The Oakland Public Ethics Commission met on April 10, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. in Hearing Room 1 at City Hall. The meeting covered presentations from the Oakland Fire Department on public records response, reports on disclosure, Democracy Dollars implementation, enforcement, and the Executive Director, as well as action items on salary adjustments for the City Auditor and City Attorney, and a comprehensive review of proposed amendments to the City Charter and Oakland Municipal Code affecting the Commission. The Commission voted on several items, including salary increases and a package of charter reform recommendations.
Michael Hunt (Assistant to the Director) and Randy Stukes (Operations Administrative Assistant) presented the Department's public records request (PRR) process. Key data from 2023:
Alex Van Buskirk presented the report, noting 49 lobbyists registered for 2024, and ongoing compliance efforts. No additional discussion.
Program Manager Suzanne Doran reported progress on the Haas Jr. Foundation grant, including a graduate student researcher and a new community engagement specialist position (54 applicants). Staff recommended a cooperative purchase agreement for the technology platform, to be presented to City Council.
Enforcement Chief Simon Russell reported that the Enforcement Unit has one full-time investigator (down from two due to a staff transition). Current caseload: 89 open matters, with 55% on hold due to staffing shortages. Three proactive complaints were filed since the last report.
Nicolas Heidorn announced that for the first time in over a year, all budgeted PEC positions are filled (8 full-time). Melanie Newcomb (new Administrative Assistant) and Alex Van Buskirk (new Ethics Analyst) were welcomed. Heidorn noted a projected $177 million city deficit and potential budget challenges; the PEC already faced a 58% cut from Measure W baseline. He also highlighted 16 open mediations.
The Commission reviewed the updated Oakland Campaign Reform Act Guide, reflecting changes from Measure W (contribution limits, new disclaimer requirements). No action required.
Staff recommended increasing the City Auditor's salary from $213,137.52 to $226,612.19 (6.3% increase), effective in the first pay period after July 1, 2024. The recommendation was based on charter criteria including comparison with top employee salary, other department heads, and comparable jurisdictions. Commissioner Gage proposed a smaller increase but was not seconded. Motion to adopt staff recommendation passed 3-1 (Gage opposed, Steele, Tilak, and Vice Chair Upton in favor).
Staff recommended increasing the City Attorney's salary from $306,990.58 to $320,958.84 (4.6% increase). The motion passed unanimously 4-0.
Executive Director Heidorn presented a comprehensive package of 19 proposed amendments developed by the Charter Review Subcommittee (Micik, Hill, Tilak). The proposals aimed to strengthen PEC staffing and independence and align the charter with the new Democracy Dollars mission. Key elements: direct appointment of Executive Director, increased enforcement staffing, enhanced commissioner qualifications and post-service restrictions, ballot referral power, and lobbyist gift prohibitions. The Commission voted unanimously to endorse the recommendations and direct staff to work with the City Council to place one or more on the November 2024 ballot.
Welcome everyone to the February meeting of the Oakland Public Ethics Commission. We have a quorum, which is in our in this case exactly for commissioners. So we will start the meeting now. Are there any staff or commissioner announcements? Oh, I roll call, roll call. So Chair Mitchick is not present. Vice Chair Upton, I'm here. Commissioner Gage? Commissioner Hill. Commissioner Steele? Here. Commissioner Tallocke. And that's all we have. So we do have a quorum. And uh so the next so now, any staff or commission announcements? Okay. So the next part is open forum. So uh please state your name each time you make a public comment if you wish it to be included in the meeting minutes. The commission urges members of the public not to make comments or ask the commission to investigate alleged legal violations at public meetings since public disclosure of such complaints or requests may undermine any sub subsequent investigation undertaken. Contact the staff at Ethics Commission at Oakland C A.gov for assistance in filing a complaint. And uh we will give you a thirty-second warning or what thirty second warning uh to let you know when it's time to stop. Any tickets for open forum. We also have public comment before each agenda item. So if you want to comment on a specific agenda item, then okay. Yes. Okay, is it shown? Small. You're doing it. I'm doing it. How long is it? Three minutes. Four minutes? Three. So we might be a third second. Okay. All right. And who was on this commission here? Okay. And this is the public ethics commission, correct? Yes. Okay, you may start the clock. All right. Hi, good afternoon. My name is Seneca Scott. I am here on behalf of Liliana Powell. Liana Powell is a former City of Oakland employee. She was hired in April of 2022. It was terminated in June of 2022. She worked for City Councilman, then City Councilman, current mayor uh Shen Tao. Upon her termination, she filed very serious public ethics charges, which included working and campaigning on city time, which is illegal.