But some in East Bay have questioned Tuesday’s press conference as a shameless attempt by Thao to quell a growing chorus of voters and other elected officials who want her out of office. 

Billed as an event to showcase support for her staying in office, Thao surprised attendees by announcing a new partnership with the faith community fueled by state and federal grants. 

“With this Interfaith Council, we will leverage as many resources as possible,” she said. 

Pastor Joe Smith of the Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church told the crowd, “We have made it! We were on the menu, and now we have made it to the table.”

Bishop Lawrence Brandon of Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church said the group of religious leaders would “provide expertise to address the critical issues facing our city,” which includes supporting “housing programs and community hubs that uplift our neighborhoods.” 

Other speakers, like Pastor Jim Hopkins from Lakeshore Baptist Church and Bishop Greg Payton of St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church in West Oakland, focused on the campaign to oust Thao.

“The recall of the mayor is not needed and ill-founded,” Hopkins said. “Oakland does not need chaos. Oakland does not need coal dust in the air.” 

Payton argued for giving Thao more time to prove herself. 

“Those of us who love Oakland need to get with our leadership,” he said. “You can’t do anything in a year. It will take time. I love Oakland, and we need to get behind our leadership.”

Thao’s press conference came just a few days after former Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced she would be supporting the recall effort against Thao.

Schaaf criticized Thao in an interview Friday with KQED, saying that over the past year, she has come to believe that Thao “is not capable of growing into the job.”

“I am voting to recall Mayor Thao because Oakland can’t afford another two years of continued damage to our fiscal solvency and our public safety,” Schaaf said. 

Thao has blamed the recall attempt against her on right-leaning special interest groups and blamed Piedmont hedge fund manager Philip Dreyfuss, who has mostly funded the effort, saying he “doesn’t care about the instability this (recall) will cause for our city because he doesn’t live here.”

The Nov. 5 recall attempt against Thao marks the first time in more than a century that such action has been taken against a sitting mayor in Oakland. The last time a mayoral recall vote occurred was in 1917. It was unsuccessful.

Thao missed the deadline to file a rebuttal to the recall in her own defense, creating a blank space on the ballot where the argument would go. Her spokesman said the rebuttal “fell through the cracks.” 

Thao was elected in 2022 as part of a progressive “blue wave.” 

Calls for her recall began pretty quickly when she fired Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong, who is now running for city council.

The calls for Thao’s recall have intensified since then amid concerns over public safety, specifically over property theft, drugs, and a homelessness crisis.

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Thao’s tenure was thrown into chaos earlier this year when the FBI raided her home and three properties connected to the Duong family, the recipient of a pricey city recycling contract and frequent donors to Thao’s political career.

The FBI has not charged Thao with a crime, and she has claimed she is not the target of the investigation.