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Indybay Feature
West Oakland: Do Not Vote for Oakland's Most Corrupt Councilmember, Lynette Gibson McElhaney
Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney is about as shady as a politician can be without ending up in prison. It's not a secret. Everyone knows she's corrupt. She's a grifter who will abuse any levers of power she can get her hands on. The East Bay Times euphemistically calls her "ethically challenged" but still bizarrely endorses her re-election. Perhaps they should read more of the reports on her corruption by Darwin BondGraham, as well as Ali Winston, Steven Tavares, and Robert Gammon (see linked articles below).
This reporter first realized Lynette Gibson McElhaney was full of shit at a council meeting in the first year or so of her first term. I can't recall exactly what the issue was, but a large number of people were protesting from behind the seating area in council chambers. McElhaney came to the back of the room to speak with protesters, to try to calm things down. After she'd spoken with a number of folks, I stepped up and asked her what she and the council were going to do about Oakland's ongoing foreclosure crisis. I had my Indybay press credential around my neck and one or two cameras in my hand.
I expected a certain level of political spin for an inquisitive reporter, but at least some kind of attempt to feign interest in the crisis. Much to my surprise, she casually answered that if I was interested in the housing crisis, I should write a letter to Elizabeth Warren, the US Senator from Massachusetts. A letter, really?!? That was her best answer on what she and the council would do to stop the bleeding? Dumbfounded, I didn't know how to follow up on her complete lack of interest in the massive displacement happening all across the flatlands of Oakland. And so, after casually avoiding my question, she wandered away to pawn off her bullshit on someone else.
It wasn't long until it became apparent why McElhaney was so flippant about the suffering of long-time homeowners being kicked out of their homes, many losing houses that had been in their families for generations. [The tidal wave of foreclosures would later lead to the Oakland renter crisis as speculators and real estate interests scooped up thousands of homes, evicted renters, and jacked up monthly rents to rates amongst the highest in the nation].
McElhaney wasn't concerned about people losing their homes. Besides being safe in her own home ownership, she personally profited from the same displacement that was devastating the city. She was flipping homes herself. And not just for her own gain. She likewise used funds from a Richmond nonprofit she controlled to enrich her sister and sketchy business partners. She claimed in 2014 that at least some of the house-flipping was intended to raise money for a veterans housing initiative. No word on whether any such housing will ever actually be realized.
Despite taking an exorbitant salary from her position at Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, the nonprofit which she still promotes in campaign mailers as a reason to re-elect her, she failed to pay more than $150,000 in federal taxes in 2006, 2008, and 2009. And even while the nonprofit lost $313,000 between the years 2008 and 2012, McElhaney was paid $587,000. Questions remain as to whether Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services has violated its tax-exempt status by engaging in for-profit activities.
Strangely, even after much of this news went public, her fellow council members thought it would be a good idea to elect her council president in 2014. Never mind the fact that McElhaney "repeatedly violated city, state, and federal laws." It's unclear what spell she's cast over them. Perhaps they are afraid that holding any other member accountable will come back to haunt them some day.
Similarly, this October, the council declined to censure McElhaney for illegally exploiting her position on the council to stop a housing development next to her own house on 32nd Street. A grand jury finding of serious ethical violations in the matter didn't seem to compel the council to take any sort of action. Instead, the council chose to protect McElhaney's re-election bid by pushing off any censure consideration until after the coming election.
Should I Go On?
McElhaney has been fined at least twice for campaign finance violations, in March 2015 and September 2015. A large share of her contributions come from real estate interests, some of which may be illegal.
Of course, it's just a big coincidence that she supports and repeatedly voted in favor of the luxury development on the East 12th Street parcel of city land by Lake Merritt and then her husband received thousands of dollars of work from the developer, UrbanCore. No conflict of interest to see there. Move along people.
I'm not so petty as to oppose her re-election for this, but in the summer of 2015, McElhaney blocked me on social media for asking a straightforward question to her and other city leaders. She was the only one who responded that way. (I suppose she's never going to unblock me after this piece.)
It shouldn't be surprising, however, that she swats away questions she doesn't want to deal with like pesky flies. McElhaney regularly avoids taking responsibility for her bad behavior and even cancelled two of the Rules Committee meetings at which the her censure was to be discussed. Further, she skipped a council meeting to avoid accountability just last month.
Speaking of avoiding accountability, apparently McElhaney has been ignoring subpoenas related to her abuse of office and misuse of public resources in stopping the development next to her house. So, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission filed a lawsuit against McElhaney, alleging that she's stonewalled their investigation. A Superior Court judge agreed and, on November 3, ordered her to comply with the PEC subpoena by November 23.
Knowing she's in hot water, McElhaney formed a "legal defense fund." Maybe some of the money she grifted flipping houses with her supposed nonprofit's money, or the salary she continues to pull from Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, will pay the legal bills. Perhaps her real estate donors will step in. However she finances her resistance to being held accountable, she appears to have successfully pushed it all past this year's election.
Keep in mind, even with all of that, this is not a fully comprehensive list of her public shenanigans. And who knows how many other creepy, self-dealing corrupt acts have yet to be discovered?
Oakland's District 3 Deserves Better
West Oakland deserves honest representation. Really, about anybody would be better than McElhaney, by far. Her most promising competition in 2016 is Noni Session, a 3rd generation West Oakland resident. Oakland Magazine calls her the most progressive candidate running for City Council. Noni is endorsed by the East Bay Express, SEIU 1021, Alameda Labor Council, National Union of Healthcare Workers, Oakland Alliance, ACCE Action, Oakland Rising Action, Green Party of Alameda County, and the John George Democratic Club, among others. If you are a registered voter in West Oakland, please, vote for Noni Sessions on November 8.
