FOLLOW THE MONEY · Official opposition · June 2, 2026
Powerful public-sector unions—SEIU Local 1021 and firefighter unions—bankrolled the rapid signature drive to put Measure E on the ballot. Why? Because it funnels $34 million every single year—over $300 million over nine years—straight into the City of Oakland’s General Fund, where those same unions negotiate their contracts, salaries, pensions, and staffing levels. You pay the tax. They get the revenue. City Hall gets the slush fund. This isn’t public safety. It’s a sophisticated taxpayer-funded enrichment program for the very interests that engineered it. Vote NO on this rigged scheme.
FOLLOW THE MONEY
This is not a public safety measure.
This is a taxpayer-funded union enrichment program.
VOTE NO ON MEASURE E.
They couldn’t even write a ballot question promising better outcomes. They settled for “prevent worse.” That tells you everything you need to know about this cynical cash grab.
The proponents will flood the airwaves with emotional appeals about firefighters and 911 calls. But read the actual ballot language they wrote. It’s deliberately weak because they know this tax won’t fix Oakland’s problems.
This was never about your safety. It was about following the money. The same unions that helped qualify this measure will be first in line when that new $34 million per year hits the General Fund. The ballot language is weak by design—because the priority was never delivering results. The priority was securing the revenue stream.
The campaign talks about $192 for single-family homes because that number polls well. The actual ordinance is far more brutal. Multi-family properties get slammed with $131 per residential unit. Commercial properties get crushed by a punitive formula based on square footage and street frontage that can easily reach tens—or hundreds—of thousands per year.
This isn’t shared sacrifice. This is a deliberate wealth transfer from renters, small businesses, and working families into the pockets of the union-backed political machine. The $192 figure is marketing. The real cost is a hidden rent increase and business killer sold as compassion.
| Property type | Annual rate | How it’s assessed |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family residential | $192 | Flat per parcel |
| Multi-family residential | $131 per unit | Multiplied by every unit on the parcel — a direct rent increase for tenants |
| Commercial / non-residential | $224 per “equivalent” | Formula using square footage and frontage—large properties can owe $50,000–$200,000+ per year |
Landlords don’t absorb per-unit taxes. They pass them straight to tenants. In a city already suffering from an affordability crisis, Measure E is nothing less than a city-mandated rent hike—a regressive tax on the very people the unions claim to champion. This is shameless.
The commercial rate is deliberately punitive. A formula that scales with square footage and frontage will hammer landlords, retailers, restaurants, and industrial properties. Jobs will be lost. Investment will flee. All so the same unions that helped write this tax can demand a bigger share of the pie. This is economic malpractice.
$300 million+ over nine years. That’s not a “modest contribution.” That’s a blank check to the same failed regime that couldn’t deliver on the last tax increase. This must be stopped.
This isn’t complicated. The unions that funded this measure want more of your money. The politicians want more revenue. Oaklanders want results. Results have not been delivered. Here are the three undeniable reasons this scam must be destroyed at the ballot box.
Voters approved Measure NN with a clear promise tied to roughly 700 officers. You paid. They didn’t deliver. Hundreds of positions remain vacant. Now the same broken machine is back demanding another $34 million a year while refusing to guarantee results. This isn’t a funding problem. This is institutional contempt for the taxpayers who keep writing the checks. Enough. Vote NO.
The Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) tax was scheduled to drop toward zero as legacy obligations naturally declined. That was going to be real, scheduled relief for every property owner in Oakland. Instead, City Hall and its union allies engineered Measure E to replace that expiring revenue stream. They intercepted your tax cut. They took the money that was supposed to come back to you and redirected it into their own system. This is one of the most cynical moves in modern Oakland politics. Vote NO and take your cut back.
Oakland’s real crisis isn’t a lack of money—it’s a complete collapse of execution. Massive structural budget gaps. Hundreds of vacant positions. Decades of broken promises. Measure E doesn’t fix any of that. It simply pours another $300 million+ into the same dysfunctional machine that created this mess in the first place. This isn’t a public safety plan. It’s a perpetual revenue machine for the political class and their union allies. Stop feeding the beast. Vote NO on Measure E.
“This isn’t about public safety. This is about power and money. Follow the money—then crush Measure E at the ballot box.”
The other side has money, unions, and emotional manipulation on their side. We have the truth—and the anger of every taxpayer who’s been lied to one time too many. Turn that anger into action.
Because it does. Every single NO vote is a direct rejection of this union-orchestrated tax grab. Share StopMeasureE.com with every renter, homeowner, small business owner, and fed-up taxpayer you know. The message is simple: No more blank checks to a broken system.
Confront YES supporters with one question: “If the unions that funded this measure are the same ones who negotiate how that money gets spent, who do you think actually benefits?” Then point them to the money trail. Watch the realization hit. This is how we win the argument.
This is a war for Oakland’s future. The YES side will outspend us. They have institutional power. We have the truth. Help us flood the city with yard signs, mailers, digital ads, and door-to-door truth-telling. Every dollar and every hour counts.
Contact the committee
Mailing address and state/local committee ID numbers will be added here once filings are complete. California FPPC and Oakland Public Ethics Commission: pending.
The unions and their political allies have money, organization, and decades of practice shaking down taxpayers. We have the truth, the anger, and the moral high ground. This is our moment to stop the grift.
Every dollar you give funds the weapons we need to defeat this scam: devastating mail pieces exposing the union self-dealing, digital ads that cut through the emotional manipulation, yard signs that declare NO MORE, and the compliance work required to beat them at their own game.
Donate to Kill Measure EWe need canvassers, phone bankers, sign hosts, social media warriors, and anyone willing to speak truth to this taxpayer-funded power grab. Fields marked are required.