Confronted with the very messy optics of steering millions of dollars to someone whose business partner may be a target of the very same FBI investigation that Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao may be a target of, Thao is choosing to merely duck the vote.
We should note that now three whole months after the FBI raid on Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home, we still don’t know why the FBI raided her house, or even if she’s suspected of any wrongdoing. But there’s been plenty of informed speculation that the whole thing has something to do with suspected illegal campaign donations from the CEO of Oakland’s recycling pick-up contractor Cal Waste Solutions David Duong, and his son Andy Duong.
And one curious character that keeps popping up in several different aspects of this complicated scandal is Oakland businessman and political operative Mario Juarez. Juarez is described by the Chronicle as “an Oakland businessman with a history of financial troubles who twice ran for city council.” He has also had some other recent troubles, as he’s alleged to have funneled some of the illegal campaign donations, he’s facing felony charges for bouncing $50,000 worth of checks, plus a separate investigation over allegations that he conned $4.25 million from investors. Oh, and over the course of this summer, for whatever reason, Juarez was also allegedly beaten up and had his house shot at.
And now we have yet another new angle with Juarez. The Bay Area News Group reported Monday that Juuraez also has many years of business deals with Ana Chretien, who happens to be the president and CEO of ABC Security Service. ABC Security Service has had a city contract to provide security at Oakland City Hall, libraries, and other city-owned facilities since 2018. That contract expired on June 30, and Oakland City Council deadlocked on whether or not to renew the contract. That deadlock required a tie-breaking vote from Mayor Thao in a meeting scheduled for 3:30 pm this afternoon.
This puts Thao in a position of possibly directing money to a business partner of someone who is maybe under investigation for the same thing for which she is under investigation. And today, the Bay Area News Group reports that Thao will skip that tie-breaking vote and just sidestep the issue altogether.
Thao’s spokesperson told the Bay Area News Group that “we believe in letting the legislatures legislate,” and the issue is being kicked back to the City Council.
ABC Security Service is still on the job in Oakland, even though their contract is expired, and has run up a substantial $3.2 million bill which the city will eventually have to pay.
Though the News Group adds that the City Council seems inclined to vote for a new, revised contract, which “would pay the nearly $3.2 million in expenses that ABC has accrued since early 2024, while clearing the way for the company to receive up to $6 million more to keep the company on board through the middle of 2025.”
That would seem the easiest way out of this stalemate. But there is no easy way out of the shadow of possible impropriety for everyone named in this sprawling scandal, until the FBI comes out and tells us why they raided multiple homes, and what the heck this investigation is really about.
Image: NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 02: Sheng Thao speaks onstage at the TAAF Heritage Month Summit at The Glasshouse on May 02, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by JP Yim/Getty Images for The Asian American Foundation)
