Finance & Management Committee Meeting – October 13, 2026

The Finance & Management Committee of the Oakland City Council met on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 9:30 AM in the City Council Chamber. Chair Ramachandran presided, with Councilmembers Brown and Unger present and Councilmember Wang excused. The committee approved the previous meeting minutes, accepted the schedule of outstanding items, and voted on two major contract extensions: one for payroll system support with Mythics, LLC and one for the city's parking citation system with Modaxo Traffic Management Inc. The meeting adjourned at 10:26 AM.

Consent Calendar

• Approval of the draft minutes from the committee meeting of September 22, 2026 – accepted unanimously (3-0).
• Determination of schedule of outstanding committee items – accepted unanimously (3-0) after one public speaker and a staff report noting that the city administrator's spending report (covering 2023‑24 through 2025‑26) is scheduled for the October 27, 2026 committee meeting.

Public Comments & Testimony

• On Item 2 (schedule of outstanding items): Ms. Sado Olabala criticized the committee for consistently ignoring issues, specifically citing the lack of an annual report on the city administrator's capacity to spend up to $250,000 and the absence of a fiscal impact analysis of Oakland's sanctuary city designation.
• On Item 3 (Mythics, LLC extension): Ms. Olabala questioned the fiscal impact statement's phrase "subject to funding availability" and noted that the agreement's start date of July 1, 2026 was retroactive to October 13, 2026, warning of potential liability from approving contracts after the fact.
• On Item 4 (parking citation system): Sean Mackin argued that parking policy, traffic safety, and collections are integrated and that the Finance Department had not sought input from OakDOT. He also noted that the contract extension did not address the upcoming demand-based parking rollout. Ms. Olabala criticized the use of Rule 28 to bypass the Rules Committee, questioned whether outstanding invoices violated the Prompt Payment Policy, and asked at what point the contract had been transferred from Conduit to Modaxo without council approval.
• During Open Forum: Ms. Olabala raised concerns about the expired contract with ABC Security and requested that future contracts include race‑demographic equity considerations. Kevin Daly expressed ongoing concerns about police overtime and the quality of OPD collision reports, citing a poorly written report on a fatal October 9 collision on Foothill Boulevard.

Discussion Items

• Item 3 – Mythics, LLC Agreement Extension: Staff (Angela Saxena, Payroll Administrator) recommended extending the IT co‑op agreement with Mythics to November 30, 2028 and increasing the not‑to‑exceed amount from $249,850 to $1,250,000. The increase was needed because retirements and a new AWS/RDO schedule required specialized Oracle programming that no in‑house staff could perform without breaking the system. Councilmembers asked about FLSA compliance and overtime calculations. Staff noted the contract would help document and train staff, automate overtime rules, and prepare for future ERP upgrades. The committee approved forwarding the item to the October 20, 2026 City Council consent agenda.
• Item 4 – Parking Citation System Agreement Extension: Staff (Nicole Welch, Revenue and Tax Administrator) sought a fourth amendment extending the agreement with Modaxo Traffic Management Inc. (d/b/a Trellant) to March 31, 2028 for a total not‑to‑exceed $5,279,143, including authorization to pay $1,347,328 in outstanding invoices, and a waiver of competitive solicitation. The system handles citation processing, permits, payments, customer portals, collections, and integration with enforcement field devices, supporting approximately $29.7 million in budgeted parking revenue. Finance inherited the contract from DOT in July 2026. Councilmembers expressed strong concerns about the 30% contingency collection fee applied to delinquent citations, privacy implications of license plate reader data, and the retroactive nature of the extension (the contract had expired in April 2026). After debate, Councilmember Ramachandran moved to amend the staff recommendation to (1) extend the agreement only to June 30, 2027 under the same terms, (2) include privacy protections to avoid unnecessary data collection, (3) authorize payment of outstanding invoices, and (4) direct staff to return to council as soon as possible with options for other vendors. The motion passed unanimously (3-0).

Key Outcomes

• Item 1: Minutes of September 22, 2026 accepted.
• Item 2: Schedule of outstanding committee items approved as presented.
• Item 3 (Mythics): Forwarded to the October 20, 2026 City Council consent agenda with a unanimous (3-0) vote.
• Item 4 (Parking System): Approved as amended (3-0) – term shortened to June 30, 2027; privacy protections added; outstanding invoices authorized; staff directed to explore other vendor options and report back by early 2027. Forwarded to the October 20, 2026 City Council consent agenda with amendments read into the record.