Special Meeting of the Oakland Public Ethics Commission - April 15, 2026
Special Meeting of the Oakland Public Ethics Commission - April 15, 2026
The Oakland Public Ethics Commission held a special meeting on April 15, 2026, at 6:35 PM. Commissioners Francis Upton (Chair), Taloc (Vice Chair), Brandon, Fisher, and Mitchik were present; Commissioners Apfeld and Baiva were excused. The commission addressed approval of previous meeting minutes, set biennial salaries for the elected city attorney and city auditor, and acted on enforcement backlog cases.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of January 21, 2026 minutes: Approved 3-0 (Commissioners Apfeld and Baiva absent). Public comment disputed the order of public comment, but staff confirmed the video showed public comment occurred before any action. The chair noted a member of the public disagreed.
- Approval of March 18, 2026 minutes: Approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Ralph Cans (multiple times): Raised concerns about the mayor's charter reform working group, alleging lack of transparency, missing records, and potential Brown Act violations. He also referenced a lawsuit against the city regarding use of Signal for communications, and argued against the commission's handling of a redistricting commission complaint (December 2021) and other Brown Act issues, urging immediate cure-and-correct actions.
- Auditor Michael Houston: Presented a memo arguing for a formulaic approach to setting the city auditor's salary, based on equal weighting of charter criteria. He recommended a salary of $252,544.78 (later corrected to $252,544.78).
Discussion Items
- Biennial City Attorney Salary Adjustment: Staff presented a memo with options: 2% (maintains 15% differential over top paid employee), 5.4% (in line with CPI), or 6.4% (aligns with 20% differential). Commissioners debated the city's budget constraints versus the need for competitive compensation. After discussion, a motion for 5.4% increase passed 4-0 (Commissioner Fisher voted no but later tally showed 4 ayes? Actually, the vote was: Taloc aye, Brandon aye, Fisher no, Mitchik aye, Chair aye – so 4-1). The motion passed.
- Biennial City Auditor Salary Adjustment: Staff recommended a 5.4% increase (to $238,848). Auditor Houston proposed a higher amount ($252,544.78) based on equal weighting of four charter criteria. A motion for the higher amount failed 2-3 (Brandon aye, Fisher no, Mitchik no, Taloc no, Chair no). A subsequent motion for the staff recommendation (5.4%) passed 4-1 (Fisher no).
- Enforcement Items 7 & 8 (Referral Cases): Two complaints against the commission itself were referred to the San Francisco Ethics Commission due to due process concerns. The commission voted unanimously to adopt staff recommendations.
- Enforcement Item 9 (Closure with Warning Letters): Staff recommended closing 10 backlog cases (late filers and non-filers) with warning letters, noting all respondents no longer work for the city or are low-level, and cases are old. The commission approved unanimously, with discussion about deterrent effect and future compliance strategies.
- Enforcement Item 10 (Case Closure Plan): Staff presented a plan to close remaining backlog cases, including referral of overlapping jurisdiction cases to the FPPC. The commission approved the plan, with discussion about timeliness of Brown Act complaints and the need for proactive outreach.
Key Outcomes
- City Attorney Salary: Set at a 5.4% increase, effective immediately (amount not specified in transcript).
- City Auditor Salary: Set at a 5.4% increase, to $238,848 (effective immediately).
- Enforcement Referrals: Two complaints against the commission referred to the San Francisco Ethics Commission.
- Backlog Cases: 10 cases closed with warning letters; case closure plan approved. Staff noted this resolves approximately 70% of the backlog.
- Future Meeting: Commission discussed scheduling a presentation on the Democracy Dollars program and a strategic planning retreat to discuss enforcement priorities and compliance strategies.
Meeting Transcript
Okay Top, can you start recording? Welcome everyone to the special meeting of the Oakland Public Ethics Commission. This meeting is started at 635. I'm Commission Chair Francis Upton. I will be presiding at today's meeting. As a reminder to those in attendance, the Public Ethics Commission is an independent agency of the City of Oakland that works to promote more inclusive, representative, and accountable democracy in Oakland and to promote fairness, openness, honesty, and integrity in city government. We'll begin by taking the role. Commissioners, please indicate if you're present as I call your name. Commissioner Apfeld is not here. And Commissioner Baiva is also not here. They both asked to be excused. Commissioner Brandon. Present. Commissioner Fisher. Here. Commissioner Mitchik. Not here. Uh Commissioner Talk. Present. And I'm here as well. So we have four commissioners and we have a quorum. Um I will also note that the following staff are present. Uh executive director Suzanne Duran. Uh I actually don't see Enforcement Chief Tova Ackerman, but uh I do see Ethics Analyst Jelani Killings and Investigator Van Burke and Ethics Analyst. No, I don't see Mr. Thorson and Radu Clock Quirk uh Wana Chadari. And uh and also Christina Cameron is our uh counsel for this evening. Uh are then any staff or commission announcements. Okay, and I don't have any. So we move to item three, open forum. Before we start, I want to go over the public comment process so that we all know what to expect. Member of the public may speak on any item appearing on the agenda. If you wish to speak during open forum or an item on a or an item that is on our agenda tonight, please stay seated until that item was called. And when I call when I open the floor for public comment on the item, come up to the podium. Tonight we will also be accepting public comments or participants joining via Zoom and by phone. When the item was called and you wish to comment on, please use the raise hand feature on Zoom or press star nine if you are participating by phone. When it is your turn to speak, staff will call your name and unmute your line. Speakers are generally allotted one three-minute turn per item, subject to change by the chair based on the number of speakers. So everyone gets a chance to speak and be heard. Please leave the podium promptly when your allotted time is up. Participants on Zoom will be muted when their time is up. Commissioners cannot disc commissioners cannot discuss the substance of any comments made during open forum. Not because we're not interested, but because the item is not on tonight's agenda. However, we listen to what you have to say. The purpose of public comment is for us to hear from you. It is not a time for commissioners to talk, answer questions, or have dialogue. It is a time for us to listen. Again, public comment is not a time for commissioners to talk or to answer questions. After the close of each public comment period, we may address questions or concerns that you raised. For example, I may ask you to give the staff your contact information so that they can follow up with you to give you information you've requested.
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