Oakland Public Ethics Commission Special Meeting: LPF Fund Distribution and Vacancy Update – August 14, 2024
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Oakland Public Ethics Commission Special Meeting: LPF Fund Distribution and Vacancy Update – August 14, 2024
The Oakland Public Ethics Commission (PEC) held a special meeting on August 14, 2024, to determine the distribution of $155,000 in Limited Public Financing (LPF) funds for the November 2024 City Council district elections and to receive an update on commissioner vacancy recruitment. Four commissioners were present, constituting a quorum. Public comment included criticism of the PEC’s enforcement and a ballot measure.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Gene Hazard gave oral comments criticizing the PEC for failing to investigate alleged violations related to Oakland Promise and a ballot measure on the ethics commission, and for what he described as selective enforcement. He also corrected staff that LPF eligibility does not include at-large council seats, but noted that three districts (1, 7, and at-large) have extended nomination periods, not just two.
- A written comment from Scott and Kathy Law (forwarding Sandy McCabe’s message) pointed out a potential language error in a ballot measure, noting that "biannual" means twice a year while "biennial" means every two years, and urged correction.
Discussion Items
1. Limited Public Financing Act (LPF) Program 2024 Executive Director Nicolas Heidorn presented that the fund has $155,000, while there are 12 potentially eligible candidates (from Districts 1, 3, 5, and 7). The maximum per candidate is $45,000 (30% of $150,000 expenditure ceiling), so the fund is insufficient to fully fund all candidates. Staff recommended that the Commission find the fund inadequate and adopt a pro rata distribution: divide $155,000 equally among candidates who opt in by the 14-day deadline, subject to a two-phase approach (Phase I opt-in deadline in late August, Phase II qualification deadline September 20). This method has historically achieved 90%+ fund usage. Commissioners discussed historical data, the timing of the meeting relative to candidate certification, and the legal allowance for "other equitable basis." The Commission voted 4-0 to adopt the staff recommendation.
2. PEC Vacancy Update Staff reported two vacancies on the seven-member commission: one mayoral appointment and one commission-appointed seat (short term ending January 2025 and a full three-year term). The application period opened July 16 and closes September 9. Five applications received so far. Outreach includes email lists, social media, digital ads, flyers, and commissioner attendance at community events. A subcommittee (Chair Micik, Commissioners Gage and Tilak) will review applicants in September and recommend candidates for appointment at the October meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Vote on LPF Distribution: The Commission unanimously (4-0) determined that the $155,000 Election Campaign Fund is insufficient to provide the maximum $45,000 per candidate and ordered disbursement on a pro rata basis: funds divided equally among candidates who accept participation by the 14-day deadline (August 23 for Districts 3 and 5; August 28 for Districts 1 and 7), with a two-phase reallocation after the September 20 qualification deadline.
- Recruitment Process: The Commission continues to accept applications for its commission-appointed seat through September 9, 2024, with an appointment expected at the October regular meeting.
Meeting Transcript
All right, it's six thirty. Uh, let's uh go ahead and start recording for Ktop and uh and welcome everyone to this special meeting of the Oakland Public Ethics Commission. Uh I'm Ryan Michik. I'm the chair of the commission. The commission works to promote fairness, openness, and integrity in city government, and we will start by taking the role. Vice Chair Upton. Here. Commissioner Gage. Present. Uh Commissioner Steele. Here. Uh Commissioner Steele is here. Commissioner. Do we do we have that? Here. Can you hear me? I think present. All right. Yeah. You might want to use the other one. Present. Okay. That sounds that sounds good, right? Checking. All right. Thank you. Uh Commissioner Talak. Commissioner Talak is absent and I am here. Uh we have four commissioners here. That is enough for a quorum. Um, I'd also like to acknowledge that we have uh executive director Nicholas Hydorn here, as well as our counsel Christina Cameron. Um so we're going to go ahead and move to agenda item two, which is staff and commission announcements. I'll ask first, are there any commissioner announcements? Are there any staff announcements? All right, is there any public comment on staff and commissioner announcements? Okay, we'll move on to item number three, which is open forum. Open forum is a time for members of the public to comment on any matter within the jurisdiction of the PEC that is not otherwise included in tonight's agenda. Under the Sunshine Ordinance, the Commission cannot discuss the substance of any public comment made that does not pertain to an item on the agenda. And the commission also urges members of the public not to make complaints or ask the commission to investigate alleged legal violations at public meetings since public disclosure of such complaints or requests may undermine our subsequent investigation undertaken. If you have uh such a request or a complaint uh that you wish to submit, uh, we ask that you contact staff at Ethics Commission at Oaklandca.gov uh for assistance in filing that complaint, or uh uh you may approach them after the meeting. Uh I'll also note that we've received uh one written item for public comment for open forum. Uh members of the public can pick that up uh up front here. Um we'll also be making that available online. Um and I'll get to that after any uh in-person public comments. Uh are there any public comments for open forum? All right, you have we are allotting three minutes for public comment today, so uh if you'd like your name recorded for the record, please state it, and you will have three minutes once you begin to do that. What I just, my name is Gene Hazard. What I just gave you is the argument that will appear in the November 5th general election regarding the amendment to the public ethics submission. It's self-explanatory, so I'm not going to read that. Okay.
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