OAKLAND — Oakland’s interim mayor is delaying the release of a deeply consequential, two-year budget proposal that had been expected to detail how the city would balance a looming $265 million budget shortfall.
The move by Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins comes just two weeks after Oakland’s top finance official quietly resigned from the job she’s held for the last four years, according to a resignation letter obtained by this news organization. The letter by Finance Director Erin Roseman, which was dated April 16, gave no reasons for her departure and said she planned to serve until June 15.
The developments mark the latest signs of upheaval at Oakland’s City Hall amid a perilous budget crisis, which has forced dozens of layoffs and potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in cutbacks to city services over the next two years. Compounding those issues is a leadership vacuum brought on by the unprecedented recall last November of former Mayor Sheng Thao — prompting the city to cycle through four mayors in the span of seven months.
A shortfall in the city’s current fiscal year budget recently spurred Oakland leaders to lay off 42 employees and demote 34 others, while also temporarily closing two fire stations, cancelling all police-training academies and slashing $2.6 million in funding for outside nonprofits and a host of other grants and citywide programs.
But all of that pales in comparison to the financial challenges ahead over the next two years. As recently as January, city finance leaders warned that Oakland faces a $138 million deficit during its next fiscal year — which runs from July 1 until June 30, 2026 — and another $127 million deficit the following fiscal year. Much of that deficit has been blamed on lagging revenues from taxes on real-estate transfers and business licenses, along with rising overtime costs for the city’s police and fire departments.
Jenkins — who is ]leading the city until former Congresswoman Barbara Lee takes over later this month — was expected to release his budget proposal for the next two fiscal years on May 1. But a day ahead of its planned release, a city spokesman announced that the budget would instead be made public on Monday.
The announcement cited “a period of transition following the recent election,” and said that the four-day delay would “allow for the briefing and input of incoming elected officials and other key stakeholders.”
“Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins thanks his budget team, which has worked incredibly hard to produce a balanced budget investing in public safety and core services while taking critical steps toward sustained fiscal balance,” city spokesman Sean Maher said in the announcement.
Maher later said in a statement that members of the City Council would be among those briefed by Jenkins’ budget team. Those briefings would happen individually, and not as a group, he said.
Stephanie Ong, a campaign spokesperson for Lee, said Thursday that the incoming mayor is being briefed by Jenkins on the budget proposal “to ensure a smooth transition,” and that Lee did not have a hand in the delay.
Meanwhile, a key person expected to help in shaping that budget is now heading for the door.
Roseman, the city’s finance director, submitted her resignation letter a day after the April 15 mayoral election, when Lee defeated former City Councilman Loren Taylor in the race to replace Thao. Maher confirmed Thursday that Roseman plans to leave “to pursue other opportunities,” adding that the city would try to find an executive search firm over the next few weeks to help land a replacement.
Roseman’s departure came amid growing scrutiny over her handling of the city’s finances. Roseman appeared to take a more hands-on role at City Hall of late, leading to clashes with city leaders over seemingly procedural issues — among them the purchase of 37 police vehicles that for months sat unused at a Ford dealership in San Leandro.
Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan went so far as to liken Roseman’s decision-making to a “pattern of lies” in an internal email, which was obtained by this news organization and addressed to Deborah Edgerly, one of two consultants the city hired in February to assess its finances. In a subsequent interview, Kaplan said Roseman “does not have, legally speaking, the authority to overrule the council. But sometimes she just doesn’t sign the checks.”
Last year, Roseman again made waves in City Hall when she authored a finance report warning the city was on the verge of bankruptcy, while pointedly advising city leaders against “fecklessness” in their continued spending. A version of it appeared online before being hastily taken down and replaced with one edited by City Administrator Jestin Johnson, which included softer language, fewer references to “insolvency” and no more mention of the bankruptcy term “Chapter 9.”
In her newly obtained resignation letter, Roseman gave no reasons for leaving her post. Attempts to reach her were not successful.
“I am grateful to have been able to serve the citizens of the City of Oakland for the last four years in this capacity and am proud of all the work I have been able to accomplish on their behalf with a great team in the Finance Department,” Roseman wrote in her letter addressed to Johnson.
Staff writer Shomik Mukherjee contributed to this report.
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