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Oakland commissioners press for clearer accounting of Measure M wildfire funds
Summary
Commissioners pressed staff and the fire chief for a line‑by‑line accounting of Measure M spending, citing concerns that the measure’s money may be backfilling existing budgets. Fire and public‑works officials promised a spending report and a Power BI map to show where clearing is occurring.
Oakland commissioners pressed city staff on April 16 for a clearer accounting of Measure M wildfire‑prevention funds, saying residents deserve to know whether the parcel tax is being spent in addition to — rather than in place of — existing vegetation‑management budgets.
Councilmember Unger, who attended to speak about finance in place of absent budget staff, told the commission the highest priority should be "life safety," including keeping evacuation routes clear, establishing safe refuge areas for firefighters and creating anchor points for operations. "When I talk about life safety, number 1 is evacuation routes," he said.
Multiple commissioners said the public has been told Measure M dollars were to be "additionality" — funding above historic baseline levels — and they asked staff how to verify that outcome. One commissioner pressed whether money for existing grazing programs and other contracts was being funded from Measure M rather than from prior allocations.
Chief Covington of the fire department said the Measure M appropriation currently sits in Public Works' budget and that fire and public‑works staff are working together on a spending plan. He told commissioners his office and Clinton Pugh's team are building a Power BI dashboard that "will show where all the clearing is being done throughout the city" and said staff would produce a point‑in‑time accounting of what has been spent so far. "Give me a week," he said, promising to work with Public Works to deliver numbers and to propose a cadence (monthly or quarterly) for ongoing reporting.
Staff and commissioners agreed the dashboard alone will not show exact costs; commissioners asked for an "activity‑based" accounting that ties dollars to specific actions and locations and for overtime reporting tied to Measure M work. Chief Covington said staff had asked Public Works for a "penny‑by‑penny" report and that the goat‑grazing contract and a ranger position have already consumed a significant portion of funds.
The commission asked staff to return with a timeline for the Power BI map, a detailed accounting of Measure M expenditures to date, and a plan for regular reporting. The panel formed a subcommittee to draft the commission’s report to City Council on Measure M spending and intends to provide a draft to include in the May meeting packet.
Next steps: the commission requested the BI timeline and the detailed accounting at the next meeting; Chief Covington said staff would aim to provide initial spending figures within about a week and more regular updates thereafter.
