Three independent expenditure committees are driving a secondary series of committees run by a close-knit group of political operatives associated with the Thao recall and Empower Oakland. Together they make up the bulk of the money being spent on most of the candidates in the Empower Oakland endorsement slate for the City of Oakland. At least three of the principals in the interconnected committees are also in the Empower Oakland "endorsement committee". Together, the ouroboros financing comprises the majority of funding to support the recall of Mayor Sheng Thao, unseating Carroll Fife, defeating D1 candidate Zac Unger and promoting Brenda Harbin-Forte for City Attorney and Leronne Armstrong for at-large Council. The originating committees have contributed a combined $1.5 MM toward changing Oakland’s elected landscape so far, and may spend more in the weeks to come.
For ease in this writing, the main drivers of money will be called The Source 3 and their go-to depositories, The Recipient 4.
Both Sets of Committees Have Direct Links to Empower Oakland
The linkages of the committees to Empower Oakland are copious. Chris Moore, an Empower Oakland "endorsement committee" member [listed as a "proxy" for Abid] runs three of the committees discussed here. Moore is also a primary proponent for both the Thao and Price Recalls and was often seen in "protests" calling for the recall of Price and Thao with a handful of associates. Isaac Abid, Revitalize the East Bay's Principal Officer, is also an "Endorsement Committee" member of Empower Oakland. Another "Endorsement Committee" member, Trishala Vinnakota, co-manages one of the committees and is also a contractor being paid by one of the committees with the funds. That Committee, Together for Oakland Families, receives its funds exclusively from Revitalize the East Bay and Families for a Vibrant Oakland. She was Loren Taylor's campaign manager in his 2022 run for Mayor.
Echo Chamber of Committee Names
It’s hard to keep track of where one of the organizations begins and another ends, not least of which because the committees are easily confused for one another at even a second glance—at least three of the organizations mentioned here use both “families” and “Oakland” in their name. Revitalize the East Bay is a near-match for the previous name of Supporters of Recall Pamela Price, Reviving the Bay Area**.
The Source Three:
—Foundational Oakland Unites, Chris Moore, Treasurer
—Families for a Vibrant Oakland, Todd David/Abundance Network Treasurer
—Revitalize the East Bay, Isaac Abid, Principal Officer
The Recipient Four:
—Together for Oakland's Families, in Support of Warren Logan for City, Carol Wyatt, Principal Officer
—Families for a Safer Oakland, in Support of LeRonne Armstrong for City Council, Trishala Vinakota of Empower Oakland, Treasurer; Carol Wyatt, Principal Officer
—Committee to Elect Ken Houston & Len Raphael and oppose Zac Unger, Chris Moore of Empower Oakland, EBRHA, Recalls, Principal Officer
—Oaklanders for Common Sense, United to Fire Carroll Fife and Elect Warren Logan, Chris Moore, Principal Officer
Philip Dreyfuss’ Long Shadow Over the Spending Through FOU and Revitalize the East Bay
One lone investor casts a long shadow over all the groups, Philip Dreyfuss, who is the lone funder of Foundational Oakland Unites [FOU].
FOU was the primary funder of the Thao recall, powered by Dreyfuss' cash. Now FOU has branched out into funding candidates aligned with Empower Oakland’s endorsement slate through the Recipient 4—Empower Oakland "Endorsement Committee" member and recalls proponent Chris Moore runs FOU and two of the Recipient 4 committees receiving Dreyfuss' money.
Almost all of Dreyfuss’ Oakland-focused funding previously went into the recall effort against Thao through FOU, which has no other contributors—Dreyfuss’ money wielded through FOU, funded the vast majority of Thao recall expenses. D1 candidate Len Raphael was the steward of Dreyfuss’ money as Treasurer of FOU until a few weeks ago, when he was replaced by Moore, who also runs committees that FOU is funding. Now, Moore's run of FOU provides funding in support of Raphael's candidacy filtered through another committee run by Moore in the Recipient 4. The move coincided with the flow of a large amount of funds to the committee benefitting Raphael from FOU.
Dreyfuss is also to a lesser extent a central funder in Revitalize the East Bay, along with Ryan Graciano, co-founder of Credit Karma, and Ilya Sukhar, a Y Combinator-linked investor.
Dreyfuss has contributed a total of about $1.2 MM to committees trying to influence elections in Oakland according to finance reporting records—that’s apart from his total expenditures at the county level to recall Price. But some of the funding from Dreyfuss to Revitalize the Bay Area has also been used to pay off debts to another recall committee he started, Supporters of Recall Pamela Price.
Families for a Vibrant Oakland Mixes Revitalize Money with OPOA, Pollack, NorCal Carpenter’s Union
Families for a Vibrant Oakland is run by a principal from the SF-based Abundance Network, a nebulous organization without any real world footprint, similar to Empower Oakland. The organization includes Schaaf ally Jennifer Pahlka, whose contributions appear in several of the committees unlawfully run by Schaaf.
