THE DRIVERS CHANGE.
THE MACHINE REMAINS.
Oakland's political Machine is not one organization. It's an armada: the DSA-aligned wing of the Democratic Party, the public sector unions, a web of nonprofits and the foundations that fund them, an in-group of consultants and city staff, and local news media that tell their story.
The Machine picks who to run for election, who receives the political money and support they need to win, who gets the contracts, what you hear about it and how to spin it.
The trial is just the beginning.
The Sheng Thao corruption trial isn't just about one mayor, one family, one scandal.
The Machine that made Sheng Thao possible is still running over Oakland. As this series will show, that is the much bigger story than this one trial.
Turn the pages here once the viewer loads, or open the PDF.
The dysfunction we endure every day — the deficits, the broken services, the favoritism, the zero accountability — is the product of a system that has been consolidating power for decades.
Oakland has been the test track for a political Machine that is exported across California and the country.
That makes this city ground zero.
The trial is the starting line. This series is a roadmap, and a warning.
Over the next several issues, we will hit every landmark: Who recruits the candidates. Who funds them. Who covers for them. Who cashes in.
Our final destination: How to take Oakland back from The Machine.
See oaklandwatch.org for details and documentation for every statement in this issue. Don't just take our word for it. Read it and decide for yourself what to think.
Oakland Watch is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization. We are real humans who live in Oakland. This series is not AI.