Alameda County

Recall Group Says They Have “Nothing to Hide” From Oakland Public Ethics Commission’s Investigation

The group advocating for the recall of Mayor Sheng Thao held a press conference Thursday morning defending themselves on why they will not hand over documents the Public Ethics Commission (PEC) requested for an investigation on the group. Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao (OUST) is the focus of an investigation by the PEC for allegations that the group violated campaign finance laws.

Published

5 months ago

July 18, 2024

Oakland Post

Leaders of Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao, Brenda Harbin-Forte and Seneca Scott, held a press conference Thursday, July 11 to call out Oakland’s Public Ethics Commission for using their recent investigation against the group for political gain. Photo by Magaly Muñoz.

By Magaly Muñoz

Oakland United to Recall Sheng Thao (OUST) is the focus of an investigation by the PEC for allegations that the group violated campaign finance laws.

Simon Russell, the enforcement chief for the PEC, filed a complaint in May that suggests that OUST used Foundational Oakland Unites (FOU), a newly founded nonprofit and alleged political action committee (PAC), to hide the origins of certain donations which would be in violation of finance reporting laws.

The complaint Russell submitted explained that there were a few discrepancies that prompted the investigation. OUST sent an email to potential donors saying they could contact FOU about “private” donations; the timing of FOUs creation to the quick $215,000 donation made to OUST for signature-gathering; and OUST and FOU having overlapping staff, such as Seneca Scott.

OUST refused to hand over documents that the PEC requested in order to conduct their investigation, which has now led to a lawsuit from the watchdog group for OUST’S failure to comply with their subpoena.

Brenda Harbin-Forte, former judge and leader of OUST, explained that while the group has nothing to hide, she believes the PEC is using this investigation for political purposes.

“The Public Ethics Commission is abusing its investigatory authorities. I don’t like bullies,” Harbin-Forte said.

The former judge clarified that FOU is not a PAC or an independent expenditures committee, but a multipurpose nonprofit. FOU is filed under a 501(c)(4).

In the documents attached to the PECs complaint, a screenshot of Scott’s X (formerly Twitter) account was posted with a tweet that FOU was going to be formed as a PAC in order to support candidates in 2024.

LeAnna Powell, a former City Council aide for Thao, also spoke at the press conference, explaining that she currently has the only open PEC case against Thao. Several complaints have been made against the mayor for various reasons, but none have been taken on by the PEC yet.

Powell alleges that Thao and her staff forced her to work concurrently as a council aide and on the mayoral campaign on city time, which is illegal.

Powell said it’s been almost two years since filing her complaint with the PEC, but no investigation has been initiated. She disclosed that she is battling cancer and would like results before her “time is up.”

Speakers accused Thao of using her political power to influence the PEC because, allegedly, union members who are in her pocket and have donated to her campaign are working at the commission, and therefore using this as a tactic to negatively impact the recall group.

“This [accusation] is completely false and baseless. The Mayor is focused on doing the work that Oakland voters elected her to do,” the office of the mayor said in an email to the Post.

Russell wrote in a 2023 report that the PEC’s staff is too small to handle the massive amounts of complaints they receive at any given time so some cases were put on an indefinite hold.

Investigations are chosen based on greater public interest involving high-ranked officials, larger sums of money, and public safety issues. The PEC may also look at how much evidence is readily available for a case and how much staff has already invested in their investigation.

Harbin-Forte told the Post that despite her current issues with the PEC, their group is “incredibly important” but the investigations should be fair.

“The PEC should not be used to give someone an unfair advantage in this recall, which is what they’ve done,” she said.

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Activism

Outgoing D.A. Pamela Price Releases Report on County Gun Violence Epidemic

The 84-page report is divided into two parts: the Public Health Impact of Violence and the Contribution of Structural Inequalities; and the Public Safety Impact of Gun Violence and the Regulation of Firearms. Each section documents trends in rising gun violence in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with special attention to the rise in gun-related deaths of women and children in Alameda County. Each section advises innovative approaches for the County to address gun violence and build safe communities.

Published

1 week ago

December 8, 2024

Oakland Post

Exclusive interview with County D.A. Price days before recall election. Photo by Ken Epstein.

Pamela Price was recalled in the election on Nov. 5. File photo.

By Post Staff

Criminal Justice Reformer District Attorney Pamela Price, who is leaving office this week after losing a recall election, released a comprehensive report on the gun violence epidemic and public health emergency in Alameda County: “Tackling Gun Violence Epidemic in Alameda County: A Public Health Emergency (2019-2023).”

This report represents an unprecedented collaboration between public safety and public health partners and provides data and recommendations to guide the County’s continued work to reduce violence while advancing justice reform.

Each section documents trends in rising gun violence in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, with special attention to the rise in gun-related deaths of women and children in Alameda County. Each section advises innovative approaches for the County to address gun violence and build safe communities.

“Between 2019 to 2023, an average of three residents were killed by firearms each week in Alameda County, and behind every statistic is a shattered family and community,” said Price.

“Under my administration, the DA’s office has taken bold steps to combat gun violence while promoting equity and healing for survivors,” she said.

The report highlights strategies for keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Last month, the DA’s office secured a $5.5 million grant from the California Judicial Council to help improve compliance and case management for gun cases and gun relinquishment orders —the removal of guns from people prohibited from possessing a firearm – with law enforcement and court partners.

This effort builds on Price’s work in 2023 and 2024 in attacking the gun violence epidemic.