Just a handful of entities make up the half million dollar bank of the committee, according to campaign finance reports. The bulk of the funds come from: Oakland Police Officer’s Association; Jesse Pollack, a bitcoin mogul; the Norcal Carpenter’s Union; and Revitalize the East Bay [Dreyfuss, Ryan Graciano, Ilya Sukhar]. Revitalize the East Bay is run by Abid, who also co-runs Supporters of Recall Pamela Price, which was called Revive the Bay Area before it was obligated by the FPPC to change its name to reflect that it was primarily focused on the recall of Price.
Three of the Recipient 4 Committees are Funded Exclusively by the Source 3
Three of the four recipients of the largesse of the Source 3 have apparently sought out no other funding, and receive their funding exclusively from a combination of the Source 3. Whether intentionally or not, that adds an extra level of difficulty for attempts at oversight.
These are:
—Committee to Elect Ken Houston & Len Raphael and oppose Zac Unger for City Council 2024 [Chris Moore]
—Together for Oakland's Families in Support of Warren Logan [ Carol Wyatt]
—Oaklanders for Common Sense [Chris Moore]
The Source 3’s Majority Funders
Foundational Oakland Unites: $760K received/$820K spent
Principal: Chris Moore
—Phillip Dreyfuss, sole funder: $760K
—Families for A Vibrant Oakland: $557K received/$403K spent
Principal: Todd David [SF Abundance Network]
—Oakland Police Officers Association: $100K
—Jesse Pollak: $145K
—Northern California Carpenters Regional Council: $150K
—Revitalize the East Bay: $100K
Revitalize the East Bay Committee: received at least $440K/$415K spent Principal: Isaac Abid
—Phillip Dreyfuss: $280K
—Ryan Graciano: $100K
—Ilya Sukhar: $50K
What The Source 3 Spent On: Committees and Direct Support for Candidates:
Foundational Oakland Unites:
—$502.5K to OUST, formerly run by Brenda Harbin-Forte, now her sister, Gail Harbin:
—$195K to Committee to Elect Ken Houston & Len Raphael and oppose
Zac Unger for City Council 2024: run by Chris Moore: FOU, also run by Moore, is the sole funder.
Families for a Vibrant Oakland
—$105K to Together for Oakland's Families in Support of Warren Logan: run by Carol Wyatt:
—$15K to Oaklanders for Common Sense United to Fire Carroll Fife and Elect Warren Logan: run by Chris Moore:
—$257K of direct spending support of Harbin-Forte in City Attorney Race [$53.6 of this total is spending against Ryan Richardson]
Revitalize East Bay
—$45K to Oaklanders for Common Sense: run by Chris Moore
—$200K*** Together for Oakland Families: run by Carol Wyatt:
—$177K*** Families for a Safer Oakland..Supporting Armstrong: run by Trishala Vinnakota, Treasurer, an "Endorsement Committee"member of Empower Oakland: Carol Wyatt is listed as a principal
What Those Committees Have Spent On So Far:
Committee to Elect Ken Houston & Len Raphael and oppose Zac Unger for City Council 2024: run by Chris Moore:
—$60K in support of Ken Houston
—$14K in support of Len Raphael and Against Zac Unger
—$80K on data, mail, digital and other services for the efforts
Together for Oakland's Families in Support of Warren Logan: run by Carol Wyatt
—69.9 K in support of Warren Logan, with $25K of this sum spent on digital ads against Carroll Fife
—$102K on various services to support this effort, including: $20K consultant payment to Trishala Vinakota, an "Endorsement Committee" member of Empower Oakland, and Loren Taylor’s mayoral campaign manager. Vinakota also runs Families for a Safer Oakland with Wyatt; $83K on consultant services from 50+1 Strategies
Oaklanders for Common Sense
—$30K against Carroll Fife [ads]
—$25K on Luminary Intelligence, an audience targeting consultant
Families for a Safer Oakland [Revitalize the East Bay is the Primary Funder, representing 80% of funding]
—$203K in support of Leronne Armstrong
*All data and information is current as of publication date and time. There are several other committees also spending in these races, but not at the scope and spectrum, their focus is on a single candidate and don't receive funding from these Source 3. These include the California Association of Realtors, which has spent 115K against Fife, SOS Oakland, which has spent $20K in support of Brenda Harbin-Forte, and a Better Bay Area which has spent $113K for Logan. It's worth noting that Empower Oakland endorsed Unger, not Raphael and that it co-endorsed Iris Merriouns along with Ken Houston. But the majority of the City of Oakland slate is represented, including the recall.
**Revitalize the East Bay has also been spending to pay off the debts of Supporters of Recall Pamela Price, the committee that Abid and Dreyfuss founded to allow Dreyfuss to make large contributions to the Price recall without immediately appearing to be the major donor behind the effort. That committee was initially called Reviving the Bay Area. Revitalize the East Bay has also spent hundreds of thousands on the recall. Dreyfuss donated at least $280K to the committee in October—soon after, the committee began infusing the other committees.
***$90K of this was a direct purchase of data given to the committee as an in-kind donation in “Together…”, $7.8K was an in-kind donation for “Families…”
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