On Monday, The Oaklandside published the first part of an investigation raising questions about who in the city was responsible for missing a deadline to apply for a major state grant to fight retail theft. Today, we have some answers.
Our first story was based on records we got from the Economic and Workforce Development Department in response to a California Public Records Act request.
In September, this department took the blame for failing to apply in time for a share of $267 million in funding from the California Board of State and Community Corrections. A city spokesperson said EWD first identified the grant in June and failed to get the application in on time.
However, as we reported this week, EWD’s records showed that staff from the Oakland Police Department, EWD, and other departments were aware of the grant in April, shortly after it was announced. An EWD staffer flagged the grant for Interim Police Chief Darren Allison and offered to help but was told the police “should be able to handle it.” In June, a different EWD staffer discovered the grant, reached out to OPD, and got involved in trying to put together an application by the July 7 deadline. Afterward, according to city emails, EWD’s director told city leaders she didn’t think it was fair her department’s staff had been publicly singled out while OPD was let off the hook.
The records we got from EWD told more of the story but raised more questions than they answered. We wanted to know more about OPD’s role, especially what the department was doing in the crucial period between April 25 and early June, when it knew about the grant but before EWD got involved.
We’ve carried out this investigation because the missed grant opportunity cost Oakland potentially millions in crime-fighting funds. The public has a right to understand in detail how the city’s grant application process broke down.
The records we have show that many people and several departments bear responsibility but that OPD played a central role in the application process, was disorganized, and was delayed at various stages in preparing the grant—but escaped criticism when the story about the missed deadline was first reported back in September.
Here’s what the newest records—OPD’s emails—reveal
The police department did not respond to the Public Records Act request we filed on Sept. 25 by providing emails and other records we asked to see. After our first story was published and our attorney contacted the city, OPD released some of its emails this week.
At a high level, they tell us that although the Oakland Police Department knew about the opportunity in April, it did not appear to start working on the grant until early June. OPD staff appeared to have acted as the “project managers” for the grant—the people ultimately responsible for making sure it got done. But it appears some of the responsibility for sending the grant to the state on the day it was due fell on a staffer from the Economic and Workforce Development Department who got involved in the process relatively late.
For several weeks, OPD’s acting grants coordinator discussed the grant with OPD staff. But the department didn’t assign a subject matter expert—an officer who could explain the department’s funding needs for equipment and systems—to help until June 7. By that point, the coordinator was raising concerns about whether they’d be able to finish the application by the July 7 deadline.
“We do have a little less than a month so I’m not sure this is even feasible depending on the project,” OPD Acting Grants Coordinator Amber Fuller told the subject matter expert, Lieutenant Omar Daza-Quiroz, in an email on June 8.
Paul Chambers, a representative from OPD’s media department, told The Oaklandside this week that OPD staff started working on the grant immediately after Chief Allison passed the opportunity to Fuller. He said there were meetings, conversations, and phone calls, and that not all of the department’s work was captured in emails or “logged minute by minute.”
“We did do stuff,” Chambers said. “We turned in our portion of information of the grant.”
Our investigation is not exhaustive. There are still gaps in time that we don’t have records for, including the nearly three-week period between April 26 and May 15. We asked OPD about some of those gaps, but the department didn’t provide detailed information. OPD released two batches of records and said it would release a third. We will update this story with those records when we get them.
OPD learns about the grant, but action is delayed several weeks
The effort to obtain the state grant began in April.
Townsend Public Affairs, the city’s lobbying firm in Sacramento, wanted to be sure Oakland knew about millions in crime-fighting funds the state was doling out. A couple of lobbyists forwarded an email about the grant opportunity to OPD Deputy Director Kiona Suttle and OPD Acting Grants Coordinator Amber Fuller on April 25, advising he was available to “discuss the program or possible projects.”
Suttle told the Townsend team the next day that she had forwarded the information to OPD Fiscal Manager LaRajia Marshall “as grants fall under her division.” Suttle said Marshall would work with Fuller on the grant.
Around the same time, Gregory Minor, a deputy director in the Economic and Workforce Development Department, told interim Police Chief Darren Allison that he had forwarded the grant opportunity to four OPD staffers in the Special Operations Section: Officer John Romero, Sgt. Jorge Cabral, Lt. William Febel, and Captain Casey Johnson. Minor told Allison the grant could be a good opportunity to gain resources to deter targeted burglaries of cannabis stores and other businesses.
“Do you think OPD will take it from here or would it be helpful if I organized a teams meeting to discuss this grant (and if so, who should I include)?” Minor wrote.
