How much do you like Barbara Lee? Enough to spend $25,000 to support her inauguration party? How about $50,000? Or $100,000?
Die-hard Lee supporters can now spend big bucks on a committee that is raising cash for the new mayor’s inauguration celebration. According to a website run by the “Oakland Inaugural Committee Fund 2025,” there will be a party for Lee on June 8 at Jack London Square. The fund is also collecting smaller dollar donations for the event. The celebration is open to the public and tickets are free.
There aren’t a ton of details about the event, other than that it will feature music, performances, speakers, an inaugural ceremony — and that people and groups who pay the bill will get special treatment.
The independent committee, which Lee is not involved with, is seeking sponsors for the event. For $100,000 — the “It’s All Love in Oakland” package — a donor gets 25 inauguration passes with reserved seats, special acknowledgment on event materials, and a “private reception” with a reserved table. A couple lower tier packages — “One Oakland” and “Hella Proud” — offer similar perks for $50,000 and $25,000, respectively. On the low-end you can buy a single inauguration pass with reserved seating for $500 (“The Town”).
Stephanie Ong, a representative for Lee, told The Oaklandside there will be a separate, invitation-only event to recognize community members and sponsors who supported the inauguration ceremony, and that the mayor has been invited to attend.
The website also gives the option to contribute $25 to $300 or a custom amount. These payments can be one-time, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual. All funds will be used to support the inaugural celebration at Jack London Square, and a citywide day of service the day before on June 7.
“This effort is rooted in the values that guide us: transparency, equity, and community,” the website says.” “Every dollar helps set the stage for a new chapter in Oakland’s future.”
Inaugural committees are set up to support one-off events, but they can also be a means for interest groups and wealthy people to try to curry favor with electeds. Inaugural funds can raise a bunch of cash without the same restrictions or disclosure requirements as political committees, which makes them an attractive investment for some.
Ong said the committee overseeing the fund was established by Yvonne Hudson-Harmon and John Maa. The committee recently added Glenda Newell-Harris as a director. The committee itself is a 501(c)(4). The inaugural fund website says the committee is not affiliated with Lee.
To date, the committee has received $56,215 from small-dollar donors. “We have also received interest in higher-tier sponsorships,” Ong wrote in an email. “However, as of now, no funds have been received in these categories.” She added that a public list of donors and contributions will be released after the event, once contributions have been reconciled and processed.
Asked whether there are any restrictions on who can donate to the fund, Ong said the directors “will make all determinations regarding donations/contributions in accordance with applicable law, their independent judgment, and their fiduciary duties.”
Libby Schaaf had an inaugural fund
Former Mayor Libby Schaaf is the last mayor whose inauguration was supported by a separate committee.
In 2015, a group called “Made In Oakland” raised $88,000 to pay for her inaugural events. Like Lee’s, this organization was a 501(c)(4). Its principals refused to turn over records on donors and contributions when asked by the press.
Schaaf later told the East Bay Express that she was unaware of who contributed funds to the committee, but she requested the group not accept contributions over $2,500 from any single source in a single year. She also asked the group to not accept contributions from anyone who would ordinarily be barred from giving money to Oakland officials because they contract with or plan to do business with the city.
The group did file records with the secretary of state about who formed the organization. Those files revealed that Made In Oakland was led by John Protopappas, a real estate developer who had previously served as the finance chair of Schaaf’s mayoral campaign.
After her reelection in 2018, Schaaf held an inaugural gala at the Fox Theater, which featured the rapper Too $hort and singer Michael Franti. The event raised $3.25 million for two initiatives championed by Schaaf: the Oakland Promise scholarship fund and Keep Oakland Housed, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Sheng Thao, elected in 2022, held an inauguration ceremony along with other new electeds at the Paramount Theater in January 2023. It does not appear there was a separate committee formed to pay for events. According to campaign finance records, Thao’s mayoral committee paid for staffing at the event.
