OAKLAND — The CEO of the Coliseum Authority sought a $50,000 “finders fee” from RingCentral for helping the company negotiate a stadium naming rights deal with the public agency he oversees, a possible violation of state conflict-of-interest law.

“If indeed he did stand to benefit financially, the matter should be referred to the district attorney or attorney general for prosecution,” said government ethics expert Michael Martello.

Teresa Drenick, spokeswoman for Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley, declined to comment when asked if prosecutors had opened an investigation.

Invoices obtained by this news organization show Scott McKibben billed the company for the $50,000 consultant fee as part of the three-year, $3 million deal to rename the Coliseum stadium where the Oakland A’s and Raiders play.

McKibben resigned Aug. 9, a day after the board held a closed-door meeting to discuss the matter. As CEO, McKibben earned $300,000 a year plus benefits to oversee operations at the Coliseum complex and Oracle Arena, which are owned by the city of Oakland and Alameda County.

Three invoices were sent via email to Belmont-based RingCentral. The first two, sent June 17 and June 20, were on Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority letterhead and signed by McKibben. A third, emailed five days later and also signed by McKibben, only listed his name and home address in Pleasanton.

That invoice included a more detailed description of his work: presentations to RingCentral executives at their corporate offices, tours of the Coliseum and leading contract negotiations, and that he “worked closely with Coliseum Authority Board to secure final unanimous approval of a 3-year contract for the Naming Rights.”

McKibben specified the fee be paid upon the board’s approval and listed a due date of July 25.

“Attached herewith is a revised invoice with further detail regarding services provided for the fee,” McKibben wrote in an email. “On the address, this is address (sic) I also use when I send in my invoice each month to the JPA, but if you wish to send the check to my office here at the Coliseum that’s fine too. Thank you!”

McKibben, in text messages on Tuesday, declined to comment “other than that I was told” under the state Political Reform Act “that I would be conflicted even as an independent contractor and thus no payment was made. I was not paid any fee for the transaction.”

But a separate and more serious state law — which McKibben said he is only now aware of — prohibits public employees from having financial interests in contracts they negotiate on behalf of taxpayers. Violation can be pursued civilly or criminally, up to felony charges punishable by state prison time.

As CEO, McKibben would be violating that law, Government Code Section 1090, if he stood to benefit from a contract he helped the public agency secure, said Martello, the government ethics expert who was a city attorney in California for 30 years.

Martello said the joint powers agency would be wise to void the contract with RingCentral. If it doesn’t, prosecutors or a public citizen could sue to undo a deal that was apparently entered into illegally.

“The person negotiating for the taxpayer had a financial interest in the contract,” Martello said. “There’s no way to unring that bell. The contract should be voided.”

Although the authority board approved the deal in May, Major League Baseball’s approval is pending.

Related Articles Oakland Coliseum executive resigns amid controversy

What’s in a name? The Oakland Coliseum is about to find out for the fifth time

Yet another survey of MLB venues has something to say about the Oakland Coliseum McKibben took the helm of the Coliseum authority in 2015. He nearly left in 2017 to take a job with Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara but stayed after Alameda County matched the salary and perks he was offered and extended his contract through 2020.

He previously worked for years as a newspaper executive, including a stint in the 1990s as president and publisher of the Alameda Newspaper Group, which operated the Oakland Tribune and other Bay Area papers at the time. He became executive director of the Tournament of Roses and the Rose Bowl Game in Pasadena in 2009, and later served as CEO of the A-11 Football League, an alternative to the NFL.

The league failed to get off the ground and owes the IRS unpaid taxes. A notice of federal tax lien filed in October 2018 against McKibben lists an unpaid balance of $94,283. In recent interviews, McKibben and Kurt Bryan, who founded the league, said the lien is because the league’s chief financial officer had not paid a portion of income taxes. The league has filed an appeal, which was granted, said Bryan, who added, “we look forward to putting this matter to rest.”

Meanwhile, the Coliseum authority board this month brought in former Oakland City Administrator Henry Gardner to serve as its interim CEO.

Columnist Daniel Borenstein contributed to this report.