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Record of Proceedings

Oakland Public Ethics Commission Retreat - Day 2 (April 28, 2022)

Public Ethics Commission — Thursday, April 28, 2022
BodyOakland, California
SessionPublic Ethics Commission
DateThursday, April 28, 2022
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:03

My apologies.

0:03

Do I need to take roll call again?

0:05

She was already recording.

0:09

Yes.

0:10

If for it to be on the record, we should take it again.

0:13

Thank you.

0:13

We'll take uh my apologies.

0:15

I thought we were recording already.

0:17

Um, Commissioner, uh, we are resuming our meeting from yesterday.

0:21

That began yesterday, we're still under the same resolution that we agreed to that we that passed uh um unanimous vote yesterday.

0:30

So I will take a roll call at this time, Commissioner Hill.

0:34

Present.

0:35

Commissioner Mitchell.

0:38

Uh present.

0:39

Commissioner Levitt.

0:41

Here.

0:42

Commissioner Tooman.

0:43

Looks like Commissioner Tooman's in the attendees list.

0:47

I will move him over.

1:00

Okay, Commissioner Tuman.

1:03

Can you see me now?

1:06

Yeah, we can see you and hear you.

1:08

You're present.

1:09

Uh Vice Chair McDonald.

1:12

Present.

1:13

Commissioner Upton, I'm sorry.

1:15

And Commissioner Pertis, uh Vice Chair is here.

1:20

So um we have taken roll call for all the commissioners.

1:24

I will turn it back over to Mr.

1:27

Trent Wicknight.

1:29

Again, we are dispensing with our formalities and going by our first names if you're comfortable.

1:34

And um, we will continue our agenda for our retreat.

1:40

Excellent.

1:41

All right.

1:42

Well, welcome back, everyone.

1:44

Uh, thank you for uh yesterday's discussion and all of your contributions and inputs.

1:50

Um, I realize that participating this way uh takes a little bit of extra energy, takes a little bit of extra concentration.

1:58

I also realize that there are probably some of you have been looking at a screen for a little while this week already here.

2:04

So um hopefully you'll you'll find some uh enjoyment here in today's session and some fulfillment as we go through our uh agenda for this evening.

2:14

Um with that, uh I'd like to move us to the start of our program here.

2:20

And uh I'll move to my screen share.

2:26

All right.

2:29

And how is that coming through for everyone?

2:32

Is there I should ask, is there anyone who cannot see uh the PowerPoint slide with the opening activity?

2:42

All right, very good.

2:44

I try not to ask a yes or no or an ordinal type question because everyone's saying yes or everyone saying no, and it's hard to track.

2:52

So all right.

2:54

Well, uh let's take uh just a glimpse at kind of where we were uh yesterday and the ground that we covered.

3:02

Uh you're looking again here at the strategic visioning process that serves as the foundational methodology for the dialogue that we had yesterday and the dialogue that we will have here today.

3:14

Um, just as a reminder, a few points to point out here.

3:18

This is an iterative process.

3:20

And so the diagram that you see is an infinity loop.

3:24

Uh the idea behind that is that oftentimes uh planning, visioning, implementing a plan is not always a linear process.

3:35

Sometimes it's very useful to go back and revisit new data, new decisions, new occurrences, um, and new opportunities.

3:43

And so that's the reason for this looping diagram here.

3:48

As you may recall, uh, yesterday we spent time on the left-hand side of the diagram, going through steps one and two and three.

3:58

Uh, we real we will revisit our content from yesterday.

4:01

We'll take another look at the graphic history, and then we'll take another look at the context map and the content that you generated.

4:09

And then we'll move to the right-hand side of this diagram and the visioning process.

4:14

We'll start to talk about a vision uh with a specific uh time frame in mind, and we'll talk about bold steps, programs or projects that either are in place now or maybe created or instituted to help fulfill the vision uh that you develop here through our discussion.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Engagement████████████████████████████28%
Public Ethics██████████████████18%
Procedural████████████████16%
Strategic Planning█████████████13%
Ethics and Campaign Finance█████████9%
Public Records Management███████7%
Subcommittee Management███3%
Public Records██2%
Police█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Oakland Public Ethics Commission Retreat - Day 2 (April 28, 2022)

The Oakland Public Ethics Commission (PEC) continued its two-day strategic retreat on April 28, 2022, from approximately 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM via Zoom. Facilitator Trent Wicknight led commissioners and staff through visioning exercises, clarifying discussions on jurisdiction, and planning for future projects. The session focused on building consensus around the commission's role and identifying priorities for the next three years.

Opening Activity: Overnight Percolations

  • Commissioners and staff shared reflections from the previous day's discussions. Topics included a desire for more proactive ethics work (Commissioner Upton), raising public awareness of PEC's role (Commissioner Pertis), viewing homelessness as an ethical issue (Commissioner Pertis), the importance of disclosure (Commissioner Jelani), and the value of staff-commissioner collaboration (Commissioner Levitt). Staff members highlighted progress made over the past six years and the power of public disclosure.