Allison replied that Suttle would assign the grant to OPD’s acting grants coordinator. He said OPD’s team “should be able to handle” the grant pending an assessment. Fuller also emailed Minor that she would follow up on the grant.
The records we have don’t show what happened for the roughly three weeks that followed, but it appears the department didn’t take any substantive steps to advance the grant.
On May 15, Fuller reached out to the same four OPD officers Minor had contacted the month before. She noted that eligible expenses under the grant included automated license plate readers, vehicles, computers, investigative software, case management systems, databases, online and print advertising, tracking devices, routers, modems, and staff expenses, including overtime.
“Please let me know if you would like to apply for this grant or meet for further discussion,” Fuller wrote. “If you feel it would be more beneficial for another department in OPD let me know.” The records we received don’t show a response to Fuller’s email from these officers.
The next day, Suttle told Fuller about a budget meeting with several councilmembers where the idea of looking for a grant to purchase vehicles came up. She asked Fuller to investigate this “ASAP” and let her know what grants were available.
Fuller replied to Suttle on May 19, writing that she spoke with a police sergeant who told her that “vehicles are not purchased through grant funding. In the past, vehicles have been purchased by Public Works and through a bond.”
Later that day, Suttle emailed Lt. Alan Yu and said Fuller had found a grant that would potentially let the department buy vehicles and other equipment. To qualify, Suttle explained, OPD had to describe how the vehicles and equipment would be used in connection with organized retail theft, vehicle theft, and cargo theft.
“I am seeking input from CID to determine if we can make the required connection so that we can apply for this grant,” Suttle wrote, referring to the Criminal Investigation Division. She asked Yu if he could help or if he knew someone in the division who could assist.
Yu said Lt. Alexis Nash from the General Crimes Unit could help, and Lt. Omar Daza-Quiroz could assist “later.” Both officers were copied on this email, as were Captain David Elzey and Sgt. DaSean Spencer.
On May 22, Suttle instructed Fuller to work with Nash and Daza-Quiroz to “see if we can qualify for this grant.”
OPD had trouble assigning staff to handle the grant and figuring out what equipment to ask for
On May 23, Fuller emailed Nash and Daza-Quiroz with information about the grant application requirements. Nash responded a couple of hours later, asking if Fuller needed statistics on retail and vehicle thefts. Fuller asked to set up a phone call; it’s unclear from the records whether that happened.
Later that afternoon, Fuller sent Nash and Daza-Quiroz an email outlining how the application process would work.
“Essentially you and/or (Daza-Quiroz) would be the Project Manager(s) for this grant and we would be working together to apply,” Fuller wrote. She said the department wanted to buy vehicles with the grant but if that wasn’t feasible, they could still get other equipment.
A week later, on May 30, Fuller followed up to ask if Nash or Daza-Quiroz were able to assist with the grant.
“If not, let me know so I can try and locate another individual for assistance,” Fuller said.
Nash wrote back that she could help in the absence of Daza-Quiroz. Fuller emailed Nash on May 31 to set up a meeting to discuss the application process. First, Nash needed to decide what type of project OPD should apply for: organized retail theft, vehicle theft, or cargo theft.
“If there is already a program in place that addresses any or all of these issues that might be easiest for us to expand on instead of starting from scratch since we have limited time,” Fuller wrote.
Based on the records we received, it’s unclear whether Nash met with Fuller. We asked OPD if this meeting took place and why Nash apparently didn’t end up working on the application. The department didn’t answer specific questions about this meeting or others. Media representative Paul Chambers emphasized that OPD staff worked on the grant and that “everything that happens is not going to be dictated through emails.”
By early June, the retail theft grant opportunity was already known to multiple people in other city departments. On June 5, Townsend informed dozens of Oakland city employees and representatives about grant opportunities, including Mayor Sheng Thao, the police chief, the fire chief, the head of the HR department, the director of the finance department, the chief assistant city attorney, and higher-ups in the City Administrator’s Office.
Interim Police Chief Darren Allison forwarded this email to Suttle, noting that some of the grants “may support funding for technology, like fixed plate readers.” Suttle responded that the department was in the process of applying for the retail theft grant.
Allison replied that he had noticed the retail theft grant, too, and believed it could help OPD buy critical technology like the license plate readers.
“We would need to go to the PAC first to get them to agree before we get the funds,” Allison wrote, referring to the Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission, a volunteer body that helps craft policies to ensure the city doesn’t misuse powerful technologies like surveillance equipment.
