Council Member Carroll Fife said art “is economic development. It’s more butts in seats at shows." Photo: Oakland District 3 Council Member Carroll Fife gives remarks during a city council meeting at the Oakland City Hall Council Chambers in Oakland in January. Fife and Mayor Barbara Lee are proposing to restore the city’s cultural affairs manager position, which was eliminated last month.

Oakland artists’ push to restore their city’s arts leader just took a big step forward.

On Tuesday, July 22, Council Member Carroll Fife and Mayor Barbara Lee shared a proposal to restore the city’s cultural affairs manager position, which was eliminated last month in an effort to save $300,000 annually in salary, benefits and administrative overhead to help plug a $265 million budget deficit.  

Fife told the Chronicle she directed the city’s budget administrator, Bradley Johnson, to find alternative funding from an ongoing source. He has until the council’s next meeting, in September, to accomplish that task. 

When the city passed a budget that cut the role, artists and community members lambasted the decision. Critics cited the outside revenue the now-retired officeholder, Roberto Bedoya, generated during his seven-year term, as well as the way the city’s arts scene bolsters its national reputation. Some also alleged that petty interpersonal politics, rather than good-faith fiscal concerns, spurred that cut.

Fife agrees with those dissenters, noting that arts means jobs.