ABOUT THE WHISTLEBLOWER PROGRAM
We are committed to ensuring transparency, accountability, and integrity in Oakland’s Administrative Offices. The Whistleblower Program is one tool used to help achieve these objectives. This confidential hotline is for reporting fraud, waste, and abuse in City government, and is available to City employees, contractors, vendors, and residents. Additionally, to protect whistleblowers, there is an ordinance that protects City employees from retaliatory acts. The confidential hotline is available 24/7.
Don’t want anyone to know you filed a complaint? If so, you can choose to make your name and contact information anonymous.
WHAT TO REPORT
For the Whistleblower Program, fraud, waste, and abuse are defined as follows:
Fraud is defined as the intentional misuse of City assets through acts such as, but not limited to, theft, embezzlement, or misrepresentation. Fraud can be committed by City employees, contractors, or vendors.
Examples of fraud include:
- Accepting a bribe, kickback or illegal gratuity
- Auditing or accounting irregularities
- Bid-fixing
- Computer fraud or information theft
- Falsely reporting expenses for reimbursement
- Falsification of records, such as time cards, travel or other expenses
- Utilizing City property for personal use
- Obtaining a benefit or service from the City for which a person, organization, or department did not qualify for
- Recording fake sales
- Stealing a check issued by the City to another payee
- Submitting fake invoices for personal goods and services
- Taking or “skimming” cash paid for City services, such as parking, permits or fines
- