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Just 30 minutes from San Francisco sits the city of Richmond, Calif., which has quietly become one of the country’s most unusual political experiments.

It’s a city where an activist coalition that includes democratic socialists has exercised influence over local government for years.

From the outside, Richmond looks like any other working-class California city with a massive Chevron refinery looming over the shoreline and immigrant-owned businesses lining 23rd Street. Politically, however, Richmond stands apart.

The Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), which was formed in the early 2000s, has played a major role in the city’s government for more than two decades.

The group’s website states it was initially started to “challenge corporate power, oppose the Iraq War, and fight for fair housing and rent control.”

Its influence has only grown over the years, leaving many Richmond residents concerned about City Hall’s relationship with local businesses and its openness to economic development.

The RPA’s influence is perhaps most evident in City Hall, where Mayor Eduardo Martinez, who is aligned with the coalition and openly affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), leads the progressive-leaning city council.

Martinez has championed policies focused on environmental justice and reducing corporate influence.

However, critics say that the city has become increasingly hostile to businesses overall, both big and local.

“Richmond embraces elements of progressive governance, but like the rest of America, we are not defined by any single ideology,” Martinez told Fox News Digital. “We are a diverse community with a range of political perspectives, united by a commitment to serving our residents. While we may disagree on certain issues, I am encouraged by our ability to find common ground on priorities such as addressing homelessness, creating living-wage jobs, maintaining a clean city, and ensuring government works for the people.”

When asked about the influence the RPA has in Richmond, Martinez told Fox News Digital that the group “serves as an alternative to traditional, business-dominated politics. It seeks to empower communities that have historically been marginalized by providing meaningful opportunities for residents to participate in shaping the decisions that affect their lives.”

“When I first ran for city council and was elected back in the early 90s, I was considered to be the most, let’s say, the most liberal person on the city council. And since then, if anything, I’ve gotten even more liberal and progressive. But when I left, I wasn’t considered the most conservative person on city council, so I didn’t change that much. But the city council changed dramatically,” former Richmond Mayor Tom Butt told Fox News Digital.

When asked about the influence the RPA has in Richmond, Martinez told Fox News Digital that the group “serves as an alternative to traditional, business-dominated politics. It seeks to empower communities that have historically been marginalized by providing meaningful opportunities for residents to participate in shaping the decisions that affect their lives.”

Butt was the longest continually serving person on the City Council and played a consequential role as mayor.

Now, he’s concerned about the direction of Richmond under the RPA’s influence.

“When the first RPA people got elected — although I wasn’t one of them and I had some suspicions of them — I found them very helpful to get things done I wanted to do,” Butt said, adding that the group was helpful in tackling issues such as climate change and energy.

“I enjoyed the help I got from those RPA folks. And then as they gained more power in the mid-2010s, they pivoted,” he said.

The shift in the RPA’s impact on Richmond occurred amid the city’s efforts to curb Chevron’s influence in local politics. The energy giant runs a massive refinery in Richmond and remains one of the city’s largest sources of tax revenue. While RPA leadership argued that the company should pay more to address environmental and community impacts, critics warned that if the city alienated Chevron, it could lead to disastrous economic results.

Supporters of the RPA point to the coalition’s victories in the city’s fight against Chevron, arguing that the group has helped hold the company accountable.

However, Butt said that City Hall’s tension with business owners goes beyond Chevron.