Oakland's City Council has increased fundraising limits for officeholder accounts, raising the cap for district council members to $75,000 and for the at-large seat to $100,000. The councilmembers argued the limits had not changed since 1999 and needed adjustment. The Public Ethics Commission did not support this change, citing that officials rarely hit old limits and have existing methods to collect donations. In 2025, no councilmembers approached the previous fundraising cap, although some reported significant expenses, particularly the proposal's supporters.
In June, Oakland's City Council approved a significant change allowing district council members to raise funds up to $75,000, tripling the previous limit established in 1999.
The Public Ethics Commission did not endorse this increase, stating that elected officials rarely hit the old $25,000 cap and already have mechanisms like behested payments for fundraising.
So far in 2025, council members have not approached the old fundraising limits, with most hardly utilizing their officeholder accounts.
Councilmembers Jenkins and Ramachandran, who proposed the increase, notably reported significant expenditures for meals and meetings in the first half of 2025.
Collection
[
|
...
]