‘Just Makes No Sense’: Protests Continue in Oakland Over Slashed Arts Position

In most American municipalities, the elimination of one management job in city government would hardly garner notice. But Oakland is not most American municipalities, which explains why, at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, more than 30 people had gathered on the steps of City Hall to call for reinstating the staff position of Cultural Affairs Manager.

“As simply as I can put it, the arts will not get by without this position,” said Cat Brooks, the Oakland artist, activist and previous mayoral candidate. “Anyone who is in the town, lives in the town or loves the town knows that arts and culture is our heartbeat. So if you’re interested in the heartbeat of Oakland, this position matters to you.”

It marked the third straight week of organized protests against the elimination of the position in Oakland’s latest budget, which was adopted by city council on June 11. New city expenditures, which cutting the Cultural Affairs Manager would help pay for, include $1.4 million in sideshow prevention, $1 million for the establishment of entertainment zones and an increase to police staffing.

Explaining the need for a Cultural Affairs Manager to the average citizen poses a challenge, several attendees noted. It is a city government job, in a place where many artists and musicians are either unconcerned with or directly opposed to city government.

“I used to actually be one of those artists who did not really feel like the city had anything to offer me,” said Kev Choice, a musician and educator who joined the Cultural Arts Commission in 2020.

But for artists savvy with grants — or those who get hired or contracted by nonprofits, which is to say nearly all artists in Oakland — the role of a Cultural Affairs Manager provides crucial support. Equal parts advocate, fundraiser, intermediary and ambassador, its impact more than justifies its $170,000 annual salary, attendees on Tuesday said.

Most people spoke highly of Roberto Bedoya, the former Cultural Affairs Manager who retired in 2024. Hired in 2016, Bedoya worked as a liaison to other departments, argued against cuts and grant delays, ran the public art program, drafted Oakland’s first-ever cultural plan and, importantly, secured money for the city’s arts and culture sector.

After Tuesday’s protest, Bedoya spoke at the city council meeting to note $1.9 million in federal funds and $5 million in public-private partnerships that he had facilitated, and promised that, even in retirement, “I will help you find revenue.” Before he could finish, his microphone was cut off.

The protest and city council meeting on Tuesday stood in stark contrast to the news that, across the Bay, San Francisco had awarded more than $10 million in grants to artists and arts organizations just that morning. Vanessa Whang, the chair of Oakland’s Cultural Affairs Commission, said the grants showed that San Francisco’s leaders were being “smart” about their priorities.

“Even though they are also facing deficits, they understand an investment in the arts and culture sector is what is going to make the city come back,” Whang said, noting the revenue-generating impact of the arts. “The most positive narrative that we have for Oakland right now is our culture. That’s why we get mentioned in The New York Times.”

The grants in San Francisco are funded by a hotel tax similar to Oakland’s hotel and lodging tax. Raquel Iglesias, the former cultural funding coordinator who managed the grants program for five years, said that she and Bedoya had urged city administrators to issue grants in 2024 that were delayed, causing the cancellation of events like the annual Art & Soul Festival.

This year, Iglesias said, the Cultural Affairs Divison was given no access to general fund monies for grants. “We had just roughly $180,000 in hotel tax money that we gave out in tiny grants,” Iglesias explained, adding that she and another staff member had as of last week raised roughly $600,000 from private foundations to backfill the money that the city rescinded for general operating grantees.

Oakland Symphony CEO Mieko Hatano, jazz musician and educator John Santos and Living Jazz executive director Lyz Luke joined those who spoke at the council meeting. Oakland Ballet’s artistic director Graham Lustig and Julie Baker, CEO of California Arts Advocates, are among the dozens of others who have urged the city to reinstate the Cultural Affairs Manager position.

Even those with no direct income from the arts or the nonprofit world spoke on Tuesday about the importance of art and cultural programs.

On the City Hall steps, the activist Minister King X held his phone to the loudspeaker microphone so that William “Will Bop” Edwards, currently incarcerated in Solano State Prison, could address the assembled crowd.

“When I was young, we had places to go. We had things to do that would scare us away from trouble. And with those places that involve art and creativity, it would allow us to meet, learn, and understand our neighbors. So when we grew up, we were less likely to want to shoot and kill people that grew up with us, because we had a prior relationship with them,” Edwards said, before an automated prison announcement came over the phone line to say that the call was being monitored and recorded.

The group has vowed to keep protesting every week until the Oakland City Council reinstates the position, said Brooks, who referred to investing in art as a “public safety strategy” that provides revenue and jobs.

Rachel Sanders, a dancer and poet who moved to Oakland two years ago, said that in addition to the impact on her own practice, she was dismayed at the budget being pushed through without sufficient time for thorough review by the public, or even certain council members.

“This move just makes no sense, and it feels like a betrayal,” Sanders said. “And that’s personal, you know? So that’s why I’m here.”