Treva Reid joins Oakland council members who won’t run for re-election

OAKLAND — Three of the city’s eight council members will not run for re-election in November, leaving wide open the races for public office that could reshape Oakland’s political landscape.

Treva Reid, the councilmember representing East Oakland’s District 7, did not file paperwork by the late Friday afternoon deadline at City Hall — a last-minute revelation that caught two of her would-be challengers by surprise when they learned of Reid’s decision.

Reid joins two fellow council members who similarly are foregoing a re-election bid: at-large member Rebecca Kaplan, a tenured Oakland politician, and District 1’s Dan Kalb, who unsuccessfully ran earlier this year for an East Bay state senate seat.

Reid, the daughter of retired Councilman Larry Reid, said her decision to bow out after her first term came “after much prayer, processing with family, and wise counsel.”

She said she has been “unwavering” in her commitment to her council district. She called herself grateful to be able to “build upon the 35 years of outstanding leadership and dedicated service my father.”

“I have not made a council decision without amplifying your voice through community engagement,” Treva Reid’s statement read. “Nor have I taken a vote that would compromise my commitment to fight for our community’s priorities.”

Two other incumbents, Carroll Fife and Noel Gallo, did file papers to run for their seats again. The council added two new faces — Janani Ramachandran and Kevin Jenkins — in the 2022 election.

With council President Nikki Fortunato Bas the frontrunner to win a seat on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Mayor Sheng Thao facing a recall effort, the stage is set for November to have a monumental impact on how Oakland is governed.

The two other incumbents departing City Hall had both forecasted their exits — Kalb did so in his failed campaign for the state senate, while Kaplan outright endorsed two candidates, Tonya Love and Rowena Brown, in an announcement earlier on Friday.

The revelation that Reid would not run to retain office sent shockwaves through City Hall late Friday afternoon. Two of her would-be opponents, Marcie Hodge and Merika Goolsby, had not heard about Reid’s decision when they arrived to drop off their paperwork in the clerk’s office.

Soon after, they learned that Reid’s dropping out of the race would buy them five additional days to file — which is also the case for anyone running to fill Kalb and Kaplan’s seats; standard practice for when an incumbent does not seek re-election.

Kalb said he was “shocked” to learn Friday of Reid’s decision, adding that he couldn’t understand why she didn’t tell him sooner — which would have allowed more time for new candidates to enter the race.

“I’m going to call her this weekend and ask what’s going on,” he said in an interview.

Reid has often held more moderate positions on the council, leading her to clash with Mayor Thao — whom Reid ran against in 2022 — over public-safety issues in District 7, which spans areas east of the Oakland Coliseum before the city’s border with San Leandro.

Kaplan and Kalb, on the other hand, have often allied with Thao on key issues, including the city’s spending.

Treva Reid had long eyed succeeding her father on the council, as far back as a decade ago. She won election in 2020 after her father retired following a 24-year council tenure.

Although it is no stranger to dramatic politics, Oakland City Hall has fallen under a particularly troubling cloud in recent weeks amid a sprawling FBI criminal inquiry that saw the mayor’s home raided on June 20.

FBI agents also raided three addresses tied to David Duong, his son Andy Duong and the headquarters of California Waste Solutions, the city’s recycling contractor the family operates.

Treva Reid, who hasn’t spoken publicly about the federal investigation, formerly worked as a lobbyist for the waste company. Her brother, Taj Reid, currently lists himself as an employee of CWS, according to his LinkedIn profile. Their father is known to be a close associate of the Duong family.

Kaplan and Kalb also hold ties to the Duongs: In 2019, the Public Ethics Commission opened an investigation into the family’s use of “straw donors,” or obscure third-party entities, to contribute to various politicians, including those two councilmembers, along with Larry Reid and other elected officials.

“It had nothing to do with the Duongs,” Larry Reid told the Bay Area News Group Friday. “My kids grew up around Uncle David. But all the stuff that’s been out there, is stuff I was unaware of and my kids were unaware of.”

No one has been charged or indicted in the criminal investigation, but a series of the federal subpoenas issued to the city by a federal grand jury last month include mentions of Thao, her romantic partner Andre Jones and several former Kaplan aides.

The subpoenas do not mention Kalb, Kaplan or Larry and Treva Reid by name.

Kalb, for his part, said in an interview that he didn’t believe the FBI inquiry “has anything to do” with Reid’s abrupt decision.

“I just know her well enough to know — that, by itself, would be irrelevant,” Kalb said.

Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland. Call or text him at 510-905-5495 or email him at smukherjee@bayareanewsgroup.com.