City Government

Councilmember McElhaney Seeks Justice at July 31 Public Ethics Commission

Published

8 years ago

July 28, 2017

By R.M. Arnold,

The Public Ethics Commission (PEC) staff released a report Monday accusing Councilmember McElhaney of violating the city’s ethics rules when seeking to get an out of town developer to build according to the code.

“I take our city’s ethics laws seriously and I look forward to this matter being finalized on July 31 by the Public Ethics Commission,” she said.

The controversy stems from an appeal the Councilmember’s husband filed on behalf of the neighbors impacted by a questionable condominium project.

“I was the one that got my wife involved. The guy was extremely disrespectful to my neighbor, and all we wanted him to do was build right,” said Clarence McElhaney Jr. who filed the appeal.

“At the outset when my husband brought the issue to my attention, I asked our City Attorney for guidance about whether I could assist my neighbors with the condo project given that it is next to my house, and I followed the advice I received,” said Councilmember McElhaney, who maintains that she did nothing wrong.

Community members had spent over a year trying to collaborate with the property owner and the planning staff, to improve the design to complement the neighborhood and address safety concerns, but their concerns were ignored.

“They came to me as a last resort,” says McElhaney, who expressed concerns that there is a pattern and practice of ignoring Black residents when out-of-town developers seek to get permits.

McElhaney’s husband then followed the same public process available to everyone to bring the issue to the city Planning Commission. During the appeal process, there was an issue as to whether the design of the project met the city’s open space requirements.

“I felt like the commission would benefit from having a subject-area expert opine, so I asked a local architect to testify on this specific technical question,” said Councilmember McElhaney. “If I had thought asking the architect for help could implicate the ethics laws, I, of course, would not have done so. My husband paid an independent planner to represent the neighbors, so if we thought that we had to pay for the expert testimony, we would have done so. There is no guidance we received that suggested that this was necessary.”

After numerous allegations against the councilmember, the only issue that must be clarified now is whether asking an architect for help on behalf of a community effort is a gift to the councilmember.

“I appreciate the PEC staff and the important work they perform on behalf of the city,” she said. “But I also believe that this matter exposes important public policy questions such as this that should be answered by the full Commission in a public forum. I look forward to resolving this matter with the Commissioners on Monday the 31st.”

The meeting will be held 6:30 p.m. at Oakland City Hall, Hearing Room 1.

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

10 hours ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.