional strategy to address public safety in Oakland.

"People who are coming into Oakland to commit crimes know they can't do that because they will be arrested," said Lee.

As for police staffing, Lee has mentioned in the past she would like the force to get to 850 officers, but acknowledged that wouldn't happen anytime soon. She believes one of the ways to get there is by looking at efficiencies in the department, saying it may be worth civilianizing parts of the force to have more police officers on the streets.

She also suggested working with schools like Merritt College to find new recruits for the department.

Lee also hopes to foster a better relationship between the community and the police department.

Homelessness

When asked about addressing Oakland's homelessness issue, Lee said she looks at it from a variety of perspectives.

One, when it comes to citing unsheltered people, Lee firmly said that is not the answer. She emphasized that housing is a basic human right.

"We need to make sure that we have better outreach, that is strong and robust," said Lee.

ABC7 News Insider Phil Matier then challenged Lee's answer, asking what she would do if those unsheltered individuals said no.

"We have to keep at it, and they need to know that there will be consequences," said Lee. "First, warnings are important. Secondly, we have to find out and make sure there is some affordable housing, supportive housing, and some transitional housing they will be sent to rather than to jail. I do believe we need to exercise all options before they get cited and put into jail because that is just going to create another problem."

Lee admits that this issue is going to be difficult to fix, but she says there are enough studies and data out there on how to help unsheltered people.

You can watch the full interview in the video player above to see where Lee stands on various other issues.

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