Barbara Lee speaks to thee when she gets sworn in as Mayor of Oakland in a noon ceremony Tuesday, and she’ll immediately face the challenges of a city dealing with a deficit as large as $270 million, and its reputation for crime.

It’s been a pretty wild turn of career events these past 16 months for 27-year Bay Area Congresswoman Barbara Lee. She gave up her seat of nearly 30 years in the US House of Representatives to run for the late Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat, but she lost in the primary.

That left Lee in the political wilderness at this time last year. But then the FBI raid on Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao’s home and the various scandals that wrought culminated in Thao being recalled this past November. Lee’s supporters were determined to recruit Barbara Lee to run for mayor, Lee obliged, and defeated Loren Taylor in last month’s special election.  

Now the rubber truly hits the road for Mayor-Elect Barbra Lee today. Lee was sworn in as Mayor of Oakland at noon, at a ceremony at City Hall that was televised. And in her inaugural remarks, Lee said, "It is with deep gratitude and humility and love for Oakland that I stand here today as the newly sworn mayor of the City of Oakland."

"I know that we have been through a lot," she said, "but what I know about Oakland is we are a community that punches above our weight. We are a city of doers, of dreamers, of entrepreneurs, of artists, of innovators. And together we are going to do the hard work — and you know it'll be hard work — of putting Oakland back on the right track."

Regarding the budget deficit she inherits, and the actions required to address it, Lee said, "It won't be easy."

So, yes, it is not a great time to become the Mayor of Oakland! The city is currently swamped with a $130 million budget deficit, though that’s actually a $270 million deficit over the next two years. Oaklandside reports that Lee has introduced a 10-point, 100-day plan to slash that deficit, root out the illegal dumping that happens all over Oakland, and improve public safety.

And yeah, Oakland has kind of a reputation for crime. Oakland officials have been touting a 30% drop in crime in recent months, but gun violence is still all-too-frequent an occurrence in the city, as are smash-and-grab burglaries. And the Oakland Police Department is none too happy that the city is trying to defer a 3% wage police increase that’s scheduled to take effect July 1, 2025.

"It goes without saying that foregoing a pay raise would have a devastating impact on morale and staffing,” Oakland Police Officers Association union president Huy Nguyen said in a Tuesday morning statement. “As we have advised the Police Department, there are many Oakland Police Officers who are contemplating leaving the Department. This is not a time for the City to send a message that their service and continued employment has diminished value. City of Oakland leadership cannot publicly proclaim Oakland residents deserve public safety and then attempt to cut police officer pay raises at the same time."

So it seems there will be no honeymoon with Barbara Lee and the Oakland Police Department (or their union, at least). And that potential conflict may go a long way in determining whether Barbara Lee will be a seasoned and experienced hand of reason like Jerry Brown was as Oakland Mayor in the early 2000s, or a feckless, past-their-prime mayor like Ron Dellums was after Brown left office.

Related: Oakland Mayor-Elect Barbara Lee Announces Her First Batch of Transition Staff Appointments [SFist]

Image: Barbara Lee via Facebook

This post has been updated.