Oakland Public Ethics Commission Retreat and Special Meeting - October 29, 2026

The Oakland Public Ethics Commission (PEC) held a special retreat meeting on October 29, 2026, chaired by Francis Humpton. The retreat was designed to reflect on the commission's work over the past three years, review the current state of its programs, and establish strategic priorities for 2027. The meeting included an icebreaker activity, presentations on accomplishments and challenges in enforcement, disclosure, education, and communications, followed by a hypothetical case prioritization exercise and a vote on policy priorities for the coming year.

Icebreaker Activity and Core Values

• Senior Ethics Analyst Jelani Killings led an icebreaker exercise where staff and commissioners mapped their motivations and skills onto a "PEC Tree," identifying reasons for joining or staying with the commission, strongest attributes, and untapped talents. Themes included public service, government accountability, transparency, and creativity.
• Staff and commissioners were reminded of the commission's core values: collaborative community, joint accountability, open mindset, inclusive design, and proactive transparency.

Discussion Items and Staff Reports

Strategic Overview of PEC Accomplishments (2022–2025)

• Staff highlighted significant organizational growth: the budget expanded from $1.5 million to $2.7 million, and the team grew from 6 to 11 full-time positions, achieving full staffing for the first time in years.
• Voter approval of Measure 00 with 73% support made the PEC an autonomous agency, significantly updating its authority for the first time in a decade and guaranteeing funding for additional investigative staff.
• Enforcement activity reached a historic milestone in 2024 with seven settlements, including over $4,400 in campaign finance penalties. In 2025, 20 complaints were evaluated, four proactive investigations were initiated, and 65 cases were resolved. A backlog case closure program and a Form 700 enforcement pilot project were also launched.
• The Democracy Dollars public financing program was delayed, but the commission successfully advocated for maintaining existing public financing and secured a $21,000 grant for outreach planning, the first grant the commission has ever won.
• Outreach efforts reached a decade high, with participation in 15 community events.

Communications Update

• Staff reported strengths in a new brand identity, a design guide, and an expanded social media presence (Instagram @open_ethics, LinkedIn).
• Key challenges included inaccessible technical language, outdated document templates, and a reliance on an outdated version of SharePoint.
• Upcoming WCAG accessibility requirements and the commission's 30th anniversary in November 2026 were identified as key opportunities for storytelling and improving public access to information.

Education and Disclosure Update

• The education program is fully staffed for the first time in years, handling an average of 153 advice calls and 983 training completions annually on city ethics rules.
• Education: Training materials are outdated (circa 2015). A partnership with department heads is being developed to improve compliance training for the city's 30+ boards and commissions.
• Disclosure: Staff review over 750 disclosure reports annually. On-time filing rates reached 90% for campaigns and 93% for lobbyists.
• Challenges: Fragmented technology systems require significant manual data entry. The lack of a central contractor database hinders enforcement of campaign contribution bans. There is no electronic payment system for fines.
• Mediation Program: The backlog of 2019-era mediation cases was fully cleared. Staff are developing a training program for public records liaisons across city departments to reduce mediation requests caused by poor department responsiveness. The goal is 75% liaison participation in training by Q1 2027.

Enforcement Update

• The enforcement chief reported inheriting 152 open complaints in May 2025, a case ratio of 1:76 (peer agencies average approximately 1:9 to 1:14).
• A seven-point rubric was used to analyze the legacy backlog; 101 of the 123 legacy cases were analyzed, and 82% of those were closed.
• The current caseload ratio has been improved to 1:25, but a new intermediary backlog of 35–50 cases from 2024–2026 has developed due to the time spent on the original backlog.
• Hypothetical Prioritization Exercise: Commissioners, staff, and a consultant ranked four hypothetical enforcement cases using the severity rubric. Results demonstrated strong consensus across groups, with higher scores aligning for cases with higher severity, clearer evidence, and stronger deterrence value.
• Priorities discussed for 2027 included: achieving full staffing; using discretion to dismiss low-priority complaints; developing a proactive Form 700 plan; creating an enforcement subcommittee to revise penalty guidelines; exploring a diversion program using educational videos for lower-tier violations; and considering opening proactive investigations for high-profile matters.

Key Outcomes and 2027 Priority Setting

• Policy Focus: Commissioners ranked potential major policy review areas. Sunshine Ordinance reform and overall transparency received the highest number of first-choice votes, establishing it as the top policy priority for 2027. This work will include making system-wide recommendations to the City Administrator, potentially holding a public hearing, and creating a subcommittee to draft specific statutory revisions.
• Disclosure Focus: Improving disclosure technology and efficiency was strongly linked to the transparency priority and was chosen as the top focus within the disclosure program area.
• Enforcement Focus: The enforcement chief will explore establishing an enforcement subcommittee, updating penalty guidelines, and creating streamlined diversion options for low-level cases. Commissioners supported increasing the use of discretion to focus resources on high-impact cases.

Public Comment

• No members of the public provided comment during the retreat's open forum periods.

The meeting was adjourned after the priority-setting session. Staff indicated they would synthesize the retreat discussion into a formal roadmap for future commission meetings.