Updated Sunday, July 22, 4:45 p.m.:
According to an Obama for America campaign official:
"On Monday, July 23, President Obama will attend three fundraisers in California. In Oakland, the President will attend a fundraiser with approximately 25 people. Tickets for the event cost $35,800 per person.
"Then, he will attend a fundraising event at a private residence in Piedmont. There will be approximately 60 people at that event, and tickets cost $35,800 per person.
"In the evening, the President will deliver remarks before 2,000 people at a fundraising reception at Fox Theatre in Oakland. Tickets for this event start at $100 per person.
"Proceeds from Monday’s events will go to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint fundraising committee of Obama for America, the Democratic National Committee and several state Democratic parties."
Editor's note: Piedmont Patch will be covering the President's visit in person, or at least as close as the Secret Service will allow. Check for a story Monday evening. And if you happen to get photos of the motorcade, or other aspects of the visit, please share them by emailing to me at dixiemjordan@gmail.com.
It's been an interesting and often frustrating week, trying to get information about President Barack Obama's on Monday and figuring out Patch coverage of the $35,800 a plate fundraising dinner at the Piedmont home of Quinn Delaney and Wayne Jordan.
Often the highlight of my week is talking to Detective George Phifer at the . So far this week I've talked to:
- Secret Service headquarters (very pleasant, referred me to the White House press office)
- The White House press office (very pleasant, referred me to the Obama for America re-election campaign)
- Obama for America press office (polite, gave me the email address for the campaign's California media relations person)
- Obama for America's California press liaison (email only; would not confirm Piedmont visit, but this did ultimately snag me a chance to apply for press credentials if I wanted to cover the July 23 fundraiser at Oakland's Fox Theater)
- The Secret Service's San Francisco office (very pleasant, a supervisor called me back, but official policy is absolutely no comment whatsoever)
- Anyone else I could think of who might know something (mixed results)
- And yes, Detective Phifer (very helpful, as always, on recent crime in Piedmont).
Through Friday, July 20, the only official confirmation of the Piedmont event remained the ticket order form on the Obama for America website.
I wasn't the only frustrated journalist. Josh Richman, political reporter for the San Jose Mercury News and other Bay Area News Group newspapers, tweeted on Friday, "Still no press logistics for @MittRomney in SF Sunday or @BarackObama in Oakland Monday. Why so last-minute? EVERYONE KNOWS YOU’RE COMING."
Doug Sovern of KCBS, who broke the story of the President's local visit, tweeted the same day, "Romney has no public or open press events here Sunday. Neither does Obama when he comes to the East Bay Monday."
Finally, on Saturday morning, the Obama for America campaign released a media advisory:
"CHICAGO – On Monday, July 23, President Obama will begin a three-day trip to Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington and Louisiana. President Obama will travel to Oakland, California to deliver remarks at a fundraising reception at Fox Theatre on Monday, July 23....
Still no mention of the Piedmont event.
Questions, Questions, Questions
What I want to know (and please respond in the comments section below if you know the answers):
- What's the time frame for the Piedmont fundraiser? The ticket order form says 4:15 p.m., just 15 minutes before the Fox Theater reception is supposed to start. President Obama's remarks at the Fox are scheduled for 8 p.m., according to Friday's press advisory. A very short dinner in Piedmont? Or a long wait for attendees at the Fox event? Parking restrictions in Piedmont Monday cover the period from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. According to Capt. Scott Wyatt, Piedmont's interim police chief, the time span is wide enough to accommodate possible changes in the President's schedule.
- What's on the dinner menu? (Frivolous, I know ...)
- Who's on the guest list?
- Was there really a raffle for tickets to the Piedmont event? And if so, who won them?
- Where can I park? (Details of Piedmont's .)
A Bit of Biography
Here's what we know about the Piedmont dinner hosts, M. Quinn Delaney and her husband, Wayne Jordan.
Delaney was raised in the Chicago area, where her mother sat on the Chicago Art Institute's board of directors. She has a sister, Anne, an artist and philanthropist who lives in New York, and two other siblings. Her first initial, M, stands for Mary. She graduated from Pitzer College in southern California, class of 1976, and received her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center. She was admitted to the California Bar in 1981, although she no longer practices law.
More recently, Delaney has served as a director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California and is the current president of the Oakland Museum of California Foundation board of trustees. She's been active with, and a major contributor to, many other groups, with an emphasis on those promoting racial and social justice and women's advancement in politics.
Currently Delaney is the founder and president of the Akonadi Foundation, a family-run grantmaking foundation based in Oakland. According to its website, the foundation "is guided by our vision for a racially just society. We dream of a day when all people, including youth and adults of color, enjoy the right to self-determination." Most recently, the foundation is focusing on education and criminal justice issues in Oakland. Delaney's husband, Wayne Jordan, is the foundation's secretary-treasurer.
There's less information about Jordan available on the Internet, apart from his very substantial political contributions to the Democratic Party and Democratic political campaigns, including those of Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Barbara Boxer.
Jordan is considered a major "bundler" of campaign contributions for President Obama and, together with Delaney, hosted a fundraising event in Piedmont for then-Sen. Obama in 2007. The President-to-be attended that event. Jordan also contributed to Hillary Clinton's campaign. Locally, both Jordan and Delaney contributed to the successful reelection campaign of Margaret Fujioka, currently vice mayor of the Piedmont City Council.
According to the Akonadi website, Jordan is a real estate investor and developer, working primarily in Northern California. His downtown Oakland office is located in the historic Central Building at 436 14th St., which Jordan bought in 2005 for just under $16 million, according to this article in the San Francisco Business Times. (Akonadi operates out of the same office.)
He was also the developer of the Wheelink Project, 94 condominuim units in an eight-story building at 426 Alice St., Oakland, in the Jack London Square area, according to City of Oakland records.
He is a member of the Progressive Era Project (which has an office in the Central Building) and serves on the Investment Committee of the Democracy Alliance, on the board of the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, on the Investment Committee of the ACLU and, in the past, on the board of the Bentley School.
Thoughts on the President's visit to Piedmont? Tidbits of information? Tell us in the comments section below.
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