But Don't Just Take My Word for It
Check out the articles listed below as "Additional Reading" for plenty of more details on how absolutely undeserving Lynette Gibson McElhaney is of your vote. Follow the "Read More" links for the full stories.
I expected a certain level of political spin for an inquisitive reporter, but at least some kind of attempt to feign interest in the crisis. Much to my surprise, she casually answered that if I was interested in the housing crisis, I should write a letter to Elizabeth Warren, the US Senator from Massachusetts. A letter, really?!? That was her best answer on what she and the council would do to stop the bleeding? Dumbfounded, I didn't know how to follow up on her complete lack of interest in the massive displacement happening all across the flatlands of Oakland. And so, after casually avoiding my question, she wandered away to pawn off her bullshit on someone else.
It wasn't long until it became apparent why McElhaney was so flippant about the suffering of long-time homeowners being kicked out of their homes, many losing houses that had been in their families for generations. [The tidal wave of foreclosures would later lead to the Oakland renter crisis as speculators and real estate interests scooped up thousands of homes, evicted renters, and jacked up monthly rents to rates amongst the highest in the nation].
McElhaney wasn't concerned about people losing their homes. Besides being safe in her own home ownership, she personally profited from the same displacement that was devastating the city. She was flipping homes herself. And not just for her own gain. She likewise used funds from a Richmond nonprofit she controlled to enrich her sister and sketchy business partners. She claimed in 2014 that at least some of the house-flipping was intended to raise money for a veterans housing initiative. No word on whether any such housing will ever actually be realized.
Despite taking an exorbitant salary from her position at Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, the nonprofit which she still promotes in campaign mailers as a reason to re-elect her, she failed to pay more than $150,000 in federal taxes in 2006, 2008, and 2009. And even while the nonprofit lost $313,000 between the years 2008 and 2012, McElhaney was paid $587,000. Questions remain as to whether Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services has violated its tax-exempt status by engaging in for-profit activities.
Strangely, even after much of this news went public, her fellow council members thought it would be a good idea to elect her council president in 2014. Never mind the fact that McElhaney "repeatedly violated city, state, and federal laws." It's unclear what spell she's cast over them. Perhaps they are afraid that holding any other member accountable will come back to haunt them some day.
Similarly, this October, the council declined to censure McElhaney for illegally exploiting her position on the council to stop a housing development next to her own house on 32nd Street. A grand jury finding of serious ethical violations in the matter didn't seem to compel the council to take any sort of action. Instead, the council chose to protect McElhaney's re-election bid by pushing off any censure consideration until after the coming election.
Should I Go On?
McElhaney has been fined at least twice for campaign finance violations, in March 2015 and September 2015. A large share of her contributions come from real estate interests, some of which may be illegal.
Of course, it's just a big coincidence that she supports and repeatedly voted in favor of the luxury development on the East 12th Street parcel of city land by Lake Merritt and then her husband received thousands of dollars of work from the developer, UrbanCore. No conflict of interest to see there. Move along people.
I'm not so petty as to oppose her re-election for this, but in the summer of 2015, McElhaney blocked me on social media for asking a straightforward question to her and other city leaders. She was the only one who responded that way. (I suppose she's never going to unblock me after this piece.)
It shouldn't be surprising, however, that she swats away questions she doesn't want to deal with like pesky flies. McElhaney regularly avoids taking responsibility for her bad behavior and even cancelled two of the Rules Committee meetings at which the her censure was to be discussed. Further, she skipped a council meeting to avoid accountability just last month.
Speaking of avoiding accountability, apparently McElhaney has been ignoring subpoenas related to her abuse of office and misuse of public resources in stopping the development next to her house. So, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission filed a lawsuit against McElhaney, alleging that she's stonewalled their investigation. A Superior Court judge agreed and, on November 3, ordered her to comply with the PEC subpoena by November 23.
Knowing she's in hot water, McElhaney formed a "legal defense fund." Maybe some of the money she grifted flipping houses with her supposed nonprofit's money, or the salary she continues to pull from Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, will pay the legal bills. Perhaps her real estate donors will step in. However she finances her resistance to being held accountable, she appears to have successfully pushed it all past this year's election.
Keep in mind, even with all of that, this is not a fully comprehensive list of her public shenanigans. And who knows how many other creepy, self-dealing corrupt acts have yet to be discovered?
Oakland's District 3 Deserves Better
West Oakland deserves honest representation. Really, about anybody would be better than McElhaney, by far. Her most promising competition in 2016 is Noni Session, a 3rd generation West Oakland resident. Oakland Magazine calls her the most progressive candidate running for City Council. Noni is endorsed by the East Bay Express, SEIU 1021, Alameda Labor Council, National Union of Healthcare Workers, Oakland Alliance, ACCE Action, Oakland Rising Action, Green Party of Alameda County, and the John George Democratic Club, among others. If you are a registered voter in West Oakland, please, vote for Noni Sessions on November 8.
But Don't Just Take My Word for It
Check out the articles listed below as "Additional Reading" for plenty of more details on how absolutely undeserving Lynette Gibson McElhaney is of your vote. Follow the "Read More" links for the full stories.
