Every candidate for office in Oakland, including the School Board, is required to comply with various transparency and ethical reporting requirements in order to ensure “fairness, openness, honesty and integrity in Oakland City government.”¹ At a time when even local school board elections have become a magnet for out-of-town billionaire spending to push privatization agendas – see this article for more information: https://time.com/5792383/michael-bloomberg-charter-schools-donations/ – these reporting requirements have become critical to allow voters to make informed decisions about which candidates reflect their values. So it is extremely concerning that District 5 school board candidate Jorge Lerma (who ran in 2020 and so should know better) failed to file his form 460 identifying his campaign contributors and expenditures by the September 30 deadline.

Now, more than two weeks later, Mr Lerma still hasn’t filed his form 460 as required by law, but even more concerning is that he only recently filed his form 410 which must be filed within 10 days of reaching $2,000 in campaign activity (contributions or expenditures).² According to the City of Oakland Public Ethics Commission website, filing the form 410 is one of the very first steps that should be taken when running for public office (https://www.oaklandca.gov/services/candidate-checklist-starting-a-campaign-2) and the website contains detailed instructions on how to do it. A candidate is unable to comply with other reporting requirements (like filing the form 460) until that is done, and candidates are not allowed to raise money or make expenditures (over that $2,000 minimum) until it happens, which is no doubt why Mr Lerma did not file a form 460 by EITHER of the filing deadlines of July 31st or September 30th (unlike his opponent first time candidate Sasha Ritzie-Hernandez who has met all of those filing deadlines).

But it is not just about filing, a candidate CANNOT RAISE OR SPEND MONEY for the campaign until that form 410 is on file, something that it seems very clear that Mr Lerma has continued to do in flagrant violation of Federal, state and local campaign law. Since at least early August (per public social media postings) Mr Lerma has created window signs, t-shirts and lawn signs, he tabled at Oktoberfest and hosted a campaign mixer, all of which are significant expenditures. We also know that former Mayor Libby Schaaf held at least one fundraiser for Mr Lerma which was attended by a variety of politicos and charter school industry supporters, including former school board member including Gary Yee and the CEO of a local charter chain.

If Mr Lerma has a combined $2,000 in campaign activity, his failure to file his 410 AND his form 460 listing the expenditures is a serious violation. Even if Mr Lerma has loaned his own campaign the funds (as he did in his 2020 campaign) he is required to file those disclosures. His failure to do so should be a red flag for all of us.

Every single elected school board member is required to comply with Federal, state and local election laws, and their failure to do so subjects them to penalties and even legal action³. Mistakes can happen, but should be quickly remedied, and the fact that Mr Lerma previously ran for school board and previously filed the required disclosures suggests that this is not just a simple mistake. We hope that Mr Lerma will finally file his form 460 to accurately disclose his contributors and expenditures so that we know who is behind his campaign. But even without that disclosure, Oakland should think twice before electing a candidate who ignores electoral transparency requirements and apparently raises and spends funds in violation of federal, state and local laws.

1. https://www.oaklandca.gov/boards-commissions/public-ethics-commission
2. The only other qualified candidate Sasha Ritzie-Hernandez filed their Form 410 with Oakland on July 7, 2023 as required.
3. See the Oakland Public Ethics Commission website for more information including statistics and information on how to file a complaint. https://data.oaklandca.gov/stories/s/hpdg-bimb