Oakland's interim Mayor, Kevin Jenkins, decided to terminate the employment of Leigh Hanson, the city's Chief of Staff. Hanson's dismissal stems from backlash over a note that seemed to use the term "tokens" about Black people. In the note in question, which Hanson had penned, was the phrase "CM Fife can reach out to NAACP — use BP as tokens," with "BP" confirmed by Hanson as shorthand for Black people and "CM Fife" referring to Council Member Carroll Fife, as reported by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Jenkins expressed his gratitude for Hanson's contributions, stating, per KTVU, "Effective Sunday, Leigh Hanson is no longer an employee of the City of Oakland," and announced that Deputy Mayor Burt Jones would take over as Chief of Staff in the interim. Jones, a West Oakland native with significant experience in community organizing and social justice, and previously working with Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley and the Black Women Organized for Political Action, steps into the role during this transition period. Hanson, who had been involved in substantial city endeavors such as the negotiation of the A’s ballpark plans at Howard Terminal and was recently ensuring the deal to sell the city’s share of the Coliseum to the African American Sports and Entertainment Group, was previously at the center of the city's efforts to prepare the mayor’s biennial budget
KTVU received a statement from Hanson which conveyed her regret, "These handwritten meeting notes record a group discussion that included proposed messaging points that the anti-recall campaign wanted to provide to potential surrogates," she explained, pointing to one Seneca Scott, identified as a paid African American political operative, whom she alleges was hired by the wealthy white funders of the recall campaign to mislead the public about the recall's origins. Hanson added, "I regret that my short-hand note-taking has been taken out of context on social media and inadvertently harmed close friends, colleagues and members of my community who have been marginalized by our political system."
