Finance and Management Committee Meeting Summary – July 14, 2026
Finance and Management Committee Meeting Summary – July 14, 2026
The Finance and Management Committee met on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, at 9:31 AM to consider eight items, including a technology audit, fiscal health roadmap, strategic plan update, parking garage contract extension, bond reimbursement resolution, and a forensic audit contract. The meeting was chaired by Councilmember Ramachandran, with members Brown, Unger, and Wong present. All items passed with 4-0 votes, with one item amended.
Consent Calendar
- Item 1: Accepted the draft minutes from June 23, 2026 (4-0).
- Item 2: Approved the determination of schedule of outstanding committee items as presented (4-0).
- Item 7: Adopted a resolution declaring the city's intent to reimburse certain expenditures from bond proceeds for Measures DD, KK, and U (4-0).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Kevin Daly (several items): Suggested areas for the tech audit, including 311 call handling and data center impacts; urged inclusion of street safety settlements in the fiscal roadmap; supported moderate-term parking garage extension; requested data collection improvements; and expressed concerns about the definition of a forensic audit.
- Blair Beekman (several items): Raised concerns about ALPR readers in parking projects and the need for public policy; commented on the parking garage contract and tech audit.
- Mississippi Olabala (several items): Criticized the city's handling of democracy dollars, Measure E, and Lincoln Rec Center funding; questioned the forensic audit's scope; raised immigration-related issues during open forum.
Discussion Items
- Item 3 – Tech Audit Grant: Director Erica Estrella presented a resolution to accept $202,500 from the Oakland Fund for an independent audit of the city's technology systems. The audit will inventory all systems, trace hiring and contracting workflows, and rank problems. Councilmembers expressed support and asked about RFP timeline and scope (e.g., including civil enforcement). The item was forwarded to the July 21 City Council meeting on consent.
- Item 4 – Roadmap to Fiscal Health One-Year Update: Finance Director Brad Johnson summarized progress on 11 planks, including compliance with ballot measures, pension cost containment, and revenue collection improvements. Councilmember Unger requested more data on pension reform impacts. Councilmember Wong noted the need for a public communication strategy. The report was received and filed.
- Item 5 – Citywide Strategic Plan One-Year Update: Deputy City Administrator Monica Davis and multiple team leads presented progress on five priorities: streamlining operations, cross-departmental collaboration, communication, workforce management, and budget alignment. Councilmembers asked about HR coordination and roadblocks. The report was forwarded to the July 21 City Council meeting on consent.
- Item 6 – Parking Garage Contract Extension: Assistant Revenue Administrator Jose Taguda requested a two-year extension (with up to one year month-to-month) for the City of Oakland Parking Partners contract, totaling $12,399,039. Councilmembers expressed strong concerns about low revenue collection, lack of enforcement, and absence of garage-level data. After public comment, Councilmember Ramachandran moved to amend the contract to a six-month extension (through end of 2026) and requested supplemental data on each garage. The motion passed 4-0, and the item was forwarded to the July 21 City Council meeting on consent.
- Item 8 – Forensic Audit Contract: Assistant to the City Administrator Rose Rubel presented a resolution to authorize a $490,000 contract with Weaver & Tidwell LLP for forensic audit of capital projects and human services contracts (July 2022 – June 2025). Councilmembers asked about the firm's local subcontractor qualifications (meeting SLBE requirements) and past findings. The item was forwarded to the July 21 City Council meeting on consent with a request for supplemental information on SLBE compliance, subcontractor names, and examples of findings from other cities.
Key Outcomes
- All items passed with 4-0 votes.
- Item 6 was amended to a six-month contract extension (end of 2026) instead of two years.
- Items 3, 5, 6, 7, and 8 were forwarded to the July 21, 2026 City Council meeting on consent.
- Items 4 was received and filed in committee.
- Staff were directed to provide supplemental reports for items 6 and 8, including garage-level data, SLBE compliance details, subcontractor names, and examples of past audit findings.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, and welcome to the Finance and Management Committee meeting of Tuesday, July 14th, 2026. The time is now nine thirty-one AM, and this meeting may come to order. Before taking roll, I will provide instructions on how to submit speaker cards for items on this agenda. If you're here with us in chamber, I would like to submit a speaker card, please fill one out and turn one into myself or clerk representative, no later than ten minutes after the start of this meeting, or before the item is read into record. Registering to speak via Zoom is now due twenty-four hours prior to the start of this meeting time. This meeting came came to order at night nine thirty-one AM and speaker cards will no longer be accepted ten minutes after, making that time nine forty-one AM. We'll now proceed with taking roll. Council members Brown. Present and Chair Ramachandron. Chair, before before we begin, do you have any announcements at this time? No, this is the last set of committees before our summer recess, which is why we have a packed agenda today, and I look forward to getting through it. Sorry. Unger. And Chair Ramachandran. Thank you. Item one passes with four eyes to accept the draft minutes from June 23rd, 2026. Reading in item two, determination of schedule of outstanding committee items, also known as your pending list. We have one speaker that's signed up, but he is not in the queue. So okay, thank you. Anything from administration? Nothing at this time. Thank you. Okay. I will entertain a motion. Second. Thank you. That's a motion made by Councilmember Unger, seconded by Councilmember Brown to accept the determination of schedule of outstanding committee items as is. On roll council members Brown. Aye. Unger. Aye. Wong. Aye. And Chair Ramachandran. I thank you. Item two passes with four eyes. So accept the determination of schedule of outstanding committee items as is. Reading in item three. Adopt a resolution to accept an appropriate grant funds from the Oakland fund in an amount not to exceed 200 2,500 for a comprehensive independent audit of the City of Oakland's technology systems. And we have three speakers that signed up to speak on this item. All right, we will hear from staff. Good morning, Chair and Members. I'm Erica Estrella, Director of Data and Technology Transformation in the Office of Mayor Barbara Lee. The item before you is a resolution to accept 2025 202,500 in grant from funds from the Oakland fund. The funds will pay for an independent audit of the city's technology systems. If I may share an anecdote anecdote, when I started last year, I sat in the budget meeting and learned about people needing to hand walk hiring documents between departments due to lack of systems integration. I have to say I was shocked. For context, my background is over 20 years in private sector technology. And if that had ever been the case anywhere I worked, everyone would drop everything to get it fixed. We pursue this funding because we have heard over and over that our systems failures like this are part of many of the challenges facing the city, not only just in hiring, but in contracting and other areas as well.
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