“We launched an innovative Gun Violence Restraining Order Outreach Project to educate communities about the availability of tools to remove guns and ammunition from people who are a danger to themselves and others and the intersectionality of domestic violence and gun violence and convened gun violence roundtable conversations with our law enforcement partners and collaborated with the Alameda County Public Health Department to produce this comprehensive report,” she said.

“We supported Oakland’s CEASEFIRE program through its transition and implemented a pilot Mentor Gun Diversion Program with our collaborative court partners, offering non-violent youth in possession of a gun pathways to interrupt the potential for escalating harm.” added Price.

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Activism

D.A. Pamela Price Receives Hugs from Teary-Eyed Supporters as She Leaves Office

Crowding the sidewalk around Price were many teary-eyed supporters and well-wishers, who embraced her and carried homemade signs, singing, and chanting in recognition of her brave work as a champion for justice with compassion.

Published

2 weeks ago

December 7, 2024

Oakland Post

While holding a bouquet of flowers, District Attorney Pamela Price waves goodbye to supporters as she leaves her East Oakland office. Courtesy photo

By Ken Epstein

District Attorney Pamela Price left her office near the Oakland Coliseum Thursday afternoon for the last time after losing the recall election in November.

The crowd shouted and chanted, “We love you D.A. Price,” “You’re our hero,” and “We will not give up.”

They also sang: “We love you; we love you, Pamela Price. Just like a tree that’s planted by the water, we shall not be moved.”

Signs read: “Pamela Price: The D.A. who fought for us all:” and “Thank you for standing for justice. We love you.”

One man in the crowd said, “I’ve opposed pretty much every D.A. I’ve encountered. I guess that’s why they got her out. They can’t stand having a district attorney that believes in justice for everyone.”

After leaving work, she went to the Claremont Hotel in Oakland, where she was scheduled to receive an award from Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA).

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Alameda County

Councilmember Carroll Fife, on Track to Win Reelection, Looks to Oakland’s Progress

District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife, though outspent by hundreds of thousands of dollars and facing a bitter campaign of slander, misrepresentations, and physical threats, seems to have emerged with a fairly comfortable lead in her reelection bid, well ahead of her nearest competitor (44% to 30%). In an interview with the Oakland Post Thursday, Councilmember Fife said she is hopeful that Congresswoman Barbara Lee would be willing to run for Oakland mayor if Mayor Sheng Thao is recalled.

Published

1 month ago

November 6, 2024

Oakland Post

Carroll Fife. Courtesy photo.

By Ken Epstein

In an interview with the Oakland Post Thursday, Councilmember Fife said she is hopeful that Congresswoman Barbara Lee would be willing to run for Oakland mayor if Mayor Sheng Thao is recalled.

She also explained why she thinks her campaign has done so well against extreme challenges and talked about her priorities for the coming year, especially the need to stabilize leadership in city government.

“We’re on the right path,” said Fife. “We just need to bring in the right leadership, and I’m praying that Barbara Lee will consider running for mayor. I think she has the gravitas to pull Oakland together and unite everyone in a way that none of the top potential contenders will.”

Fife explained why she feels she has been able to overcome very powerful opponents to win reelection.

“There are several thousand votes outstanding (left to be counted), but it looks pretty good,” Fife said, emphasizing the impact of the door-to-door work her supporters have done over the past four years and her close ties with her constituents.

“I attribute that to ongoing base-building and community organizing, outside of the election years,” she said. “I have an amazing field team that was able to penetrate through the negative messaging and the narratives that these millionaires and billionaires were trying to craft.”

In addition, she said she spoke with most of her opponents, and they agreed to support each other in ranked choice voting. “I was able to coordinate with them, except for the two candidates that were perpetuating false narratives, and were part of former Mayor Libby Schaaf’s talking points,” and the doom-loop narrative trashing Oakland promoted by corporate public relations operative Sam Singer.

One of the local groups working to unseat Fife, Empower Oakland, received over $500,000 raised by crypto industry leader Jesse Pollak. The National Association of Realtors and other real estate groups also poured over $1 million into the campaign against the councilmember.

Though the billionaire and multimillionaire backers may be successful in recalling Oakland’s mayor and the Alameda County district attorney, they appear to be failing in their attempt to remake the leadership of City Hall.

“With all the money they’ve spent, they were successful with the two recalls and nothing else,” she said, explaining that corporation-backed candidates are not winning.

She noted that some local leaders are organizing to repeal ranked-choice voting in Oakland and that eliminating or preventing ranked-choice voting “is one of the (right-wing) Heritage Foundation’s flagship campaigns in cities and states across the nation.”

People “should be aware of how these Republican policies are creeping into the Bay,” she continued. Ranked-choice voting is a threat to those with money because it allows for “unlikely candidates who are not necessarily connected to wealth and or political connections,” to succeed, she said.

Oakland is poised for economic growth and is becoming a much safer city, Fife says.

At the same time, considerable economic challenges remain.

“We are dealing with some of the most challenging financial times in the history of Oakland, and I want to make sure that our infrastructure is solid. There are a lot of things to do and understanding that we’re going to need some help, and we’re not going to even have consistent leadership in the mayor’s office,” she said.

“If you want to empower Oakland, you don’t destabilize it,” Fife said. “You don’t destabilize it by creating mass hysteria in one of the largest businesses in the city, which is our city government.”

Looking at the impact of the Nov. 5 elections, she said, “I know people are feeling really dejected about some local and national races. But I think these are the opportunities for people who have big ideas and who are concerned about the beloved community to step up.

“We’ve seen how people have voiced their positions and their anxieties around our country, our city. But now is the time to organize,” Fife said.