Meals, hotels, office supplies: City leaders want to be able to raise more money for ‘officeholder’ expenses

When somebody desires to run for a neighborhood authorities workplace in California, they usually create what’s referred to as a “candidate committee,” mainly a particular checking account that they’ll use to boost cash. Legally, contributions can be utilized to pay for issues like yard indicators and tv adverts.

However there’s one other kind of political committee, referred to as an officeholder account. Elected officers usually use cash from these committees to pay for the bills of holding workplace, together with meals, journey, accommodations, and mailers about metropolis occasions. Elected officers may also make donations to civic organizations from these committees. Officeholder accounts can be utilized to pay for many political and governmental actions, however not expenditures for a future election or wages for workers. In addition they can’t be used to compensate staff. 

Oakland has put some further restrictions on these sorts of committees. Proper now, elected officers like councilmembers aren’t allowed to boost greater than $25,000 (or $30,000 for the at-large seat) for his or her officeholder accounts. Since 2018, nearly no Oakland elected official has come near hitting the restrict on contributions. 

However a gaggle of councilmembers believes the restrict needs to be increased, a lot increased. 

On Tuesday, the council will hear a proposal that might do the next: 

• Triple the fundraising restrict for district councilmembers’ officeholder committees, elevating it from $25,000 to $75,000, and from $30,000 to $100,000 for the at-large seat
• Improve the fundraising ceiling for different elected officers: for town auditor, the cap would rise from $25,000 to $100,000; for town legal professional, $30,000 to $100,000; and for the mayor, from $50,000 to $100,000 
• The $25,000 contribution restrict for college board members would keep the identical 

The councilmembers behind the proposal — Kevin Jenkins, Janani Ramachandran, and Ken Houston — argue the contribution restrict hasn’t been elevated since 1999 and is overdue for an adjustment. 

One cause they need to do that is to allow them to increase cash to channel to civic teams, nonprofits, and charities of their districts. Previously, town of Oakland supplied every councilmember with a pot of cash as a part of the price range to spend on tasks and organizations of their districts. These grants had been decreased attributable to price range points. 

 “We’re in determined occasions,” Houston stated at a May 21 meeting of the Public Ethics Fee. “The price range is reduce. The neighborhood wants many issues.” 

However not everybody thinks it’s a good suggestion to alter the foundations, permitting councilmembers to boost extra money via their officeholder committees.

The ethics fee has refused to endorse the proposal

At its most up-to-date assembly, members of the Public Ethics Fee, which is accountable for overseeing metropolis guidelines meant to make sure good authorities and transparency, made a number of arguments against rising the fundraising restrict.

The commissioners identified that few Oakland officers have ever raised sufficient cash via their officeholder accounts to hit the present contribution cap. 

In addition they identified that Oakland already has a mechanism referred to as behested payments, the place elected officers can ask donors to present cash to organizations and charities of their districts. The disadvantage is that electeds don’t should report these funds in the event that they’re below $5,000, making them much less clear. However there’s additionally no contribution cap, which implies limitless cash can go to good causes. 

“Why not simply go to these donors, these individuals who have pledged funds, and ask them to donate immediately to those nonprofits and these causes you talked about?” requested Commissioner Ryan Micik. 

After a little bit of forwards and backwards, Houston clarified that he’d want the cash come on to his officeholder account so he can monitor how funds are used. 

“I’m going to have reviews again,” Houston stated, referring to the organizations that he provides cash to. 

Micik wasn’t satisfied. He stated officeholder accounts have been a supply “of some controversy and scandal” in different cities. The proposal emphasizes utilizing these funds to assist community-based organizations, “however they can be utilized for issues apart from that – they can be utilized for meals, journey, for functions that might be described as political functions. They’ve been described as slush funds in sure instances,” he stated. 

The PEC stated it desires extra details about why behested funds and the present contribution limits are inadequate. If the council will increase the contribution caps, the fee requested for it to additionally contemplate including guardrails to verify the officeholder funds are used within the method described within the proposal. 

Jenkins, who’s the council president, stated in an interview with The Oaklandside that the PEC’s considerations didn’t give him pause, and that he felt like plenty of the arguments had been in unhealthy religion. 

“The argument towards elevating the restrict is that no person is coming near it,” Jenkins stated. “So what distinction wouldn’t it make (to boost it)?” 

Jenkins stated this proposal will give councilmembers the assets to host and attend extra neighborhood occasions and deal with employees to meals. He additionally stated it might assist complement the council’s small price range for workplace bills. For instance, Jenkins stated he’s utilizing a piece laptop that probably predates his predecessor. 

At the least one councilmember stated she has considerations about elevating the restrict

“We’d like entry to assets to help our communities — my colleagues are right about that,” Councilmember Carroll Fife informed us. However she stated boosting the spending restrict to $75,000 might incentivize officers to spend their time fundraising as an alternative of on constituent companies. And people who have relationships with rich donors may have a neater time elevating cash, probably creating inequities.