Strategic Visioning Process

  • Trent Wicknight introduced a "headlines from the future" exercise: each participant would craft a headline for April 2025 describing a PEC achievement, along with supporting details. However, the exercise was paused when Commissioner Pertis questioned the definition of "ethics" and the commission's scope. A lengthy discussion ensued about the three law areas under PEC jurisdiction: the Government Ethics Act, campaign finance laws, and transparency laws (including Sunshine Ordinance and Lobbyist Registration Act).
  • Executive Director Whitney and Commissioner Michael read from the Government Ethics Act to clarify its purpose: ensuring integrity in city government, fair decision-making, and equal opportunity to participate. Commissioner Upton emphasized the need for consensus on foundational roles before moving forward. A "fist to five" check-in showed a range of 3 to 5 in comfort level, with several commissioners indicating they still had questions.

Clarifying Roles and Future Projects

  • To address the discomfort, Whitney proposed walking through specific program areas to illustrate staff and commissioner roles. She used the "lead collaborate" area, citing the recent ticket policy rewrite (relevant to Oracle/A's tickets) as an example. Staff did research and drafting while a commissioner subcommittee provided community insight. Future projects identified include:
    • Reviewing and potentially revising the Sunshine Ordinance (public records and open meetings).
    • Updating the Lobbyist Registration Act.
    • Pursuing enforcement authority for transparency violations.
  • Commissioner Upton raised concerns about perceived conflicts of interest if PEC takes enforcement action against other city departments, recommending collaboration with the City Attorney's office.
  • Commissioners discussed outreach strategies: roadshows (in-person presentations), social media engagement, and surveying the public to identify ethics-related concerns. Whitney noted that past roadshows were effective in recruiting commissioner candidates. Staff offered to provide materials and slide decks for commissioners to use in community presentations.
  • Commissioner Upton suggested an ad hoc subcommittee on public outreach; it was agreed to agendize the topic for the June commission meeting.

Key Outcomes

  • Commitment to continued discussion: The retreat clarified that further work is needed to build consensus on the commission's role and priorities. Staff will synthesize input and bring back proposed focus areas within the next few months.
  • Future projects prioritized: The Sunshine Ordinance review and lobbyist registration amendments are leading candidates for the next "lead collaborate" initiatives. A subcommittee on enforcement (including examining enforcement authority under Sunshine) already exists; Commissioner Pertis will join and also research how other cities handle ethics enforcement.
  • Public outreach: Staff will prepare materials for commissioners to use at community events. An agenda item on reviving roadshows and other outreach will be scheduled for the June commission meeting.
  • Recognition: Chair Upton thanked facilitator Trent Wicknight and outgoing Executive Director Whitney for her leadership and dedication. Whitney's last day with PEC was noted; her contributions were celebrated by the commission.
  • No public comment was received during the designated period.

Meeting Transcript

My apologies. Do I need to take roll call again? She was already recording. Yes. If for it to be on the record, we should take it again. Thank you. We'll take uh my apologies. I thought we were recording already. Um, Commissioner, uh, we are resuming our meeting from yesterday. That began yesterday, we're still under the same resolution that we agreed to that we that passed uh um unanimous vote yesterday. So I will take a roll call at this time, Commissioner Hill. Present. Commissioner Mitchell. Uh present. Commissioner Levitt. Here. Commissioner Tooman. Looks like Commissioner Tooman's in the attendees list. I will move him over. Okay, Commissioner Tuman. Can you see me now? Yeah, we can see you and hear you. You're present. Uh Vice Chair McDonald. Present. Commissioner Upton, I'm sorry. And Commissioner Pertis, uh Vice Chair is here. So um we have taken roll call for all the commissioners. I will turn it back over to Mr. Trent Wicknight. Again, we are dispensing with our formalities and going by our first names if you're comfortable. And um, we will continue our agenda for our retreat. Excellent. All right. Well, welcome back, everyone. Uh, thank you for uh yesterday's discussion and all of your contributions and inputs. Um, I realize that participating this way uh takes a little bit of extra energy, takes a little bit of extra concentration. I also realize that there are probably some of you have been looking at a screen for a little while this week already here. So um hopefully you'll you'll find some uh enjoyment here in today's session and some fulfillment as we go through our uh agenda for this evening. Um with that, uh I'd like to move us to the start of our program here. And uh I'll move to my screen share. All right. And how is that coming through for everyone? Is there I should ask, is there anyone who cannot see uh the PowerPoint slide with the opening activity? All right, very good. I try not to ask a yes or no or an ordinal type question because everyone's saying yes or everyone saying no, and it's hard to track. So all right. Well, uh let's take uh just a glimpse at kind of where we were uh yesterday and the ground that we covered. Uh you're looking again here at the strategic visioning process that serves as the foundational methodology for the dialogue that we had yesterday and the dialogue that we will have here today. Um, just as a reminder, a few points to point out here.

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