For more information:
http://www.indybay.org/government/
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Great thanks to the East Bay Express for informing the public with their amazing investigative reporting:
December 16, 2014
West Oakland Councilmember Involved in House-Flipping Scheme
Public records show that city Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who represents a district impacted by gentrification, used her social justice nonprofit to finance for-profit house-flipping deals in Oakland.
During the 2012 campaign for Oakland's District Three council seat, Lynette Gibson McElhaney said affordable housing was one of her top priorities, and that if elected, she would work to prevent gentrification and displacement of low-income residents. Since 1996, she has run a nonprofit housing assistance organization based in Richmond, and during the 2012 campaign, she said her job made her well-qualified to be a city councilmember.
Yet despite Gibson McElhaney's rhetoric on gentrification and displacement, our months-long investigation reveals that she used her nonprofit housing assistance corporation to take part in some of the same "wildcat speculation" that she has condemned.
Records show that beginning in March 2013, just two months after she was sworn in as an Oakland councilmember, Gibson McElhaney used her nonprofit, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, to lend at least $225,000 to an investor engaged in house-flipping transactions in Oakland.
Records and interviews also show that the loans, which earned Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services considerable interest and fees, had nothing to do with creating affordable housing for Oakland residents. Rather, the flipped properties ended up in the hands of landlords and homeowners who bought them at market rates. Furthermore, in at least one of the deals, Gibson McElhaney's sister, Andrea Gibson Nobles, invested alongside Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services and made money off the transaction....
Gibson McElhaney's dealings raise numerous legal and ethical questions, including whether Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services has violated its tax-exempt status by engaging in for-profit activities, and whether deals that included her sister violated the organization's conflict-of-interest rules....
Records show that Gibson McElhaney's nonprofit also has experienced financial turmoil. In 2005 and 2006, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services was flush with cash, running annual surpluses of approximately a half-million dollars. But the financial crisis and recession took a toll. The organization's revenues — which come from mortgage payments its borrowers make, along with state and federal grants — dropped, and the organization ran deficits, losing $98,000 in 2008, and another $65,000 in 2009.
But even though her organization was losing money, Gibson McElhaney and her board members more than doubled her executive salary in 2008, raising it from $80,000 to $193,000. In 2009, Gibson McElhaney was paid $134,000. All told, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services lost $313,000 between 2008 and 2012, the most recent year for which tax records for the organization are available. Over the same period, McElhaney was paid $587,000.
Read More
December 31, 2014
West Oakland Councilmember Fails to File Campaign Reports
Records show that Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who is seeking to become the next president of the Oakland City Council, failed to file her latest campaign donor reports.
Half-way into her first term on the city council, where she represents downtown and West Oakland, Lynette Gibson McElhaney is pressing to become the next president of the council. It's a powerful position: The president runs the council meetings, hands out committee assignments, and controls the council's agenda. Multiple sources inside City Hall have told us that Gibson McElhaney has secured the support of at least two other councilmembers for her candidacy. The council is scheduled to select its new president on January 5 during a meeting and swearing-in ceremony for Mayor Libby Schaaf and new council and school board members.
Records reveal, however, that Gibson McElhaney has failed to file the required documentation of her political contributions and expenditures for nearly a year. Newly released records also raise questions about Gibson McElhaney's nonprofit and her business associates.
Read More
December 31, 2014
Oakland Council Poised to Dampen the New Year
Councilmembers are considering electing Lynette Gibson McElhaney as their next president, despite the fact that she's been plagued by scandal.
Sources have told the Express that councilmembers are considering electing Lynette Gibson McElhaney as their next council president.
That would be a mistake.
The job of city council president is an important leadership position in Oakland — and arguably the second most powerful one after the mayor — but Gibson McElhaney has shown that, while she appears to be a very nice person and an intelligent and caring public official, she's not up for the job. Her involvement in a house-flipping scheme in Oakland at a time when she was also speechifying about the evils of gentrification, displacement, and real estate profiteering, displayed an alarming level of hypocrisy.
Her failure to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal and state taxes in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012 also raises red flags about her ability to handle finances, and is especially problematic considering that, as council president, she would preside over Oakland's $1 billion annual budget.
Gibson McElhaney's decision to use her nonprofit to go into business with people who have troubling backgrounds also raises questions about her judgment. In this week's edition of the Express, investigative reporters Darwin BondGraham and Ali Winston reveal that Gibson McElhaney's nonprofit signed a real estate partnership deal with one of her city council campaign donors — Kevin L. Hampton — despite the fact that he was convicted of forgery in the 1990s, according to records from the Nevada Department of Corrections. In their December 17 cover story, BondGraham and Winston also revealed that Gibson McElhaney's nonprofit engaged in house-flipping deals with Richard Reese, a real estate investor who had been sued multiple times over the years on allegations of preying on and defrauding East Bay homeowners.
It's also troubling that Gibson McElhaney's sister, Andrea Gibson Nobles, profited from a house-flipping deal in which the councilmember's nonprofit also made money. BondGraham and Winston also divulge this week that Gibson McElhaney failed to file her major campaign donor reports in 2014 in violation of city and state laws.
Read More
January 7, 2015
Oakland Council Thumbs Its Nose At Voters
The city council elected Lynette Gibson McElhaney to be its president despite her ethical transgressions and despite the fact that residents voted for tougher ethical standards in City Hall.
On November 4, Oakland voters sent a clear message to City Hall that they wanted stricter ethical standards for public officials. Residents overwhelmingly approved Measure CC, which established new ethics rules and gave new sweeping powers to the city's Public Ethics Commission. The vote wasn't close: Measure CC won in a landslide, 73.9 percent to 26.1 percent. But on Monday, Oakland city councilmembers ignored city residents and acted as if the November 4 election never happened. The council voted 6-1-1 to elect Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney to be president of the council despite the fact that she has repeatedly violated city, state, and federal laws.