“It’s actually difficult, particularly when you’ve got a working-class base, to boost these funds,” stated Fife. “I need to restrict a few of these large donors’ beliefs that in the event that they contribute they’ll have an outpaced entry to those companies.” Counting on their common workplace budgets, nonetheless restricted they could be, is “much less political,” she stated.

To raised perceive the affect of this proposed laws, we checked out how elected officers used their officeholder accounts lately. We discovered that almost all electeds both don’t use their officeholder accounts or spend modest sums of cash sponsoring native organizations. Solely a pair elected officers have used their accounts to pay for meals, journey, and different bills. 

District 1: Dan Kalb

Kalb, who left workplace in the beginning of 2025, didn’t report any officeholder bills in 2024. Throughout earlier phrases, his account was far more lively, paying for numerous skilled companies and making a sequence of small donations to teams and foundations supporting civic engagement, housing advocacy, training, parks, and extra.

Zac Unger, who was sworn into workplace in January, has not reported any exercise by his officeholder account. 

District 2: Nikki Fortunato Bas

Bas’ most up-to-date officeholder account acquired $225 in 2024 and spent $7,050, leaving the committee with a money stability of $0. A few of these funds had been to CJ & Associates for skilled companies. She additionally spent almost $160 on Zoom software program, $201 for translator companies, $107 to Amazon for office-related bills, and over $300 to the US Put up Workplace for postage and office-related bills. Final 12 months Bas was elected to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and she or he left the council in January 2025.

Bas made numerous civic donations in 2024, together with $337 to the Lovelife Basis in Berkeley for the “Oakland’s Best Gala,” $550 to Youngsters’s Fairyland, $300 to Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, $750 to the Oakland Ballet Firm, $500 to the Philanthropic Ventures Basis, $150 to the St. Mary’s Heart, and $500 to the Oakland Asian Cultural Heart.  

There may be additionally a $200 fee to “Native Progress,” which Bas stated was prone to cowl the registration charge for a neighborhood occasion. 

Bas informed The Oaklandside that council places of work have very modest budgets to cowl non-personnel bills. As a councilmember, she stated the account helped pay for issues town couldn’t, like digital platforms to speak with constituents. 

Bas stated she didn’t journey a lot as a councilmember, however famous that town has a contingency fund that may pay for members who journey to occasions to symbolize the physique as a complete. 

She added that the proposed improve to the contribution cap was “big.”

“I’d be all for listening to what among the councilmembers see themselves elevating cash for,” Bas stated. 

Charlene Wang, who was elected within the April particular election, has not reported any exercise by her officeholder account throughout 2025. 

District 3: Carroll Fife

Carroll Fife raised almost $5,000 for her officeholder account in 2024, spending $12,059 — the second-largest quantity behind Jenkins. She ended the 12 months with a stability of $363.

A good portion was spent on skilled companies from CJ & Associates — $2,891 — and internet companies from Google ($892) and Mailchimp ($1,016). Different IT {and professional} companies included Political Information Intelligence ($500), Loomly ($384), Amazon ($178), Zoom ($161), and Stripe ($137). Fife reported spending $225 on what seems to be a transportable rest room rental firm.

Fife additionally made numerous civic donations final 12 months via her officeholder account, together with to Abyssinian Missionary Baptist Church ($900), the Museum of Artwork and Digital Leisure ($170), Agave Uptown ($256), and Safeway ($132). A few of these had been associated to councilmember’s Care-o-Van program supporting native companies. 

A number of eateries in her district acquired her enterprise, together with Horn BBQ ($138 for a employees assembly) and Kingston 11 ($596 for a Black Historical past Month neighborhood assembly). She spent $172 at Cupcakin’ and $193 at The Espresso Mill for a gathering. 

Fife additionally traveled to 2 housing-related conferences in 2024. For one in Los Angeles, she spent $1,367 on a resort and $584 on a rental automotive. For a convention in Washington, D.C., she paid $403 for lodging. 

Though she’s spent extra via her officeholder account than most of her colleagues, Fife stated she’s planning to scale back or finish her use of it due to her considerations round donor affect and inequities between districts. She stated she’s not sure why a few of her traditionally much less spendy colleagues need to up the restrict, however stated their proposal suggests “they clearly consider they’ll increase the funds.”  

District 4: Janani Ramachandran

Ramachandran acquired $7,910 in her officeholder committee in 2024. She spent $112 final 12 months, leaving her with $18,196.

Ramachandran informed The Oaklandside she hasn’t actually used her account a lot. However she stated these accounts are typically useful for supporting neighborhood members. 

“They’re a useful gizmo for councilmembers to help organizations and entities of their districts or throughout town that don’t produce other income sources,” Ramachandran stated. 

District 5: Noel Gallo

Gallo, who was elected for a fourth time period in 2024, didn’t report any officeholder bills that 12 months.

District 6: Kevin Jenkins

In 2024, Jenkins acquired $9,600 in contributions to his officeholder account. Throughout that very same interval, he spent $16,060, leaving him with $6,606 in money on the finish of the calendar 12 months, plus $1,860 in unpaid bills. 

