What Is Quan Hiding?

City Refuses to Disclose Slush-Fund Grants

Less than two weeks before voters elect a new Oakland mayor, the city administrator's office informed a resident that the City will no longer release a routine annual list of councilmembers' discretionary grants.

The decision flouts the California constitution, which guarantees that citizens have a right to know how public funds are spent.

Barry Klezmer is interested in councilmember Jean Quan's handling of money that she is putting together for a path in the Oakland hills. He has been unable to get simple balance sheets and statements for the three accounts juggling the funds.

Klezmer made a public records request in September for the most recent Pay-Go report, which the city administrator and budget office routinely release every year. Each councilmember has a Pay-Go fund and makes grants at her discretion. After a month of delay, Ms. Karen Boyd of the city administrator's office replied to Klezmer, "The City's Budget Office has indicated that this report was not prepared for FY 2009-10 ... With staff reductions ... this report was deemed a low priority and will be discontinued." (Email from Boyd to Klezmer, Oct. 21, 2010)

In 2009 the Alameda County grand jury condemned the practice of individual councilmembers owning discretionary accounts, calling Pay-Go a collection of "slush funds." Now City Hall says that it will not even reveal the councilmembers' grants to private businesses and agencies.

Councilmember Quan's grants in the last known year illustrate the Pay-Go problem. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009 she gave the Chabot Space Center $25,000 for the preliminary phase of a "native habitat restoration project." The national recession had already begun, but Quan tossed Chabot a grant and protected the center from the first round of budget cuts. While the city council cut park maintenance and other basic services, the priority for Quan was making a name for herself on the board of Chabot Space Center. (Annual Informational Report On FY 2008-09 Council And Mayoral Pay-Go Expenditures and Transfers, Sept. 29, 2009)

Translation: "It's illegal, but City Hall ain't gonna tell you where the money went. You wanna sue?"

Someone at City Hall wants to hide a potential scandal until after the election. Klezmer asked about a Quan project. What are she and the rest of the councilmembers hiding?

One day after this ORPN report appeared, councilmember Quan emailed to a resident of Maxwell Park, "Pay Go Payments are released on an annual list to City Council at the end of every fiscal year."

Exactly. In the past the City released the list of slush fund payouts soon after the end of fiscal year, which is June 30. However, this year City Hall, in October, announces that it has not and will not release the payout list ever.

It is difficult to discern what Quan hoped to accomplish with her remark. It only shows that she is unable to make a relevant reply, or that she hoped to mislead someone who might overlook the meaning of fiscal year.

City Reverses Itself, Reveals Misguided Spending

One week after City officials told resident Barry Klezmer that Oakland did not have the resources to compile a report of slush fund payouts as in previous years, City Hall released the report.

A first glance of the Pay-Go grants shows that at least one councilmember does not have a sense of priorities while the council grapples with a budget crunch and lays off police – the core service of any city government.

Councilmember and mayoral candidate Jean Quan spent $34,000 for a series of music shows in the Oakland hills. Everyone loves a pleasant afternoon at a concert, but the Alameda County grand jury was correct when it noted, "In 2007, the city council expanded the authorized uses of Pay-Go funds to include the broad category of 'city-sponsored events.'... The grand jury is troubled by this expansion of permissible uses." The very first example cited by the grand jury was the same series of music shows.

Quan also spent $5,500 for street banners in the Laurel district. Those colorful signs hanging from street lights might please some eyes, but they hardly stimulated enough new patronage at Laurel shops to justify the expense.

Councilmember Quan tries to buy publicity for herself and make local businesses feel politically obligated to her while she lays off police, eliminates Park Rangers, and reduces park maintenance. Then someone pressured the city administrator not to release a list that documents her wasteful grants.

City Hall thought it could refuse information requested by resident Barry Klezmer, in violation of state and local open-government laws. When Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods reported the story on this website, City officials reversed their decision. The newly-produced slush-fund report is an admission by deed that the original suppression of data was a political favor to councilmembers like Quan.