Oakland Public Ethics Commission Regular Meeting - June 13, 2024

This regular meeting of the Oakland Public Ethics Commission (PEC) began at 6:30 PM on June 13, 2024. Commissioners present: Vice Chair Upton (presiding), Commissioners Gage (arrived late), Steele, Taloc, and Mitchick (Chair). Commissioner Hill was absent. The Commission heard a detailed presentation from Goldman School of Public Policy students on transparency best practices, addressed multiple enforcement actions including a probable cause finding for bribery and false evidence, approved a $50,000 settlement with Lyft, and amended penalty guidelines to include ability to pay.

Consent Calendar

• Meeting Minutes: Initially, the Commission approved minutes from April 10, 2024 (vote 3-0-1, with Chair Mitchick abstaining for not attending) and May 22, 2024 (vote 3-0-1, Commissioner Taloc abstaining). However, legal counsel later advised that minutes require a majority of the full commission, not just those present. The items were re-voted: April minutes passed 4-0-1 (Mitchick abstaining), and May minutes passed 4-0-1 (Taloc abstaining).

Public Comments & Testimony

• Ralph Cannes (member of public) commented on the mediation program, calling it ineffective and urging changes to allow concurrent filings or a 30-day limit before filing a complaint. He also criticized the process for the ballot measure proposal and raised concerns about conflicts of interest involving councilmember Dan Cobb.
• Lyft Representative (Joel Aurora) urged approval of the settlement agreement, emphasizing that Lyft conducted due diligence by reviewing Form 410 and solicitation materials that stated the committee was not candidate-controlled.

Discussion Items

• Goldman Student Presentation on Transparency (Item 5): Kelsey Perez, Chelsea Hall, Diaz Army, and Rand Manriquez presented their report "Open by Default: A Best Practices Analysis for Meaningful Transparency in the City of Oakland." Key findings: 70% of Oakland residents were dissatisfied with public records responses; the city faces challenges with decentralization, staff training, and data access. Best practices identified include cross-departmental coordination, open data portals, police data dashboards, and contract tracking dashboards. Preliminary cost savings estimates ranged from $4,000/week to $2.5 million/year. Long-term recommendations: establish a public records office, revamp open data policy, expand police dashboard, and create a contract tracking dashboard.
• Executive Director's Report (Item 8): Nicholas Hydorn reported on the city's $170M fiscal deficit and impacts on PEC: elimination of the Limited Public Financing (LPF) program for 2024, a $100,000 reduction in Democracy Dollars startup funding (now $425,000), and cuts to candidate education and enforcement reserves. He also provided an update on the ballot measure proposal, noting significant modifications by Councilmember Kalb (e.g., adding only one enforcement staff in 2026, removing proportional reduction protections, and limiting mayor's salary adjustments to inflation only). Councilmember Ramashandran proposed removing mayor's salary setting entirely.
• Enforcement Report (Item 7): Chief Simon Russell reported a jump in open cases from 89 to 148, primarily due to 51 new Form 700 non-filer cases.

Key Outcomes

• Probable Cause Finding – Michael Dabney (Case 2328): The Commission found probable cause for bribery (offering a thing of value to a city inspector for an official act) and providing false evidence to the PEC. The case was set for an administrative hearing before an outside hearing officer, with staff directed to return with a list of nominees.
• Settlement Agreement – Lyft Inc. (Case 2041.2): Approved a no-contest settlement for $50,000 (half the alleged illegal contribution) for violating the contractor ban. The Commission requested staff to consider issuing an advisory on best practices for donors to verify candidate-controlled committees.
• Streamlined Settlement – Michelle Phillips (Case 2411): Approved a streamlined settlement for a $50 disgorgement and training for accepting a $300 gift ($50 over the limit) as a department head.
• Closure Recommendation – Jesse Boudart (Case 2338): Voted to close the case with an advisory letter, finding no violation of misuse of city resources for two emails soliciting votes for a professional organization board seat. No further advisory actions were taken.
• Form 700 Enforcement Update (Item 13): Approved closure of several cases where filers were on long-term leave, had filed with the Oakland Housing Authority, or were erroneously listed. The ongoing enforcement program has reduced the number of open non-filer cases.
• Penalty Guidelines Amendment (Item 14): Approved adding "respondent's ability to pay the contemplated penalty without suffering undue financial hardship" as a ninth factor in determining penalties, effective immediately.
• Future Business: Commissioners expressed interest in inviting IT staff to present on challenges with email searches for public records requests.