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Oakland will soon have a new cultural affairs manager to oversee public funding for the arts. After the position was among the cuts when the city’s budget was approved on June 11, the city council voted to reinstate the position at its Dec. 2 meeting.  

Besides overseeing public funding, the manager also helps run the city’s Cultural Affairs Commission. The volunteer board advises the city on policy matters affecting artists, arts organizations, and culture. Other duties include securing external funding from foundations to be awarded directly to artists. Outside money is crucial, Oakland artists say, because the city allocates less than 1% of its total budget to Cultural Affairs and public arts programs.

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District 3 councilmember Carroll Fife was instrumental in reversing the council’s decision. In July, Fife told The Oaklandside that, after the budget was approved, she began conversations with the city administrator and others to determine how to secure funding to reinstate it. 

Cultural Affairs Commission chair Vanessa Whang said Fife worked with the finance department’s budget bureau to secure funds to reinstate the position. At a Nov. 18 city council meeting, Bradley Johnson, the director of the finance department, presented a report that showed the city had funds to reinstate the position. 

According to the report, the approved budget included $1,490,000 from the general fund to mitigate the potential layoffs of eight full-time positions. The finance department reconciled the funds and found a residual amount of just over $325,000 to restore the cultural affairs position for two years.

According to state records, in 2024, then cultural affairs manager Roberto Bedoya was paid a $178,000 salary and another $75,000 in retirement and health benefits.

During the public comment portion of the budget process, dozens of artists and advocates expressed their disapproval over the manager role being eliminated.

“It’s really scandalous that the arts are not featured in any way in this budget. You have $1.4 million for sideshow [prevention], but what about the organizations that put on real performances for thousands of residents here in Oakland?” Oakland Ballet Company artistic director Graham Lustig said at the June 10 meeting. “I feel as if we’re invisible. I would call this the invisible arts budget. Please reconsider your positions.”

Fife also worked with the Cultural Affairs Commission. 

“In this fight, we got support not only statewide from California Arts advocates, and also regional from Creative West, which is a western states organization of the Arts Council, State Arts Councils in the West,” Whang said. “They all understood that Oakland is a cultural sector that needs a leader. Some people don’t know the stature that Oakland has in the field nationally.”

Despite initially cutting the position, the city reopened the search for a new Cultural Affairs manager from August through September. More than 200 people applied from across the country, according to city of Oakland spokesperson Jean Walsh. A panel of external experts interviewed more than 20 candidates to narrow the list. The city declined to provide the list of experts who were part of the hiring process. 

“An internal panel is now in the process of final interviews, and we hope to be making a decision in the next couple of weeks, with the successful candidate ideally starting in the new year,” said Walsh.

Roberto Bedoya was the city’s first cultural affairs manager. He held that role from September 2016 through October 2024 when he retired. Pamela Mattera, the assistant cultural funding program coordinator, is in the position until the city finalizes the hiring of a new leader. 

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