FAR RIGHT, BIG TECH AND LANDLORDS BID TO RESHAPE OAKLAND IN ELECTION

Over the last few years, California has seen its fair share of political turmoil, with the attempted recalls of Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon, as well as the successful recall of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin and three members of the San Francisco Board of Education. The 2024 election cycle in the East Bay is following that same trend: progressive Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao are both facing recalls backed by real estate interests, tech money, and reactionary politicos.

Central to the simultaneous recalls, multiple nonprofits, and a congressional candidate is political activist Seneca Scott, whom LCRW has reported on previously. Scott has openly, and repeatedly, accused Brandon Harami, a staffer of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao, of being a pedophile. He also claimed that Brandon’s fathers molested him, which “turned him” gay, echoing the old “homosexual agenda” conspiracy theory. The staffer sent a cease-and-desist through his attorney, and Scott took the tweets down, though he continues to insinuate that Harami is a supporter of MAPs—or “Minor Attracted Persons,” a 4chan hoax meant to smear the LGBTQ+ community as harboring pedophiles.

Despite his history of bigoted rhetoric, Scott received $3,000 from Dr. Jennifer Tran, a congressional candidate vying for Barbara Lee’s former seat. When LCRW asked Dr. Tran, who is queer, about the litany of homophobic and transphobic posts Scott has made in the past, she doubled down on her support for him, even echoing the baseless claims about Brandon Harami and decrying gender affirming care for trans youth. Because of this, Berkeley City Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra called on LPAC, who had endorsed both her and Dr. Tran, to rescind their endorsement. LPAC (formerly known as the Lesbian Super PAC) did, citing Scott’s comments, and revealed that Dr. Tran expressed her support of gender affirming care for trans youth during their interview with her. Dr. Tran’s website was updated after the revoked endorsement to include support for that care.

Dr. Tran did not respond to LCRW’s request for comment, but she did retweet someone who said LPAC was “creating drama” and that “Brandon is the one instigating it.” She is also a board member of the East Bay Stonewall Democratic Club, which released a statement condemning Scott’s rhetoric. Two other board members have called on her to resign, and a source revealed that they will be voting on her removal after the election is over.

Scott is listed as a media contact for Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao (OUST) and Foundational Oakland Unites, both of which refused to cooperate with ethics investigators over potential campaign law violations. He is also one of the founders of Neighbors Together Oakland (NTO), which had their nonprofit status revoked in November 2023, along with Mollie Westphal, the president of real estate giant Monarq Inc. Westphal donated just under $1,000 to Scott’s 2022 campaign for mayor, as well as $15,000 for the campaign to recall Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price. Her husband, Ruslan Spektor, donated $2,000 to OUST. 

The president of OUST, Brenda Harbin-Forte, is running for city attorney against incumbent Ryan Richardson. Harbin-Forte is a retired judge who was removed from the police commission by Mayor Thao in 2023. She subsequently donated $5,000 to the recall effort against Thao, though she denies her removal played any part in that decision. She opposed the firing of former Oakland Police Chief LeRonne Armstrong in the wake of his failure to hold officers to account for various scandals that required federal monitors to continue overseeing the department. Armstrong is currently running for Oakland city council. Further, proponents of a coal terminal in Oakland have spent $24,000 supporting Harbin-Forte’s campaign, spearheaded by lobbyist Greg McConnell and hedge fund manager Jonathan Brooks. 

McConnell and Brooks founded SOS Oakland, a political action committee that endorsed Harbin-Forte and Armstrong in their respective campaigns. SOS Oakland received donations from LeRonne Armstrong and Singer Associates. The latter is a PR firm run by Sam Singer that has represented the Oakland Police Officers Association, LeRonne Armstrong, and Chevron, among others.

Interestingly, SOS Oakland endorsed Zac Unger, a firefighter and union representative, over Len Raphael, a CPA and signature collector for both recalls. Raphael is the treasurer of Foundational Oakland United (FOU), a nonprofit political advocacy group that is supporting the recall of Mayor Thao. FOU received $600,000 from Philip Dreyfuss, a hedge fund executive that spent big money on the recall effort against former San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin, as well as $30,000 from the Conway family. Ron Conway is a tech billionaire and venture capitalist who was instrumental in the recall of Boudin. Conway’s son Christopher donated $190,000 worth of stock to that campaign, which was run by Republican mega-donor William Oberndorf. Dreyfuss is also the founder of Reviving the Bay Area, a group that put $147,000 toward the campaign to recall DA Price.

Isaac Abid, a real estate executive, is listed as another founder of Reviving the Bay Area while also serving on the endorsement committee of Empower Oakland, a nonprofit started by former councilmember and failed mayoral candidate Loren Taylor. Abid serves the group through his proxy, Chris Moore, a landlord and real estate investor who lives in Piedmont. Moore is the campaign manager for the effort to recall Price, the treasurer of the East Bay Rental Housing Association—a nonprofit representing landlords—and CFO of Foundational Oakland United. Other members of the committee include Tyfahra Milele, an ally of Brenda Harbin-Forte during their time together on the Oakland Police Commission; Garrick Monaghan, a real estate investor; and Trishala Vinnakota, who ran Loren Taylor’s campaign for mayor in 2022. The digital leadership consists of two people: Gagan Biyani, a tech CEO, and Reze Wong, a venture capitalist. Empower Oakland has deep ties to the crypto community, receiving contributions from Jesse Pollak, the founder of Coinbase, and Ilya Sukhar, a venture capitalist. 

Empower Oakland endorsed both recalls, with Taylor saying he would run for mayor again if the campaign against Sheng Thao is successful. Unsurprisingly, Empower Oakland has also endorsed Brenda Harbin-Forte and LeRonne Armstrong. The nonprofit received $50,000 from A Better Bay Area, a PAC that was given over $3 million by the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses, itself a PAC funded by corporations. It’s unclear who runs A Better Bay Area, as the group has yet to file their 460, or Recipient Committee Campaign Statement.

Taylor is co-chair of the Legal Redress committee of the Oakland NAACP, which has seen its own rightward shift, endorsing both recalls and formerly employing Seneca Scott as their media contact. LCRW reached out in 2023 about Scott’s work with them, after which they quietly removed his name from their website, though the landing page still has a photo that includes him.

A recent “business strike” in Oakland devolved into chaos as a paid consultant for Dr. Tran’s campaign, Alex Walden, threatened counterprotestors and shouted obscenities in the face of Ray Bobbitt, founder of African American Sports and Entertainment Group. Bobbitt was heckled by rallygoers after Scott called him out by name and came over to the group to “have a dialogue.” Scott immediately called for security, and the situation escalated with Walden and Chris Moore shoving Bobbitt. Oakland-based reporter Michelle Dione told LCRW this is par for the course.

“You’ll be bullied, and then when you react or attempt to create boundaries, they act like victims and make you the villain for their political theater,” Dione said.

Local journalist Jaime Omar Yassin documented the “ouroboros financing” at play and reported that three of these independent expenditure committees (FOU, Families for a Vibrant Oakland, and Revitalize the East Bay) have spent a combined $1.5 million in local races. 

If this all seems confusing and overwhelming, that’s because it is. Monied interests regularly funnel contributions through multiple organizations in an effort to bypass campaign laws that limit spending, effectively coordinating with politicians to influence their decision-making. The infamous Citizens United case opened the door to corporations and special interest groups, and the Bay Area is now feeling its effects. The only remaining question is whether their money gets them what they want.