Oakland mayor appoints new chief of staff

In her third major staffing change in the first week of 2017, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf announced Thursday that she has named her deputy chief of staff, Shereda Nosakhare, to be her new chief of staff.

Effective Jan. 13, Nosakhare will succeed Schaaf’s current chief of staff, Tomiquia Moss, who is departing to become executive director and chief executive of Hamilton Families, a San Francisco-based non-profit group that seeks to prevent and end family homelessness in the Bay Area.

On Wednesday Schaaf announced that she has appointed Anne Kirkpatrick to be Oakland’s new permanent police chief and on Tuesday she announced that she has appointed former prosecutor Venus Johnson to be the city’s new public safety director.

Oakland’s chief of staff serves as principal advisor and manager of the mayor’s office and acts as primary liaison with offices and agencies both inside and outside of the government.

Schaaf said Nosakhare, who was raised in the city and lives in the city, has worked closely with her since she joined her staff in 2011 when Schaaf was a councilmember. Schaaf said Nosakhare has more than a decade of political experience at the city, county, state and federal levels as well as in the private sector.

Schaaf said in a statement:

“Shereda understands how the city works and how we can make our government work better for Oaklanders.”

Nosakhare said:

“I am honored to serve Mayor Schaaf and all Oaklanders in this new role. I am committed to the mayor’s vision of a safer, stronger and more equitable city and to providing Oaklanders an effective government that is committed to the issues that matter most to them.”

Schaaf also praised Moss, saying:

“Tomiquia is a fighter who cares deeply about Oaklanders and never forgot that she worked for them every day.”

She said Moss is now “devoting herself to a difficult problem for communities throughout the Bay Area and that all Oaklanders are invested in.”

Moss said working with vulnerable populations such as the homeless “is top of mind in cities like ours and across this country.”

She said:

“I look forward to continued partnership on this work with Mayor Schaaf and the city of Oakland.”

Hamilton Families said Moss is joining its organization as it seeks to complete the funding of an innovative $30 million campaign to effectively end family homelessness in San Francisco by drastically reducing the housing waiting list and returning to a more manageable, pre-recession homeless situation.