Suttle looped Fuller into the thread to confirm that the funds could be used on license plate readers. On June 7, Fuller replied that this technology was covered by the grant. If the department needed the privacy commission’s approval, she said she thought it should be done before submitting the application.
“There is only one month left to apply so I’m not sure if enough time,” Fuller said.
OPD staff discussed the possible need to get the privacy advisory commission to sign off on the policy but, according to emails, ultimately decided they would be applying for the grant no matter what. If they couldn’t buy license plate readers, they could still use the funds on other valuable technology and department needs.
Brian Hofer, Chair of the Privacy Advisory Commission, said in an interview the department already had a use policy for automated license plate readers that the City Council approved last year, and the department didn’t need the commission’s approval to apply for funds. Hofer added that police staff conducted an informal check-in with the PAC before the application deadline to inform them about the grant.
“We had knowledge of that,” Hofer said.
Work appears to have started two months after OPD learned of the opportunity
OPD appears to have figured out who would work with the grant coordinator in early June, about two months after it first learned of the opportunity.
On June 8, Daza-Quiroz, who had been assigned to serve as the subject matter expert, reached out to Fuller to discuss the grant. Fuller sent Daza-Quiroz a document with the same information she had sent Nash in May.
“We do have a little less than a month so I’m not sure this is even feasible depending on the project,” Fuller said.
Several days later, Daza-Quiroz told Fuller he had reviewed the grant packet and a recording of a meeting held on May 11 hosted by the BSCC with instructions on how to apply.
“The Q&A were good, a lot of similar questions, but the good thing is that it seemed a lot of people were confused so that makes it good for us haha,” Daza-Quiroz wrote. “But it’s some work and we are already 2 months behind but we can still do it and see if we get something…”
Daza-Quiroz asked Fuller if she had already created an account for the grant application. They would need to submit their materials by the end of June or July 1, he said, “just to give us that 1 week grace period if we messed up on something.”
Fuller shared the login info with Daza-Quiroz, calling the application “pretty user friendly.”
Daza-Quiroz also said he would read the budget portion of the application and call Benicia and San Leandro police to get information about their license plate readers, including costs.
In a June 15 email that appears to have been sent to some local businesses, Daza-Quiroz described the retail theft grant and said, “OPD is in a bit of a time crunch (I apologize but our team was given this really late), but I think we can get it done still.”
He explained that OPD needed data about total losses from retail theft so he could describe in the application how license plate readers and other equipment would help deter crime. The email doesn’t include the names of who Daza-Quiroz was contacting.
EWD got involved a couple of weeks after OPD started on the grant
In our previous story, we explained that Shawnee Keck, an urban economic analyst from the Economic and Workforce Development Department, appeared to learn about the grant in early June. She reached out to local business leaders, members of the city administration, and staff from Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas’ office to figure out a path forward for the grant.
Keck contacted an OPD official on June 16, asking if the department was aware of the grant and seeking advice on the protocol for applying. Four days later, Keck connected with Amber Fuller and offered to help. Based on the records we reviewed, Keck seemed to be unaware that OPD had known about the retail grant for nearly two months and had only recently started to work on it in earnest.
By the time Keck was in communication with OPD officials, they had less than three weeks to submit the application before the July 7 deadline.
On June 20 and 22, Fuller also contacted staffers at the Department of Public Works looking for information on the total cost of purchasing and servicing one patrol car, indicating OPD was considering asking for money to buy vehicles. The same day, Fuller asked an OPD officer for copies of department policies on racial bias and surveillance technology, such as license plate readers. On June 22, Keck emailed Daza-Quiroz with questions about the scope of the grant.
On June 27, Greg Minor from EWD, who had flagged the grant opportunity for the police chief on April 26, checked in again with OPD, asking Officer John Romero and Lt. William Febel if the department was applying for the grant.
“It’s due in a little over a week…” Minor wrote.
One of the officers forwarded the email to Suttle and LaRajia Marshall, OPD’s Fiscal Manager. Fuller responded that OPD was handling the application.
“Yes we’re applying for the Organized Retail Theft Prevention Grant Program,” Fuller said in her email, adding that she anticipated having “everything written up by the end of this week.”
On June 28, Fuller, Keck, and members of Bas’ office discussed meeting to talk about the application.
Over the next few days, Daza-Quiroz, Fuller, and Keck exchanged emails about information they got from retailers and the budget template for the application. Keck told Daza-Quiroz that she had set up a meeting with a company that “runs our major camera network downtown.” On July 1, Daza-Quiroz said he was combing through retailers’ emails for information and contacting Home Depot to get data on their exact losses.
