Leigh Hanson, who served as Sheng Thao\u2019s chief of staff several years ago and briefly worked for Kevin Jenkins when he was interim mayor in 2025, filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court on March 20 claiming she was wrongfully fired.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The suit tells Hanson\u2019s side of the story during her tumultuous exit from the city in April 2025.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hanson was fired<\/a> by then-Interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins shortly after thousands of records from Thao\u2019s administration were released to the public, including notes<\/a> that Hanson took during a meeting that referred to Black people as \u201ctokens,\u201d sparking outrage<\/a> from the Oakland NAACP and other activists.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hanson claims she was terminated after she tried blowing the whistle on Jenkins\u2019 relationship with a city contractor and city reimbursements for his travel expenses.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to Hanson, after Jenkins\u2019 swearing-in ceremony in the first week of January 2025, the interim mayor was accompanied back to his office by Nema Link, a director of land development for the billboard company Becker Boards<\/a>, and Isaac Kos-Read, a lobbyist who represented Link\u2019s company.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to her lawsuit, Hanson became concerned because she learned that Link and Kos-Read were selecting offices from which to work out of in the mayor\u2019s suite. She says she messaged Jenkins on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, telling him it was inappropriate for a lobbyist to operate from the mayor\u2019s office. Hanson states that she also contacted City Attorney Ryan Richardson, who allegedly advised her to \u201cuse a gentle touch\u201d with Jenkins.<\/p>\n Richardson declined to comment about the claims in Hanson\u2019s lawsuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n A few days after the swearing-in ceremony, Jenkins allegedly requested a meeting with Hanson and Link to discuss her concerns. Hanson claims Link arrived at the meeting with wine and a bottle of olive oil intended for Jenkins, which she objected to as an illegal gift.\u00a0Hanson claims she relayed concerns about this incident to Richardson. <\/p>\n Later that month, Hanson claims she noticed Link in the lobby of the mayor\u2019s office waiting to attend a meeting between Jenkins and the Oakland Acquisition Company, an affiliate of the African American Sports and Entertainment Group<\/a>, regarding the sale of the Coliseum<\/a>. Hanson states that she objected to Link\u2019s presence, but Jenkins insisted he attend.<\/p>\n Jenkins did not respond to an interview request from The Oaklandside.\u00a0<\/p>\n But Jenkins has denied Hanson\u2019s allegations. Last year, he told the East Bay Times<\/a> that the claims, which were first presented in a legal claim filed with the city last year, were \u201cfarcical and completely without merit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is disappointing to see former employees attempt to weaponize fabricated narratives in an effort to squeeze funds from a city already working to recover from significant budget constraints,\u201d Jenkins told the paper. \u201cBlack leadership will not be used as a token or scapegoat to extract money from the people of Oakland.\u201d<\/p>\n Link previously told the East Bay Times that the gift was an inexpensive bottle of olive oil that was meant for Hanson, not the interim mayor. He and Kos-Read also denied that they were offered office space at City Hall, with Kos-Read calling this \u201can absurd and baseless claim\u201d coming from \u201ca disgruntled and disgraced\u201d former city official.<\/p>\n Neither Link nor Kos-Read responded to interview requests.\u00a0<\/p>\n In June 2025, the City Council approved a deal<\/a> to let Becker Boards install new billboards around Oakland in exchange for roughly $2.3 million in upfront payments plus up to $750,000 annually for 31 years. Becker also promised free advertising for local nonprofits. Jenkins voted against<\/a> this deal at the full council meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hanson also claims she contacted the city administrator in February 2025 after Jenkins hired two deputies<\/a>. Hanson says she complained that these hires violated the city hiring freeze that was in place at the time, and occurred during a period when the city was laying off<\/a> workers to address a budget crisis.<\/p>\n Around that same time, Hanson claims that Jenkins asked her to approve six trips costing approximately $15,000 to destinations that included Long Beach and Washington, D.C. According to her lawsuit, Hanson refused to approve the trips, arguing that they violated the city\u2019s freeze on travel expenses<\/a>. She claims Jenkins told the office scheduler to book these trips using Hanson\u2019s credit card. Hanson reported these alleged violations to the city administrator in February and March.<\/p>\n In her lawsuit, Hanson argues that the meeting notes where she used the phrase \u201cBP as tokens\u201d was taken out of context. She claims that the note was in reference to how then Mayor Thao\u2019s opponents were operating in the recall campaign.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Shortly after news reports emerged about the note, the Oakland NAACP called for Hanson\u2019s termination. The group praised<\/a> Jenkins for removing her and Brandon Harami, another former Thao staffer. Harami is also pursuing a lawsuit against the city.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n