Read More
January 21, 2015
West Oakland Councilmember Involved in Another Questionable Real Estate Deal
Public records show that Lynette Gibson McElhaney loaned money to her sister in an apparent house-flipping scheme in Oakland that also involved her nonprofit's business partner.
A recent real estate deal in Oakland's Crocker Highlands neighborhood is raising new questions about potential conflicts of interest in financial transactions involving city council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney; her nonprofit, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services; and her family members. According to public records, Gibson McElhaney's sister, Andrea Gibson Nobles, who appears to be unemployed, purchased a five-bedroom home for $820,000 in December 2013, thanks to a loan for that same amount from a Novato private lending company, Pacific Private Money. Then, after Gibson McElhaney and her nonprofit's business partner Nakatoma Acquisitions also loaned more cash to Gibson Nobles to pay for renovations on the home, Gibson Nobles sold the Crocker Highlands house in December 2014 for $1.28 million — a $460,000 markup in twelve months.
In an interview, Gibson McElhaney said she did not know that when she loaned her sister $26,000 in April of last year that her sister would sell the house eight months later at a 50 percent markup. Gibson McElhaney said the loan was to help her sister remain in the house, and that she believed her sister bought the home to live in it.
Read More
January 21, 2015
Loan Broker for Gibson McElhaney's Sister Was Recently Disciplined by California Bureau of Real Estate
California Department of Real Estate records show that the broker who Gibson Nobles, with Reese's help, went through to obtain the initial $820,000 loan was disciplined last year for professional misconduct.
Mark Hanf and his company, Pacific Private Money, were audited by the California Bureau of Real Estate in 2012. State auditors found that Hanf's company had illegally co-mingled funds from real estate deals and failed to provide required disclosure statements, among other violations. The bureau brought charges against Hanf last year.
The audit also revealed that Hanf did not disclose to the state Bureau of Real Estate self-dealing transactions in which he loaned approximately half a million dollars of client funds controlled by his company to a separate real estate investment company of which he was a managing member.
Read More
February 19, 2015
Gallo Sought to Censure Gibson McElhaney for Wrongdoing
At least one member of the Oakland City Council is willing to speak publicly on the multiple controversies surrounding council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney detailed recently in a series of investigative reports in the Express.
At the start of a special meeting on Thursday afternoon, Councilmember Noel Gallo attempted to schedule an agenda item in early March that would require Gibson McElhaney to answer to the ethical and legal issues raised in the Express reports.
"All I wanted is for Lynette to come before the council and explain what's going on — that's all," Gallo said. However, when Gallo broached the subject on Thursday during a council meeting, Gibson McElhaney momentarily left her seat at the dais.
Incidentally, Gallo was the only member of the council to vote against Gibson McElhaney's appointment last month to become council president. Brooks abstained. At the time, he expressed concern over some of the earlier Express reports on her, while also questioning her lack of experience. Gallo, instead, nominated Reid for the post, but Reid declined.
Read More
March 19, 2015
Gibson McElhaney Paid Substantial Fine for Failing to File Campaign Finance Disclosure Statement
Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney has paid a large fine to the city of Oakland for her failure to file campaign finance statements on time. According to a letter from Tamika Thomas of the Oakland City Clerk's Elections and Compliance Unit sent to Gibson McElhaney on January 21, the fine was $1,730.
After the Express reported on Gibson McElhaney's un-filed campaign finance statements, Oakland resident Barbara Tengeri filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the state's primary political watchdog agency. After investigating the matter, the FPPC issued a stern warning letter on March 13 to Gibson McElhaney and her campaign treasurer Brigitte Cook. The FPPC found that Gibson McElhaney violated the law by failing to file her semi-annual campaign statement due July 31, 2014 in a timely manner, but the commission decided not to levy a fine because the councilmember had already paid one to the city. "[S]ince that statement has now been filed and since you paid the City of Oakland a substantial penalty for that late filed statement, we are closing our file on this matter," concluded the FPPC warning letter signed by Galena West, acting chief of the FPPC's Enforcement Division.
Gibson McElhaney eventually filed two disclosure statements on January 20 and 30 revealing her political fundraising activities for the 2014 calendar year. Over that period she raised $16,844 from fifty contributors.
Top donors who gave the maximum allowable $700 to Gibson McElhaney included Jon Wright, a business associate of major West Oakland foreclosure investor Neill Sullivan, business and real estate industry lobbyist Gregory McConnell, OUSD public relations executive Isaac Kos-Read, and trash and recycling company Recology.
Read More
April 29, 2015
Campaign Contributions from Oakland Luxury Tower Developer May Have Been Illegal
UrbanCore, its lobbyists, and architect donated more than $3,000 to Oakland political candidates while negotiating to buy public land by Lake Merritt — in apparent violation of city law.
Councilmembers Larry Reid and Lynette Gibson McElhaney shot down Guillen's recommendation for an updated appraisal, arguing that the city cannot risk scaring other developers away from future deals with the city. The full council is scheduled to vote on the land sale to UrbanCore on May 5, the final step to approve the project.
Read More
July 2, 2015
Oakland City Council Quietly Cuts Transparency Measures from Final Budget
Two policy directives drafted by Councilmember Dan Kalb to increase government transparency were cut from the final 2015-17 Oakland budget passed on Tuesday.
