Oakland leaders call on Barbara Lee to run for mayor to get city ‘back on track’ [Video]

Dozens of Oakland leaders are calling on Congresswoman Barbara Lee to take the helm as the city’s mayor.

In a letter signed by Interim Oakland Mayor Nikki Fortunato Bas, Carl Chan, and Councilmember Treva Reid, among other community leaders, they urged Lee to run for mayor as the city grapples with turbulent times.

“Oakland is a city that is facing a crisis of leadership. Our city needs someone who can restore integrity to the office of the Mayor, unite us in a time of division, and help us address critical issues around the budget, public safety, housing, and inequity in our Town,” they said in the letter released Thursday. “We need someone who can bring the new ideas, policies, resources, and opportunities that the people of Oakland deserve. That person is Barbara Lee.”

Oakland faces a $129 million budget shortfall while navigating the aftermath offormer Mayor Sheng Thao’s recall by voters in …