Look behind most major city decisions in Oakland and you’ll probably find a lobbyist. 

Like any big city, the contracts, zoning decisions, and policy choices made by Oakland’s leaders can be worth millions to private companies. Or, they can cost millions in additional taxes, fees, and lost bids. 

That’s where lobbyists enter the picture. 

Paid by clients who have a lot riding on the city’s decisions, lobbyists work to influence the decision makers. And there are dozens of lobbyists in The Town who spend their days chatting up politicians, meeting with public employees, and doing their best to help their clients.

The Public Ethics Commission maintains a database that allows you to search for lobbyists, their employers, and their clients. Search OakApps

The lobbying crowd has thinned out in recent years in Oakland, according to official data. Last year, there were 57 lobbyists registered in Oakland, the lowest of any year since the start of the pandemic.

But some of these lobbyists were very busy, reporting 801 contacts with Oakland public officials in 2025. 

A contact may involve emailing or calling an official to support or oppose legislation or a contract. It can also include meeting with someone in government to share information about a project, collaborating on drafting a policy, or introducing a client to someone in government. 

Anyone lobbying in Oakland has to register with the city. And four times a year, each lobbyist must file a report with the Public Ethics Commission that discloses their list of clients and documents all their contacts. The rules are spelled out in Oakland’s Lobbyist Registration Act.

Here are some key takeaways for 2025, based on the ethics commission’s records:

Influence is concentrated. 70% of all contacts with public officials were made by just 10 lobbyists. This same group of lobbyists also accounted for about two-thirds of all contacts with elected officials.

The most active individual lobbyist in 2025 was Isaac Kos-Read. Last year, Kos-Read reported 153 contacts with public officials, including civil servants and politicians. He also accounted for more than one-quarter of all reported contacts with elected officials, 125, the most of any lobbyist.

The most active lobbying firm was the public interest law firm Earthjustice, which deployed three staffers to influence Oakland officials last year. They collectively reported 242 contacts.

18 lobbyists reported no activity or terminated their registration, meaning they’re no longer actively trying to influence the city.

Isaac Kos-Read, has worked in the public affairs arena for 25 years, including stints at the Port of Oakland and OUSD. He set up his own lobbying firm in Oakland in 2014, the Kos-Read Group, which represented 13 clients last year. 

Verizon

Becker Boards

East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation

Ohana Real Estate Investors

High Flying Foods

Marina Security Services

Strive Real Estate

AIMS K-12 College Prep Charter District

Deca Companies

Waste Management

Hybridge Capital Management

Marshal Retail Group

B9 Hotel LLC

Kos-Read notched several wins for his clients. In June, the City Council agreed to let Becker Boards set up new billboards around Oakland in exchange for millions of dollars for the city and free advertising for some local organizations. In December, the council authorized city staff to begin negotiations with Costco and Deca Companies for a potential big box store on the former Oakland Army Base. That same month, the council approved legislation to forgive outstanding loans for two properties owned by EBALDC affiliates.

Thanks in part to lobbying by Kos-Read, the city council did not approve a security services contract to a company recommended by the Public Works Department. Kos-Read represented Marina Security Services, who several councilmembers wanted to win bidding for the multi-million dollar service. The contract has yet to be awarded.

Kos-Read declined an interview request but in response to a list of questions emailed a brief statement: “I have served as a public affairs and community engagement consultant throughout California for 25 years. KRG follows the highest standard for public transparency and is in full compliance with the law. And our clients’ results speak for themselves.”

An environmental group extensively lobbied the port to reduce emissions

Two attorneys, Michelle Ghafar and Katrina Thomas, and an analyst, Kjellen Belcher, representing the nonprofit Earthjustice, a public interest environmental law organization, chalked up the most contacts for a single organization.

Of the trio’s 242 contacts with city officials, they mainly interacted with Port of Oakland leaders who they urged to support zero-emissions operations. Ships and trucks visiting the port have been big sources of pollution, especially when their engines idle awaiting loading and unloading.  

The Earthjustice team also lobbied port and councilmembers to support the appointment of a “public health and environmental justice advocate” to the Port Commission. Last summer, the city council appointed Alvina Wong, an activist who worked for the Asian Pacific Environmental Network.  

Ghafar, Thomas, and Belcher did not respond to an interview request.

Roots and Soul looking for places to play

Lindsay Barenz is the president of Oakland Pro Soccer, the parent organization of the Oakland Roots and Soul soccer teams. In 2025 she reported 44 contacts with public officials, almost all of them members of the Oakland City Council or the mayor’s office.

All of Barenz’s contacts concerned real estate development and economic plans. The Roots have been playing at the Oakland Coliseum and both teams have expressed interest in Howard Terminal as a site for a permanent stadium. At the end of the year, the City Council agreed to give the sports club a cut of the city’s hotel tax revenue to help the franchise attract a team to play at their Alameda training facility during the FIFA World Cup. The Australian men’s national team also recently selected this facility to be a base camp training site ahead of the World Cup. 

A spokesperson for the club declined an interview.

Cannabis and transitional housing

Nara Dahlbacka, who works for the Milo Group of California, reported 37 contacts with public officials, most of them elected. She represented eight clients last year. 

Kiva Confections

Martin-Marietta

IKE Smart City

Amarok Security

Tidewater

Bay Area Community Services

Saint John’s Episcopal Church

Urbana Oakland

Only two of her clients actually needed her to talk to city leaders, according to disclosure records. 