Why these two good government transparency measures were removed from the final budget is unclear. Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney included the proposals in her initial budget amendments submitted on June 18. But the council president's second draft submitted on June 25 struck these policy directives.
Read More
August 4, 2015
Real Estate Money Fills Campaign Coffers of Oakland Politicians
With a haul of $30,636 since January 1 for her 2016 re-election campaign committee, City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney raised the most among Oakland's elected officials.
Many of the contributors to Gibson McElhaney's 2016 re-election committee are real estate developers, architects, and builders pursuing big residential and commercial projects in Oakland's booming landscape.
Read More
September 10, 2015
Oakland City Council President Fined $1,600 for Campaign Finance Violation
Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney was fined $1,600 by the Oakland Public Ethics Commission this week for failing to disclose her campaign contributions last year. Gibson McElhaney, a first-term councilmember representing West Oakland and downtown, failed to file state-mandated disclosure forms with the Oakland city clerk's office before a July 31, 2014 deadline. The Express first reported Gibson McElhaney's violation in December. The forms weren't filed until January 2015.
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February 11, 2015
Records Indicate that Gibson McElhaney Used Her Council Office for Personal Gain
In an effort to block a townhouse project next to her West Oakland home, the councilmember used her council office resources and staff, and enlisted the help of a city contractor.
Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney appears to have violated multiple laws in her attempts to block a housing development from being built next to her home in West Oakland, public records show. Emails obtained by the Express reveal that a member of Gibson McElhaney's city council office staff, while using city equipment, helped her draft an appeal with the Oakland Planning Commission in opposition to the proposed housing project. Oakland law bars councilmembers from using their offices and authority for personal gain. In addition, Oakland's separation of powers law forbids councilmembers and their staffs from attempting to interfere in city department actions, including those of the planning department.
Read More
July 15, 2016
Vote by Oakland Council President McElhaney Preceded Husband's Substantial Contract for UrbanCore Project. Was it a Conflict?
The city of Oakland is poised to approve this Tuesday a long-disputed development project on one-acre of city-owned land near Lake Merritt. But the Express has uncovered new information that suggests Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney's prior votes in favor of the project led to her husband securing a valuable subcontract with the developer.
The possible conflict for McElhaney dates back to June 25, 2013, when she voted with the rest of the Oakland City Council's community and economic development committee to approve an exclusive negotiating agreement with UrbanCore to develop the city land known as the E. 12th Street Remainder Parcel.
"I'm excited about the project," McElhaney said at the time, just before voting to advance the deal to the full council. (The councilmember was absent from a full council meeting that July finalizing the ENA.)
But after McElhaney's vote, and while the city was in negotiations with Urbancore over the land, her husband, Clarence McElhaney, was paid thousands of dollars by the developer to conduct a survey of the property.
Read More
June 21, 2016
Grand Jury: Oakland City Council President Had Conflict of Interest, Violated Ethics Rules to Undermine Housing Project
Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney faces city censure.
Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney violated government ethics and conflict of interest rules when she used her council office resources to prevent a developer from building a townhouse project next to her Oakland home, according to the final report of the Alameda County Grand Jury that was issued today.
Read More
October 19, 2016
Is Oakland Council President McElhaney Faking Sick, Canceling Meetings to Avoid Hearings on Ethics Violations?
Did Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney fake sick last night to push back a city response to damning Grand Jury accusations?
At last night's city council meeting, a McElhaney staffer told the Express that McElhaney had bronchitis and could not attend. Councilmember Larry Reid chaired it in her place.
But Oakland Post publisher Paul Cobb said during public comment that he'd spotted McElhaney moments earlier, at a party being held at the Oakland Marriott Hotel, just three blocks from City Hall.
After the party, McElhaney finally showed up at the council meeting and took her seat shortly before 10 p.m. Conveniently, she arrived four hours late — and after an agenda item to discuss and respond to her alleged ethics violations.
Read More
November 7, 2016
Judge Orders Council President McElhaney to Hand Over Records in Ethics Case
Superior Court Judge Kimberly Colwell issued a tentative ruling last Thursday requiring Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney to comply with a subpoena for records issued by Oakland's Public Ethics Commission....
McElhaney is accused of using her council office to interfere with a townhouse project that was going to be built next to her personal home. An investigation by the Express last year uncovered emails showing that McElhaney had her chief of staff draft an appeal against the project, and that she enlisted the help of the city's planning and building director to force the developer and his architect to redesign the project. The developer ultimately gave up and blamed McElhaney for interfering....
In October, members of the public attempted to schedule a censure hearing against McElhaney — several times. But McElhaney cancelled two of the Rules Committee meetings at which the censure items were to be discussed. The council president also skipped council meetings. According to McElhaney, she was sick with bronchitis, but during the October 19 council meeting McElhaney was spotted attending a party held in honor of Barbara Lee. Members of the rules and legislation committee ultimately decided to hold off on censure and wait for the PEC to complete its review of the matter.
But on October 5, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission filed a lawsuit against McElhaney, alleging that she has ignored subpoenas for records and stonewalled their investigation....
McElhaney, a first-term councilmember, is running for reelection this year. She recently formed a “legal defense fund” according to records on file with the Oakland clerk.
Read More
From Indybay:
Portland officials move to address housing crisis while Oakland claims no crisis exists
Oakland councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney comes out against oversight commissions
Oakland City Council Cmte to Consider Censure of Council President
December 16, 2014
West Oakland Councilmember Involved in House-Flipping Scheme
Public records show that city Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who represents a district impacted by gentrification, used her social justice nonprofit to finance for-profit house-flipping deals in Oakland.
