Commercial real estate interests have poured millions into recalling progressive Oakland District Attorney Pamela Price, blamed for a spike in crime and a drop-off in public safety.
Philip Dreyfuss, a partner at San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management, and Isaac Abid, co-founder of Lakeside Group, have raised $2.6 million through a political action committee to unseat Price, the San Francisco Business Times reported.
“It was hard to ignore the impact of increasing crime on local merchants, residents and businesses that include property owners,” Abid, a former partner with HP Investors, told the newspaper.
A shift to hybrid work and a slow return to offices in Oakland boosted vacancy last month to 24.1 percent, according to Colliers. Other estimates peg the overall vacancy at 30 percent.
Observers point to crime and public safety as a top contributor to the “negative narrative” surrounding Oakland, according to the Business Times.
The city’s four largest companies — Clorox, Blue Shield, PG&E and Kaiser — pooled together $10 million in March to beef up security near their offices, provide buddy escorts for workers and provide employee safety training.
Commercial real estate investors this year formed Northlake, a privately funded group that wants to boost security and street cleanings across the East Bay city.
Supporters of the campaign to recall Price say her policies increased crime last year, while she recommended lenient sentences for criminals. It marks the second effort to recall a progressive Bay Area district attorney, after the recall in 2022 of San Francisco D.A. Chesa Boudin.
Riaz Taplin, founder of Riaz Capital, said he has donated $45,000 to the campaign and helped to fundraise much more than that, calling it a “basic life safety issue.”
“How many small businesses have been destroyed by this DA?” Taplin told the Business Times. “I’ve personally had my office shot at twice. I’ve had my property managers held up — this is about basic life safety.”
Opponents of the recall say Oakland’s crime and public safety problems were decades in the making. The American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes the recall, called it a “rash move” that will “fix nothing.”
The D.A.’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The campaign against the recall, named Protect the Win for Public Safety, has raised $340,000.
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The donors to the recall campaign were listed in public campaign donation disclosures with Alameda County Registrar of Voters as of Oct. 24.
They include Dreyfuss, who donated $590,000; Holland Residential, $199,900; Kenneth Lin, co-founder of Credit Karma, $100,000; Ryan Graciano, co-founder of Credit Karma, $50,000; Taplin, $45,000; The Martin Group, $40,000; Carl Bass, founder of Autodesk, $30,000; HP Investors, $25,000; PG&E, $20,000; Ellis Partners, $10,000; Signature Development, $9,900; and TMG Partners, $9,500.
— Dana Bartholomew