Recording made of council members allegedly pressuring her to make a hire
Blog note: this article references a grand jury report.
ALAMEDA — The district attorney is urging the city to release a recording that a former city manager secretly made to show she was allegedly being put under pressure to hire a union-backed candidate as fire chief.
Former City Manager Jill Keimach made an audio recording of her 55-minute discussion with City Council members Jim Oddie and Malia Vella on Aug. 16, 2017, because she was concerned the two could be violating the city charter by pressing their case to hire the union-backed candidate.
The charter puts all hiring decisions for key personnel in the hands of the city manager and prohibits interference from council members.
The recording has never been made public.
“After a thorough review, it is the opinion of the district attorney’s office that there is a strong public interest in disclosing the recording,” Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley said in an Oct. 22 letter to City Attorney Yibin Shen. “It involves conversations of the public’s business by public employees during the scope of their public employment.”
Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft declined to comment Thursday because she said the council will be discussing whether to release the tape in closed session Nov. 5, and because it relates to potential or pending litigation or claims, citing advice from the city attorney.
Oddie and Vella, as well as Shen, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on O’Malley’s letter.
Councilman Tony Daysog said the tape should be released.
“My take on what the county DA is saying is that the city of Alameda should either lift the exemption to let her office release the tapes, or that City Hall itself should release the tapes,” Daysog said. “I am open to pursuing either option, for the same public interest, open governance, and transparency reasons stated by the county DA. It’s an important part of our healing process.”
O’Malley said her office has received “multiple requests” for a copy of the recording under the California Public Records Act.
In June, a report from the Alameda County civil grand jury said both Oddie and Vella violated the charter by putting political pressure on Keimach as she was looking to hire a fire chief in 2017.
But the grand jury also said the conduct of Oddie and Vella did not rise to the filing of an “accusation,” a legal charge from the grand jury that would start the process to remove them from office for willful or corrupt misconduct.
Both Oddie and Vella have denied wrongdoing.
O’Malley noted in her letter that her office will not release the recording, saying it would violate state law because the city of Alameda provided the recording in confidence as part of a criminal investigation.
“As the criminal and civil grand jury investigations are now complete, it is the opinion of the district attorney’s office that the investigative exemption no longer applies to the city,” O’Malley said. “We urge the city to consider the public interest, open governance and transparency when making it final decision.”
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office exonerated Keimach of wrongdoing.
The grand jury did not name Oddie and Vella in its report, though the jury was clearly referring to them based on previous reports by this news organization and others.
Keimach felt her job was on the line unless she consented to what Oddie and Vella wanted and was so concerned about the pressure she was under — which she described as “unseemly” and “intense and unrelenting” — that she secretly recorded the meeting with Oddie and Vella, the grand jury said.
Oddie and Vella said the recording was made without their knowledge or consent. In California, it is illegal to record another person without their consent. However, state law allows recording confidential communications if there is reason to believe it would relate to criminal conduct, including bribery or extortion.
Keimach quit her position amid the controversy that surrounded the recording and the fire chief’s hiring in May 2018 under a $945,000 separation agreement with the city.
October 24, 2019
The Mercury News and East Bay Times
By Peter Hegarty
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