During the 2012 campaign for Oakland's District Three council seat, Lynette Gibson McElhaney said affordable housing was one of her top priorities, and that if elected, she would work to prevent gentrification and displacement of low-income residents. Since 1996, she has run a nonprofit housing assistance organization based in Richmond, and during the 2012 campaign, she said her job made her well-qualified to be a city councilmember.
Yet despite Gibson McElhaney's rhetoric on gentrification and displacement, our months-long investigation reveals that she used her nonprofit housing assistance corporation to take part in some of the same "wildcat speculation" that she has condemned.
Records show that beginning in March 2013, just two months after she was sworn in as an Oakland councilmember, Gibson McElhaney used her nonprofit, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services, to lend at least $225,000 to an investor engaged in house-flipping transactions in Oakland.
Records and interviews also show that the loans, which earned Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services considerable interest and fees, had nothing to do with creating affordable housing for Oakland residents. Rather, the flipped properties ended up in the hands of landlords and homeowners who bought them at market rates. Furthermore, in at least one of the deals, Gibson McElhaney's sister, Andrea Gibson Nobles, invested alongside Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services and made money off the transaction....
Gibson McElhaney's dealings raise numerous legal and ethical questions, including whether Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services has violated its tax-exempt status by engaging in for-profit activities, and whether deals that included her sister violated the organization's conflict-of-interest rules....
Records show that Gibson McElhaney's nonprofit also has experienced financial turmoil. In 2005 and 2006, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services was flush with cash, running annual surpluses of approximately a half-million dollars. But the financial crisis and recession took a toll. The organization's revenues — which come from mortgage payments its borrowers make, along with state and federal grants — dropped, and the organization ran deficits, losing $98,000 in 2008, and another $65,000 in 2009.
But even though her organization was losing money, Gibson McElhaney and her board members more than doubled her executive salary in 2008, raising it from $80,000 to $193,000. In 2009, Gibson McElhaney was paid $134,000. All told, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services lost $313,000 between 2008 and 2012, the most recent year for which tax records for the organization are available. Over the same period, McElhaney was paid $587,000.
Read More
December 31, 2014
West Oakland Councilmember Fails to File Campaign Reports
Records show that Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who is seeking to become the next president of the Oakland City Council, failed to file her latest campaign donor reports.
Half-way into her first term on the city council, where she represents downtown and West Oakland, Lynette Gibson McElhaney is pressing to become the next president of the council. It's a powerful position: The president runs the council meetings, hands out committee assignments, and controls the council's agenda. Multiple sources inside City Hall have told us that Gibson McElhaney has secured the support of at least two other councilmembers for her candidacy. The council is scheduled to select its new president on January 5 during a meeting and swearing-in ceremony for Mayor Libby Schaaf and new council and school board members.
Records reveal, however, that Gibson McElhaney has failed to file the required documentation of her political contributions and expenditures for nearly a year. Newly released records also raise questions about Gibson McElhaney's nonprofit and her business associates.
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December 31, 2014
Oakland Council Poised to Dampen the New Year
Councilmembers are considering electing Lynette Gibson McElhaney as their next president, despite the fact that she's been plagued by scandal.
Sources have told the Express that councilmembers are considering electing Lynette Gibson McElhaney as their next council president.
That would be a mistake.
The job of city council president is an important leadership position in Oakland — and arguably the second most powerful one after the mayor — but Gibson McElhaney has shown that, while she appears to be a very nice person and an intelligent and caring public official, she's not up for the job. Her involvement in a house-flipping scheme in Oakland at a time when she was also speechifying about the evils of gentrification, displacement, and real estate profiteering, displayed an alarming level of hypocrisy.
Her failure to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal and state taxes in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2012 also raises red flags about her ability to handle finances, and is especially problematic considering that, as council president, she would preside over Oakland's $1 billion annual budget.
Gibson McElhaney's decision to use her nonprofit to go into business with people who have troubling backgrounds also raises questions about her judgment. In this week's edition of the Express, investigative reporters Darwin BondGraham and Ali Winston reveal that Gibson McElhaney's nonprofit signed a real estate partnership deal with one of her city council campaign donors — Kevin L. Hampton — despite the fact that he was convicted of forgery in the 1990s, according to records from the Nevada Department of Corrections. In their December 17 cover story, BondGraham and Winston also revealed that Gibson McElhaney's nonprofit engaged in house-flipping deals with Richard Reese, a real estate investor who had been sued multiple times over the years on allegations of preying on and defrauding East Bay homeowners.
It's also troubling that Gibson McElhaney's sister, Andrea Gibson Nobles, profited from a house-flipping deal in which the councilmember's nonprofit also made money. BondGraham and Winston also divulge this week that Gibson McElhaney failed to file her major campaign donor reports in 2014 in violation of city and state laws.
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January 7, 2015
Oakland Council Thumbs Its Nose At Voters
The city council elected Lynette Gibson McElhaney to be its president despite her ethical transgressions and despite the fact that residents voted for tougher ethical standards in City Hall.
On November 4, Oakland voters sent a clear message to City Hall that they wanted stricter ethical standards for public officials. Residents overwhelmingly approved Measure CC, which established new ethics rules and gave new sweeping powers to the city's Public Ethics Commission. The vote wasn't close: Measure CC won in a landslide, 73.9 percent to 26.1 percent. But on Monday, Oakland city councilmembers ignored city residents and acted as if the November 4 election never happened. The council voted 6-1-1 to elect Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney to be president of the council despite the fact that she has repeatedly violated city, state, and federal laws.
