To: President Kevin Jenkins, Councilmembers Rowena Brown, Carroll Fife, Noel Gallo, Ken Houston, Janani Ramachandran, Zac Unger, Charlene Wang, Chief of Staff Miya Saika Chen and Betsy Lake

CC: Mayor Barbara Lee and City Administrator Justin Johnson

Re: Oppose funding cut for the Cultural Affairs Manager Position

Dear President Jenkins and Esteemed Councilmembers,

CA Arts Advocates, Creative West, and Greater Bay Area Arts coalition represent a network of thousands of artists, cultural workers, and civic leaders from 13 Western states and 3 Pacific Jurisdictions, California, and the Bay Area. We are writing to express our profound disappointment with the Oakland City Council’s June 11th decision to adopt a budget for FY2025-27 that effectively eliminates the position of Cultural Affairs Manager. This action leaves one of America’s most culturally significant cities without essential leadership for its creative sector.

We firmly believe that Oakland’s diverse creative economy and iconic cultural identities require strategic and experienced leadership within city government. Strong leadership is essential to attract external funding from local and national foundations, build cross-departmental and cross-sector partnerships, and support the recognized growth potential of the city’s creative economy. We urge the council to amend the FY 2025-27 budget to reinstate funding for the Cultural Affairs Manager and advance the hiring process.

As a recent report by the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce states, “Oakland’s creative economy can play a key role in shaping the city’s identity and economic future.” Realizing this creative future requires expertise, direction and stewardship.

Oakland’s creative economy is diverse and complex, encompassing independent artists, musicians, culture bearers, social justice practitioners, arts nonprofits, for-profit performance venues, fashion studios, design firms, and film and media production.

Oakland's cultural nonprofits leverage Oakland's grants dollars many times over and create out-sized value to the city through stimulating local business activity year-round - not just during one-off festivals - and contributing free and low-cost cultural activities for children, youth, and families in schools and neighborhoods. Leadership is required not only to activate the arts in commercial corridors but also to connect the sector to technical assistance and business development resources, identify regulatory solutions and incentive models, and align the city with the Governor’s strategies to strengthen California's creative economy as outlined in his latest California Jobs First Economic Blueprint.

Beyond its economic impact, the Cultural Affairs Manager role is also crucial for stewarding cross-sector relationships inside the City with department leaders and elected officials to bring support and innovation into government through programs like Cultural Strategists-in-Government that placed funded strategists into a dozen different city departments and offices with the ~$1.5M raised by the Cultural Affairs Manager. The role also oversees legally-mandated programs such as Public Art in Capital Projects, Public Art in Private Development, and supports the Cultural Affairs Commission, a resident body charged with advising the Mayor, City Council, and City Administrator. Leadership is needed to assure compliance with city ordinances and state regulations, make strategic decisions and align these programs with city resources and goals.

The decision to eliminate the Cultural Affairs Manager position is not only short-sighted but also risks eroding the public trust of Oakland’s diverse creative communities, exacerbating inequity, and hindering the economic recovery of arts districts, downtown corridors, and commercial hubs for decades to come. Oakland cannot afford to wait. Its vital and diverse creative sector deserves a leader who understands local conditions, authentically represents diverse voices, synthesizes a compelling vision, and possesses the authority to engage partners and secure resources.

We urge the council to reconsider this decision and amend the 2025-27 budget to reinstate the Cultural Affairs Manager funding and hire a leader to help realize Oakland's cultural promise and economic potential.