One of these clients was Bay Area Community Services. She contacted councilmembers and the mayor’s office to discuss contracts and leases for transitional housing sites and a program for housing homeless people BACS was running. In June the council approved a resolution that authorized up to $4 million in additional funding to BACS to extend a homelessness prevention pilot program.

She also urged city staff and councilmembers to allow cannabis consumption at designated lounges at the behest of her client Urbana Oakland, a weed dispensary. In May, the city council set new standards for approving on site cannabis consumption permits. The council also carved out an exemption from the city’s indoor smoking restrictions. According to her bio on the Milo Group’s website, Dahlbacka’s representation of cannabis companies has earned her the nickname “Queen of Green.”

Dahlbacka did not respond to an interview request.

Since moving to Oakland, PG&E frequently talks to the city

The utility company PG&E’s lobbyist, Sarah Yoell, is on the board of the Unity Council. She used to lead the East Oakland Boxing Association, and before that was a staffer to former District 7 Councilmember Larry Reid. She reported 37 contacts with public officials last year.

Many of Yoell’s contacts concerned public safety issues. She asked councilmembers and a police commission staffer to change OPD’s vehicle chase policy. The department and police commission agreed in September to approve a handful of changes to the policy after some critics complained it was preventing officers from chasing people suspected of property crimes. One of the big changes was to rescind a special department order that required police to end a chase if they or the suspect’s speed reached or exceeded 50 mph, unless a supervisor allowed them to continue.   

She also met with elected officials and non-elected officials to discuss public safety funding and resources, and homelessness prevention resources. PG&E recently donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help Oakland revive its police cadet program.

Yoell lobbied several councilmembers to oppose a resolution supporting California Senate Bill 332, which would impose stricter audits on PG&E and called for a study to assess alternatives to for-profit utilities. Council President Kevin Jenkins, who pulled the legislation before it could be scheduled for a vote, was one of the officials Yoell lobbied.

Yoell also met with the City Administrator’s office and the mayor to discuss a “possible location for a new substation build.”

Yoell did not respond to an interview request.

Airbnb is concerned about being regulated in Oakland

Rashad Johnson, a lobbyist employed by the Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck law firm, made 28 contacts with public officials in Oakland last year, almost all of them elected officials. Johnson represented six clients. 

Airbnb

Supportive Housing Community Land Alliance

Zen Compound LLC

Throne Labs

Samuel Merritt University

Behring Capital

About one-third of Johnson’s contacts concerned Airbnb, the giant short-term rental company. Short-term rentals are generally illegal in Oakland but for well over a decade the city has mostly looked the other way, choosing not to regulate the thousands of homes, apartments, and rooms that are rented out through Airbnb and similar platforms. Johnson contacted councilmembers and the mayor about short-term rental policies in Oakland. He also pitched working together with local organizations “to support the arts, housing, and special events.” 

City officials told The Oaklandside last year that recommendations for short-term rental rules would be coming forward in 2026.

Johnson also reported meeting with the mayor’s chief of staff and Councilmember Kevin Jenkins to discuss a building purchased by the company Zen Compound. In July, news organizations reported that the owners of the Temple nightclub in San Francisco had purchased the historic Greyhound bus station on San Pablo Avenue.

And Johnson met with several councilmembers to discuss “product and potential procurement” for his client Throne Labs, a company that sells prefabricated public restrooms. He also met with councilmembers to discuss programs that Samuel Merritt University is supporting, and he met with several elected officials to “establish a relationship” with Behring Capital, a major real estate developer that trumpeted plans last year to do business in downtown Oakland.

Shereda Nosakhare

Shereda Nosakhare used to be Libby Schaaf’s chief of staff when Schaaf occupied the mayor’s office. She now works for Lighthouse Public Affairs and represented 10 clients last year. 

Oakland Ballers

BH Management

AAA Northern California, Nevada, and Utah

BMG Money

BMO Bank

FairVote Action

Grocery Outlet

Allied Universal Security Services

Oakland Housing Authority

Temescal Property Management

Nosakhare made 27 contacts with public officials last year. She contacted city staff several times on behalf of the Oakland Ballers regarding use of Raimondi Park for their stadium, permits for hosting games, and to advocate for the removal of illegal dumping and encampments that blocked the right of way.

“The Oakland Ballers was probably one of my favorite wins,” Nosakhare told The Oaklandside. “That one was a good public-private partnership.”

The Ballers went on to win the Pioneer League championship.

Nosakhare also contacted councilmembers to support awarding a lucrative security services contract to her client, Allied Universal. City staff wanted to give the contract to Allied but lobbying by Marina Security Services and its lobbyist, Kos-Read, may have derailed the bid. Public Works staff tried to give the contract to Allied again last fall but withdrew it after reports emerged that a subsidiary of Allied does business with ICE.

Nosakhare had a meeting with economic and workforce development staff to provide an update on “the history and current status of the former Holy Names University Campus” for her client BH Management. The SF Chronicle recently reported that the campus will be transformed into affordable housing.

She also contacted housing staff to discuss “potential housing and economic and workforce development opportunities” in relation to her client BMO Bank and to secure planning approval for a building purchased by AAA. And she met with a couple officials on behalf of her client, the Oakland Housing Authority, to discuss appointments to OHA’s board and to discuss “potential partnerships” with the city. 

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