Oakland Public Ethics Commission Special & Regular Meeting – November 1, 2021

The Oakland Public Ethics Commission convened a special meeting at 6:15 p.m., followed by a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m., both via teleconference on November 1, 2021. The special meeting unanimously adopted Resolution 21-01 to continue virtual meetings under AB 361. The regular meeting featured a comprehensive presentation from the Department of Planning and Building on improvements to their public records response process, review of enforcement cases, formation of subcommittees, and a closed session on the executive director’s performance (no reportable action).

Public Comments & Testimony

• Ralph Kants (Open Forum): Asked about a referral letter to the city auditor from the September meeting. Executive Director Barazoto confirmed the letter would be sent after this meeting and offered to share a copy.
• Alexis (During discussion on planning department): Raised concerns about incomplete public records responses, missing RF emission reports, lack of conditions of approval for telecom projects, and broken links on the city’s portal. Stated she could not trust the bureau to provide accurate information.
• Ralph Kants (Again during discussion): Criticized the request system for allowing only one department per request, improper redaction of city employee email addresses, and failure to upload records to the city’s document management system. Also questioned the legal basis for not requiring signatures on conditions of approval.

Discussion Items

• Department of Planning and Building Public Records Process: Department head Bill Gilchrist, records unit supervisor Tiffany Corrado, and staff presented responses to eight questions from the commission. Key points:
  • The unit now has nine staff members and standard operating procedures developed since January 2020.
  • Public records requests have increased dramatically: 815 in 2018, 1,700 in 2020, and projected 2,114 in 2021 (52% increase).
  • Average closure time dropped from over 30 days in 2018 to approximately 8 days currently.
  • Challenges include high staff turnover, volume of email-based requests (EDDRs), and coordination with IT.
  • Improvements include cross-training, a two-tier review process (PSR gathers, senior PSR reviews/redacts), and regular team meetings.
  • Regarding specific mediation cases: The department now retains three copies of RF emissions reports (after 2019 mediation) and confirmed that conditions of approval are binding regardless of applicant signature. A signature provision is administrative, not codified.
  • No evidence of intentional withholding of records was found.
• Enforcement Cases:
  • Item 6 (Annie Campbell Washington): A stipulation for $2,171 in penalties was signed but payment not received. The item was continued to a future meeting by motion (6-0).
  • Items 7 & 8: Staff recommended adding treasurers as named respondents in two campaigns. Motions to adopt staff recommendations passed 7-0 each.
• Subcommittee Formation: Recruitment subcommittee (Chair MacDonald, Commissioners Klein and Levitt) and Enforcement subcommittee (Commissioners Perteet, Micik, and Vice Chair Yan) were established.

Key Outcomes

• Special Meeting: RESOLUTION NO. 21-01 (virtual meetings) passed 6-0.
• Approval of Minutes: Minutes of September 2 and September 17 special meetings approved 5-0 (Commissioners Levitt and Klein abstained).
• Annie Campbell Washington Case: Continued to next meeting pending receipt of penalty payment.
• Case 7 (E-Space): Adopted staff recommendation to add treasurers as respondents (7-0).
• Case 8 (Matt Hummel): Adopted staff recommendation to add treasurer as respondent (7-0).
• Subcommittees: Recruitment and enforcement subcommittees formed with designated members.
• Closed Session: No reportable action on executive director’s performance review.

Note: The meeting began with a special session at 6:15 p.m. and transitioned to the regular meeting at approximately 6:20 p.m. The closed session occurred after adjournment of the public meeting; no actions were reported.