Opinion: After Sheng Thao, the last thing Oakland needs is a strong mayor

Thirteen months ago, we launched the Oakland Charter Reform Project by publishing an op-ed in this newspaper, “Broken Oakland needs more than a new mayor.” In that piece, we laid out the four fundamental flaws that contribute to so much of the dysfunction in City Hall: a powerless mayor, a disconnected City Council, a conflicted city attorney and a city administrator caught between the mayor and council.

Mayor Barbara Lee subsequently made a commitment to modernize the city charter. But...