Jenkins had probably the most bills of any councilmember in 2024. 

Jenkins made a number of contributions to native organizations and occasions. This included $3,420 to Cathy Adams, head of the Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce, to pay for a Juneteenth celebration. He additionally gave $2,000 to a nonprofit referred to as the Group Enrichment Group, $1,080 to the Oakland Rotary Membership, and a $164 donation to Oaktown Native Plant Nursery. He additionally spent almost $800 on a banner to have fun a basketball crew in his district that gained a championship recreation. 

Jenkins additionally used his officeholder account to pay for Airbnb for lodging whereas Jenkins attended the Congressional Black Caucus ($1,791), meals at D.C. eating places, together with the Capital Grille in Washington D.C. ($222), Mastro’s ($169), Primrose ($169), Yardbird ($135), and The Hamilton ($185), plus airfare to the caucus ($1,240). Jenkins stated a few of these meals had been conferences with different electeds. 

“In D.C. you meet with totally different colleagues from totally different cities,” Jenkins stated. 

Jenkins additionally used his officeholder account to pay for meals within the Bay Space. He spent $114 at Branchline Bar in Emeryville for a gathering with a stakeholder. He took his employees out for a $553 dinner at San Francisco’s Home of Prime Rib. He additionally reported conferences on the Oakland eating places Candy Fingers ($130) and the Fats Girl Bar & Restaurant ($102). 

Jenkins stated rising the cap on officeholder contributions will scale back corruption amongst elected officers as a result of “they’re much less prone to obtain meals from builders and lobbyists and folks making an attempt to do enterprise with town.” He added that it’s going to make them much less prone to settle for presents, too. Oakland at present limits lobbyists from giving presents to any elected official which can be price greater than $50 in a calendar 12 months. 

Jenkins additionally paid $384 for airfare to attend the California Affiliation of Black College Educators, and almost $760 for airfare to attend unspecified conferences. He spent $945 for lodging on the US Grant in San Diego throughout a convention.

He additionally used the account to pay for $359 in Uber rides.

District 7: Treva Reid

In 2024, Reid’s remaining 12 months as councilmember, she spent $2,769 via her officeholder account. She reported a further expenditure of $789 in 2025, clearing out the stability within the account.

Most of Reid’s bills had been for skilled companies, from the accounting agency SE Owens & Firm, and the California Secretary of State.

However a few bills stand out. Reid paid $769 for airfare to Amsterdam, to current a proclamation to the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands. She additionally donated $478 to KGPC, Peralta Group Radio.  

Ken Houston, who was sworn into workplace in January, has not reported any exercise in his officeholder account throughout 2025. 

At-large: Rebecca Kaplan

Kaplan served because the at-large councilmember till January of this 12 months. In line with marketing campaign finance data, Kaplan’s officeholder accounts had been primarily inactive throughout 2024. However she’s used them to help native teams in earlier years. For instance, her 2016 account gave $300 to the League of Ladies Voters of Oakland in 2019 as a civic donation. That very same 12 months, she additionally made a $1,000 donation to the Motion Technique Heart; a $500 donation to a company referred to as the Soul of Pleasure in San Francisco; and a $750 donation to the Allen Temple Well being and Social Providers Ministry.

Rowena Brown, who was sworn into workplace in January, hasn’t reported any exercise in her officeholder account throughout 2025. 

Mayor: Sheng Thao

Thao, who was recalled final November, raised $1,200 in her officeholder account and spent all of it, leaving the fund depleted. The account seems to have completely paid for skilled companies final 12 months. 

In 2023, Thao used a distinct officeholder account to pay for lodging on the Picadilly Inn in Fresno ($196) and on the Hilton Backyard Inn in Burbank ($271). This account additionally paid Julie Caskey for consulting companies ($1,125). 

Barbara Lee, who was sworn into workplace in Might, has not reported any exercise in her officeholder account.

Metropolis Legal professional: Barbara Parker

Parker, who retired final 12 months, raised no cash in 2024 and spent $1,877, leaving her officeholder account with $2,232. 

In line with marketing campaign finance data, Parker paid for flowers for an worker in mourning ($172), gave cash to the Equal Justice Society for a fundraiser ($1,250), coated the unfold at an workplace picnic ($250), and acquired flowers and playing cards for an workplace retirement occasion ($115). 

Ryan Richardson, who was sworn into workplace in January, has not reported any exercise by his officeholder account throughout 2025. 

Metropolis Auditor: Courtney Ruby

Ruby was Oakland’s elected auditor till 2023 when she introduced her resignation. Ruby’s most up-to-date marketing campaign finance report was in 2023, the place she reported $260 in contributions and $429 in expenditures for skilled companies, zeroing out her officeholder account. In 2022, Ruby paid for skilled companies ($131) and paid The Subsequent Technology for consulting companies ($600). 

Michael Houston, who was elected in March 2024, had zero {dollars} in his previous marketing campaign committee account as of 2025. The one exercise reported on this account was forgiving a private mortgage and spending small sums of cash on skilled companies.