Measure Y Oversight Committee Members Continue to Violate Conflict of Interest Laws and Function As Potted Plants

As I reported in a previous post, I filed a complaint with the Public Ethics Commission back in November regarding the MYOC’s failure to file conflict of interest disclosure statements, known as “Form 700s.” I also alleged that there were three members of the MYOC who appeared to have conflicts of interest, because they all worked for agencies that receive Measure Y funds.

Now, first of all, you’ve got to ask yourself: how hard is it to find somebody in Oakland that doesn’t work for an organization that receives Measure Y funds? And yet, one third of the members do! Don Blevins (who resigned recently, and worked for Alameda County Probation) was appointed by Ron Dellums. Qa’id Aqueel is the Director of “Safe Passages” for OUSD, and was appointed by Rebecca Kaplan. Michael Brown, a high school student, worked at “Attitudinal Healing,” and was appointed by Nancy Nadel. Even if it isn’t a technically illegal conflict of interest for these folks to serve on the committee, doesn’t it stink to high heaven that they supposedly oversee the doling out of funds to groups that get the money? Not in Oakland, apparently.

So when the PEC first considered my complaint, Executive Director Dan Purnell did a superficial investigation. I complained, and the PEC ordered a supplemental investigation. The new report is available online at the PEC website if you want to check it out, but basically, the high points are as follows: since filing my complaint, the MYOC has been added to the list of City commissions that have to file Form 700s. But despite this fact, only four of them have. They are now subject to $100 fines for not turning them in. From the report, and from what I hear elsewhere, many of the other commissions in Oakland do not diligently file Form 700s, and enforcement by the City has been extremely lax. The report requests the PEC to follow up on this, and I think that’s a very good thing.

Lastly, the report discusses the fact that under Government Code section 1090, the members of the MYOC could be subject to criminal penalties for failing to disclose their potential conflicts of interest, for not having that disclosure recorded in the minutes, and for not abstaining from any discussion on the relevant topics. The report indicates they never took those required actions. The main reason they can't be prosecuted is because, in order to actually violate the law, the person has to have some meaningful role in awarding the contract or influencing the decision in some way. According to Mr. Purnell’s report, the MYOC basically serves no useful purpose. They don’t really make any substantive recommendations. They just sit there and listen to informational reports. So basically, they’re just potted plants. And our prisons are crowded enough already.