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January 21, 2015
West Oakland Councilmember Involved in Another Questionable Real Estate Deal
Public records show that Lynette Gibson McElhaney loaned money to her sister in an apparent house-flipping scheme in Oakland that also involved her nonprofit's business partner.
A recent real estate deal in Oakland's Crocker Highlands neighborhood is raising new questions about potential conflicts of interest in financial transactions involving city council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney; her nonprofit, Richmond Neighborhood Housing Services; and her family members. According to public records, Gibson McElhaney's sister, Andrea Gibson Nobles, who appears to be unemployed, purchased a five-bedroom home for $820,000 in December 2013, thanks to a loan for that same amount from a Novato private lending company, Pacific Private Money. Then, after Gibson McElhaney and her nonprofit's business partner Nakatoma Acquisitions also loaned more cash to Gibson Nobles to pay for renovations on the home, Gibson Nobles sold the Crocker Highlands house in December 2014 for $1.28 million — a $460,000 markup in twelve months.
In an interview, Gibson McElhaney said she did not know that when she loaned her sister $26,000 in April of last year that her sister would sell the house eight months later at a 50 percent markup. Gibson McElhaney said the loan was to help her sister remain in the house, and that she believed her sister bought the home to live in it.
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January 21, 2015
Loan Broker for Gibson McElhaney's Sister Was Recently Disciplined by California Bureau of Real Estate
California Department of Real Estate records show that the broker who Gibson Nobles, with Reese's help, went through to obtain the initial $820,000 loan was disciplined last year for professional misconduct.
Mark Hanf and his company, Pacific Private Money, were audited by the California Bureau of Real Estate in 2012. State auditors found that Hanf's company had illegally co-mingled funds from real estate deals and failed to provide required disclosure statements, among other violations. The bureau brought charges against Hanf last year.
The audit also revealed that Hanf did not disclose to the state Bureau of Real Estate self-dealing transactions in which he loaned approximately half a million dollars of client funds controlled by his company to a separate real estate investment company of which he was a managing member.
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February 19, 2015
Gallo Sought to Censure Gibson McElhaney for Wrongdoing
At least one member of the Oakland City Council is willing to speak publicly on the multiple controversies surrounding council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney detailed recently in a series of investigative reports in the Express.
At the start of a special meeting on Thursday afternoon, Councilmember Noel Gallo attempted to schedule an agenda item in early March that would require Gibson McElhaney to answer to the ethical and legal issues raised in the Express reports.
"All I wanted is for Lynette to come before the council and explain what's going on — that's all," Gallo said. However, when Gallo broached the subject on Thursday during a council meeting, Gibson McElhaney momentarily left her seat at the dais.
Incidentally, Gallo was the only member of the council to vote against Gibson McElhaney's appointment last month to become council president. Brooks abstained. At the time, he expressed concern over some of the earlier Express reports on her, while also questioning her lack of experience. Gallo, instead, nominated Reid for the post, but Reid declined.
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March 19, 2015
Gibson McElhaney Paid Substantial Fine for Failing to File Campaign Finance Disclosure Statement
Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney has paid a large fine to the city of Oakland for her failure to file campaign finance statements on time. According to a letter from Tamika Thomas of the Oakland City Clerk's Elections and Compliance Unit sent to Gibson McElhaney on January 21, the fine was $1,730.
After the Express reported on Gibson McElhaney's un-filed campaign finance statements, Oakland resident Barbara Tengeri filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the state's primary political watchdog agency. After investigating the matter, the FPPC issued a stern warning letter on March 13 to Gibson McElhaney and her campaign treasurer Brigitte Cook. The FPPC found that Gibson McElhaney violated the law by failing to file her semi-annual campaign statement due July 31, 2014 in a timely manner, but the commission decided not to levy a fine because the councilmember had already paid one to the city. "[S]ince that statement has now been filed and since you paid the City of Oakland a substantial penalty for that late filed statement, we are closing our file on this matter," concluded the FPPC warning letter signed by Galena West, acting chief of the FPPC's Enforcement Division.
Gibson McElhaney eventually filed two disclosure statements on January 20 and 30 revealing her political fundraising activities for the 2014 calendar year. Over that period she raised $16,844 from fifty contributors.
Top donors who gave the maximum allowable $700 to Gibson McElhaney included Jon Wright, a business associate of major West Oakland foreclosure investor Neill Sullivan, business and real estate industry lobbyist Gregory McConnell, OUSD public relations executive Isaac Kos-Read, and trash and recycling company Recology.
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April 29, 2015
Campaign Contributions from Oakland Luxury Tower Developer May Have Been Illegal
UrbanCore, its lobbyists, and architect donated more than $3,000 to Oakland political candidates while negotiating to buy public land by Lake Merritt — in apparent violation of city law.
Councilmembers Larry Reid and Lynette Gibson McElhaney shot down Guillen's recommendation for an updated appraisal, arguing that the city cannot risk scaring other developers away from future deals with the city. The full council is scheduled to vote on the land sale to UrbanCore on May 5, the final step to approve the project.
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July 2, 2015
Oakland City Council Quietly Cuts Transparency Measures from Final Budget
Two policy directives drafted by Councilmember Dan Kalb to increase government transparency were cut from the final 2015-17 Oakland budget passed on Tuesday.
Why these two good government transparency measures were removed from the final budget is unclear. Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney included the proposals in her initial budget amendments submitted on June 18. But the council president's second draft submitted on June 25 struck these policy directives.
