Many of you were shocked by my tale of how Carroll Fife corralled the City Council into unanimously voting to award a controversial $150,000 no-bid contract to one of her cronies. You asked, “How can she get away with this?” The answer is, she can and does—because her corrupt colleagues in Oakland government let this kind of anathema happen and nobody complains.
The truth is, Oakland has been run by sleazy politicians for years, and they get away with it because the public is too lazy, too uninformed or just too busy to care. Usually, the public doesn’t even know about their shenanigans because the local media doesn’t report it. By local media, I refer to the San Francisco Chronicle, the East Bay Times, KTVU-TV news and Oaklandside—what we might term the “woke media.” They’re all too busy “investigating” so-called police brutality to bother with minor stuff like politicians striking sweetheart deals the way Fife just did. It’s sad, because only the media has the resources to dig deep into these crimes—but the media loves politicians like Carroll Fife, so they give her a pass.
Read Monday’s post again. If you’re as upset by what she did as I am, here are some things you can do. (Thanks to member Jim Mehner for this suggestion.) Let me emphasize again that Fife did not break the law by making this a no-bid contract. City law allows her and the Council to do so if in their judgment it’s in Oakland’s “best interest.” But anyone can see that this is a loophole big enough to drive a truck through: Fife declares that waiving the competitive RFP/Q process is in the city’s best interest, and voila! No questions asked, no challenges are forthcoming. This is where the corruption comes in. Why is it in Oakland’s “best interest”, Council member Fife? Because you say so?
So what can you do? First, here’s contact information for the City of Oakland Public Ethics Commission:
Simon Russell, Acting Chief of Enforcement
1 Frank Ogawa Plaza (City Hall), Rm. 104 | Oakland, CA 94612510.238.2213 (desk) | 510.424.3200 (cell)
srussell@oaklandca.gov | www.oaklandca.gov/pec
Ask Chief Russell to investigate why Fife and her Council were able to do a no-bid contract. Ask him why this was in Oakland’s “best interest.”
Next, contact your own City Council member. Here’s the link for the Council’s main website. Click on the name of the individual member for contact details. Tell your Council member you know what they did and you demand to know why they allowed Fife to get away with this. Demand they explain just how this is in Oakland’s “best interest”—and if they reply, please share that with me.
If any of you are lawyers and care to get involved, please let me know.
We have to react fiercely every time this City Council and incoming Mayor pull these stunts. They get away with this deplorable stuff in darkness. Our job is to shine a light on them and their misdeeds.
Steve Heimoff