At this point, time was running out. The next week was the last work week for OPD and EWD staff to finish and submit the grant.
On July 5, two days before it was due, Daza-Quiroz asked Fuller and Keck whether the team would re-edit several sections of the application. He also noted that he was attending the privacy advisory commission the following evening. As mentioned in our last story, staff were still collecting data and adding information hours before the application was due.
Deadline day arrives with an alleged glitch
On July 7, city staff tried and failed to submit the application. Daza-Quiroz speculated in text messages that an outage in Oakland’s 911 dispatch system may have caused the technical problems. Reports on the outage suggest it affected the dispatch center.
The city appealed to the Board of State and Community Corrections for a second chance, but on July 21, BSCC’s legal counsel said the opportunity was closed.
Three days after the deadline, Fuller emailed Suttle and Fiscal Manager LaRajia Marshall with a brief description of what happened.
“Chief Allison approved/signed required documents for this grant on July 6,” Fuller said. “OPD completed its portion of the application and EWD advised they would submit the grant because they were still updating information.”
Fuller said the “analyst” working on the application had technical issues and was unable to submit it.
“There seems to be quite a few stakeholders interested in our agency applying for this grant, so I want to give you a heads up in case the Chief is questioned about the status of the application,” Fuller wrote.
The mayor takes the blame. The police union says OPD is being ‘smeared’
When the news that Oakland missed out on the grant was first reported in September, the city initially blamed the Economic and Workforce Development Department.
During her state of the city address in October, Mayor Sheng Thao took full responsibility for the missed grant. The mayor and city administrator have stuck to that position since then.
“We want to be clear that this is an issue of leadership accountability—and both Mayor Thao and City Administrator Johnson have taken that accountability to acknowledge and address the need for systemic improvements,” said city spokesperson Sean Maher in response to questions from our last story.
After reviewing EWD and OPD’s emails this month, we asked city leaders if they thought it was worth acknowledging that OPD shared some responsibility for missing the deadline.
Thao’s office reiterated the mayor’s previous message: this was a systems breakdown. “Mayor Sheng Thao does not fault any individual or any department,” Thao’s office said in a statement to The Oaklandside this week. “The Mayor has been clear that the buck stops with her and has taken responsibility for this missed opportunity.”
On Tuesday, after we published our first story in this investigation, Barry Donelan, the president of the Oakland Police Officers Association, the union representing Oakland police, was interviewed by local TV news stations, including KRON4. Donelan appeared to be reacting to our story and a report by KTVU confirming that OPD was much more responsible for failing to submit the grant than previously thought.
Donelan said he believes the city’s Economic and Workforce Development Department was still to blame. He also accused Thao of blaming OPD.
Donelan went on to claim that media outlets “connected to the mayor” are participating in the alleged “smear campaign,” an apparent reference to our earlier reporting.
After obtaining the newest records showing OPD’s role in the missed grant, we contacted Donelan, asking him whether he believes OPD should take some responsibility. He did not respond. The Oaklandside also didn’t receive a comment from KRON4 reporter Amanda Hari, who did not contact our newsroom for comment regarding Donelan’s claims ahead of publishing KRON4’s story.
[Editor’s note: The Oaklandside is an independent, nonprofit news organization that holds its editorial staff to the highest standards of professional journalism. You can read more about our newsroom policies here.]
Back in June, when OPD and EWD were working on the grant, City Council members and the mayor debated the best way to handle grant opportunities. The topic had taken on additional significance in light of the budget deficit the city was facing.
One proposed way of bolstering the city’s ability to apply for grants came from Councilmember Janani Ramachandran. She wanted the city to hire a grant writer focused on public safety initiatives. Another option, proposed by Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas and her budget team, was to hire a grant writer who could work across city departments, coordinating applications. The council was split on Ramachandran’s proposal, and Thao cast the tie-breaking vote to reject it. As part of the final budget they passed, the council and mayor chose instead to hire a citywide grants coordinator.
Neither option could have changed the outcome of the retail theft grant: The budget was passed on June 26. The grant was due July 7. The city couldn’t have hired anyone, trained them, and brought them up to speed on the grant in a week’s time.
Going forward, Thao said, the city is making the city administrator’s office responsible for applying for and following up on grant applications. Oakland is also going to enlist consultants to help with grants and upgrade the city’s grant management software tools.
