Vote NO on Measure E. No more broken promises.

On May 28, the San Francisco Chronicle's editorial board urged Oaklanders to reject Measure E. The Chronicle wasn't alone: the East Bay Times, the League of Women Voters of Oakland, and the NAACP have all reached the same verdict, for the reasons we've made all along — Oakland keeps breaking its promises and mismanaging the money it already collects.

Voters are justified in wondering why, after repeated tax increases, Oakland is still unable to provide reliable baseline services.

San Francisco ChronicleEditorial Board

Read the editorial →

‘Just give us more money’ is not the answer to the city's badly mismanaged finances.

East Bay TimesEditorial Board

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Mounting tax obligations call for a high level of transparency, and the proposed commission's oversight is weak.

League of Women Voters of Oakland

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Black and Brown communities…should not now be asked to shoulder a disproportionate share of another regressive tax while continuing to receive unequal services in return.

Cynthia AdamsPresident, NAACP Oakland Branch

Mailer to Oakland voters, May 2026

In case you missed it

On May 21, a coalition of Oakland organizations stood together to reject Measure E in person, including leaders from the Black Action Alliance, the NAACP, the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, ShopRite, former City Council members, and Empower Oakland.

Watch the press conference →   See it on Instagram →

Since 2020, Oakland voters have approved $150 million in new annual taxes — and the city's deficit still grew to $130 million.

Measure NN didn't just fall short on the 700-officer promise: the city declared a fiscal emergency, kept taking your money, and redirected the funds. Now City Hall says it needs Measure E to deliver what NN already promised — and nothing in Measure E prevents the same thing from happening again.

The city's own administrator reviewed 21 voter-approved tax measures and agreements — and found the city broke its promises in seven of them, including three of the last four parcel taxes. Measure E asks you to trust that record one more time.

Special taxes are up 379% in 20 years

Oakland already collects the highest per-capita tax revenue of any comparable California city — about $2,086 per resident, more than double Sacramento's. The city is now bringing in a record $1.6 billion a year.

And they want more. Measure E piles another $34 million per year on top of a tax burden that has already quadrupled in a generation. Because it qualified by signature, it needs only 50% + 1 to pass — not the two-thirds a city-sponsored tax would require.

If you rent, you pay too

Measure E is a parcel tax. Your landlord pays it and can pass the full cost to you — Oakland's rent ordinance doesn't cap parcel-tax pass-throughs. Half of Oakland rents.

$192 per year on a single-family rental. $131 per unit on apartment buildings, passed through to each tenant. For zero guaranteed improvements to your street, your block, or your 911 response time.

The neighborhoods with the highest crime and slowest 911 response pay the same rate as the Hills — and not one dollar in the measure is required to reach those communities.