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August 4, 2015
Real Estate Money Fills Campaign Coffers of Oakland Politicians
With a haul of $30,636 since January 1 for her 2016 re-election campaign committee, City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney raised the most among Oakland's elected officials.
Many of the contributors to Gibson McElhaney's 2016 re-election committee are real estate developers, architects, and builders pursuing big residential and commercial projects in Oakland's booming landscape.
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September 10, 2015
Oakland City Council President Fined $1,600 for Campaign Finance Violation
Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney was fined $1,600 by the Oakland Public Ethics Commission this week for failing to disclose her campaign contributions last year. Gibson McElhaney, a first-term councilmember representing West Oakland and downtown, failed to file state-mandated disclosure forms with the Oakland city clerk's office before a July 31, 2014 deadline. The Express first reported Gibson McElhaney's violation in December. The forms weren't filed until January 2015.
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February 11, 2015
Records Indicate that Gibson McElhaney Used Her Council Office for Personal Gain
In an effort to block a townhouse project next to her West Oakland home, the councilmember used her council office resources and staff, and enlisted the help of a city contractor.
Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney appears to have violated multiple laws in her attempts to block a housing development from being built next to her home in West Oakland, public records show. Emails obtained by the Express reveal that a member of Gibson McElhaney's city council office staff, while using city equipment, helped her draft an appeal with the Oakland Planning Commission in opposition to the proposed housing project. Oakland law bars councilmembers from using their offices and authority for personal gain. In addition, Oakland's separation of powers law forbids councilmembers and their staffs from attempting to interfere in city department actions, including those of the planning department.
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July 15, 2016
Vote by Oakland Council President McElhaney Preceded Husband's Substantial Contract for UrbanCore Project. Was it a Conflict?
The city of Oakland is poised to approve this Tuesday a long-disputed development project on one-acre of city-owned land near Lake Merritt. But the Express has uncovered new information that suggests Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney's prior votes in favor of the project led to her husband securing a valuable subcontract with the developer.
The possible conflict for McElhaney dates back to June 25, 2013, when she voted with the rest of the Oakland City Council's community and economic development committee to approve an exclusive negotiating agreement with UrbanCore to develop the city land known as the E. 12th Street Remainder Parcel.
"I'm excited about the project," McElhaney said at the time, just before voting to advance the deal to the full council. (The councilmember was absent from a full council meeting that July finalizing the ENA.)
But after McElhaney's vote, and while the city was in negotiations with Urbancore over the land, her husband, Clarence McElhaney, was paid thousands of dollars by the developer to conduct a survey of the property.
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June 21, 2016
Grand Jury: Oakland City Council President Had Conflict of Interest, Violated Ethics Rules to Undermine Housing Project
Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney faces city censure.
Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney violated government ethics and conflict of interest rules when she used her council office resources to prevent a developer from building a townhouse project next to her Oakland home, according to the final report of the Alameda County Grand Jury that was issued today.
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October 19, 2016
Is Oakland Council President McElhaney Faking Sick, Canceling Meetings to Avoid Hearings on Ethics Violations?
Did Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney fake sick last night to push back a city response to damning Grand Jury accusations?
At last night's city council meeting, a McElhaney staffer told the Express that McElhaney had bronchitis and could not attend. Councilmember Larry Reid chaired it in her place.
But Oakland Post publisher Paul Cobb said during public comment that he'd spotted McElhaney moments earlier, at a party being held at the Oakland Marriott Hotel, just three blocks from City Hall.
After the party, McElhaney finally showed up at the council meeting and took her seat shortly before 10 p.m. Conveniently, she arrived four hours late — and after an agenda item to discuss and respond to her alleged ethics violations.
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November 7, 2016
Judge Orders Council President McElhaney to Hand Over Records in Ethics Case
Superior Court Judge Kimberly Colwell issued a tentative ruling last Thursday requiring Oakland City Council President Lynette Gibson McElhaney to comply with a subpoena for records issued by Oakland's Public Ethics Commission....
McElhaney is accused of using her council office to interfere with a townhouse project that was going to be built next to her personal home. An investigation by the Express last year uncovered emails showing that McElhaney had her chief of staff draft an appeal against the project, and that she enlisted the help of the city's planning and building director to force the developer and his architect to redesign the project. The developer ultimately gave up and blamed McElhaney for interfering....
In October, members of the public attempted to schedule a censure hearing against McElhaney — several times. But McElhaney cancelled two of the Rules Committee meetings at which the censure items were to be discussed. The council president also skipped council meetings. According to McElhaney, she was sick with bronchitis, but during the October 19 council meeting McElhaney was spotted attending a party held in honor of Barbara Lee. Members of the rules and legislation committee ultimately decided to hold off on censure and wait for the PEC to complete its review of the matter.
But on October 5, the Oakland Public Ethics Commission filed a lawsuit against McElhaney, alleging that she has ignored subpoenas for records and stonewalled their investigation....
McElhaney, a first-term councilmember, is running for reelection this year. She recently formed a “legal defense fund” according to records on file with the Oakland clerk.
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From Indybay:
Portland officials move to address housing crisis while Oakland claims no crisis exists
Oakland councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney comes out against oversight commissions
Oakland City Council Cmte to Consider Censure of Council President
For more information:
http://www.indybay.org/government/
Don't you know - ethics Don't matter in Oakland. She just got re-elected. Maybe she will get an appointment in the trump administration - HUD maybe.
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