DEC - 3 2018 Board of Supervisors Wilma Chan President Supervisor, Third District December 4, 2018 Honorable Wynne S*

The ticket policies of Alameda County and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority allow elected and appointed officials and their staff members to attend multiple high-value events for the purpose of "inspecting," "reviewing, or "evaluating" the facilities when no reports are ever generated after the events about the conditions observed. Response: The Board of Supervisors of the County of Alameda (the "Board") agrees that inspecting, reviewing and evaluating public facilities are among the 13 public purposes for which County officials (elected and appointed) and employees may use tickets to attend multiple high-value and other events held at the Oakland Collseum/Arena pursuant to the County of Alameda ("County") ticket policy, and agrees that neither the County's ticket policy nor State law requires that a report be generated. Oral reports of conditions observed have been made to those with oversight for the facilities.

Free tickets often are used as a perk of office or employment rather than a public asset to be managed and utilized for a public purpose as required by law. Response: The Board disagrees that free tickets are often used as a perk of office or employment. State law provides that free tickets used to reward or incentivize public employees for their service is a public purpose, making it not a perk as a matter of law. And the Grand Jury concluded that approximately 30% of tickets are given to worthy non-profits. Tickets were also used for other public purposes set forth in the ticket policy. The Board acknowledges that improved record keeping, training and review of ticket use may be warranted.

Some 802 forms are carelessly prepared, and omit or erroneously report important information such as dates of events, number of tickets distributed, the name of the event, the identity of the actual recipient, or the public purpose for which the tickets were used, undermining the goal of transparency required by FPPC regulation 18944.1. Response: The Board agrees that not all 802 forms were completed fully and that requested information may have been inadvertently omitted or erroneously completed in some cases. Alameda County's Response to the 2017-2018 Grand Jury - Final Report December 4, 2018

The 802 forms often do not account for all of the tickets to Arena and Coliseum events in the Alameda County and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority's luxury suites, indicating either that valuable resources have been wasted, or the tickets were used but not accounted for. No one is responsible for ensuring that all tickets to all events have been correctly and accurately reported. Response: The Board agrees that the County's records do not contain a completed Form 802 for every ticket the County received to events at the Coliseum and Arena and agrees that no one person is responsible for ensuring that all tickets to all events have been correctly and accurately reported. The Board disagrees that the absence of a completed Form 802 could only mean one of the two options listed above. The grand jury's inferences and conclusions are not the only possible options.

The ticket policies of Alameda County and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority list reasons for attending events that are vague and lack credibility. Response: The Board does not agree with this finding. The ticket policy lists a broad scope of 13 public purposes designed to capture the public purpose identified in State law as well as real life reasons why a public purpose is served by giving away free tickets. The reasons listed in the policy are credible public purposes that facilitate County business, economic development, benefit the community and non-profit organizations who serve the community.

The ticket policies of Alameda County and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority do not contain limitations on the number of tickets that can be used by officials and employees, allowing tickets to be used by the same individuals over and over again. Response: The County agrees with this finding.

Alameda County and the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority have no defined procedures and practices for offering tickets to worthy community organizations and individuals, or county employees other than those working directly for the officials who distribute them. Distribution practices vary from office to office. Alameda County's Response to the 2017-2018 Grand Jury - Final Report December 4, 2018 Response: The Board agrees with this finding.

Although Alameda County and the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum Authority claim an important public purpose for the tickets is to give them to worthy community-based organizations for use as fundraisers, the 802 forms show that high-value tickets with the biggest fundraising potential are seldom distributed to non-profits or schools, especially the most valuable playoff tickets. Response: The Board agrees with this finding but adds that the ticket policy does not prioritize any one public purpose over any other public purpose set forth in the policy, and there are 13 public purposes specified.

Alameda County has insufficiently analyzed whether its distribution of free tickets to elected officials and county employees meets the IRS criteria for exclusion from taxable income, putting the county at risk of sanctions for improper withholding. Response: The Board does not agree or disagree with this finding. It is a legal issue and the County declines to comment on privileged and confidential/attorney-client communications.