Editorial: Heed D.A.’s call for disclosure in Alameda cronyism scandal

It’s time for Alameda city officials to stop covering up for two council members who committed malfeasance by violating city charter prohibitions against meddling in hiring decisions.

In an extraordinary letter this week, Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley called on the city to end the secrecy about the politically tinged cronyism scandal involving Jim Oddie and Malia Vella, who face re-election next year. O’Malley called for release of an audio recording of a 2017 meeting in which the pair improperly pressured the city manager to hire the union-backed candidate for fire chief.

“After a thorough public review, it is the opinion of the District Attorney’s office that there is a strong public interest in disclosing the recording,” O’Malley wrote. “It involves conversations of the public’s business by public employees during the scope of their public employment.”

Exactly.

Members of O’Malley’s office and the Alameda County Civil Grand Jury have listened to the recording of the meeting between the two council members and then-City Manager Jill Keimach.

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Borenstein: Who runs Alameda, city manager … or the fire union? “While the councilmembers were careful not to make any direct threats, their message was clear,” the Grand Jury concluded. “They supported the labor-backed candidate and pressed the city manager on that point.”

The city charter forbids such meddling. The grand jury concluded that Vella and Oddie committed malfeasance by violating city charter protections designed to “prevent cronyism and political favoritism by giving the responsibility of hiring and firing to a nonpolitical city manager.”

Keimach secretly recorded the Aug. 16, 2017, meeting, and in the end, she refused to capitulate to the political pressure, instead hiring a highly qualified fire chief from another city. But her decision to do the right thing led to her losing her job.

O’Malley determined that the secret recording was permitted under a state law because Keimach believed she might have been extorted or bribed. The recording has never been made public. The city has repeatedly refused requests to release it. Meanwhile, the damage resulting from Oddie’s and Vella’s meddling has been extensive.

“The interference in the Alameda fire chief hiring process ultimately cost the city over a million dollars in investigations, legal fees and an employee separation settlement,” the grand jury noted.

“While stability and continuity in leadership are often keys to success of a government, this malfeasance cost Alameda a city manager, a city attorney and contributed to several other senior staff leaving the city for new opportunities. Finally, this interference damaged public trust in government at a time when such trust is so important.”

O’Malley says her office cannot legally release the recording because it received it as part of an investigation. However, the city could. “We urge the City to consider the public interest, open governance and transparency when making its final decision,” O’Malley wrote.

Vella’s four-year term expires in 2020. Oddie lost his re-election bid in 2018, but nevertheless slipped into office. Because he was the election runner-up, finishing third in a race for two seats, he automatically, under the city charter, filled the remaining two years of former Councilwoman Marilyn Ashcraft’s term after she was elected mayor.

Now, as Vella and Oddie face re-election next year, Alameda residents deserve to hear exactly what the pair said in that meeting — exactly how the union-backed council members tried to pressure the city manager to hire the union-backed job applicant. As the district attorney said, they were discussing the public’s business. On public time. It’s time to end the secrecy.

The decision on releasing the tape will rest with the other three council members, Tony Daysog, John Knox White and Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft. It’s up to them whether they want to stand up for transparency or continue to be participants in a coverup.

Voters should pay close attention.

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