Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao skipped a public forum intended to help the city choose a new police chief. The city has been without a chief since she fired former police chief LeRonne Armstrong a year ago.
a letter, Thao told the city’s police commission she would not be present because the forum poses unnecessary risks for candidates and current employers, may force the city into a premature bidding war, and says potential candidates are withdrawing their names when faced with a public forum. She says the forum hurts the process of attracting the best candidates. A list of finalists is expected to reach Mayor Thao in March.
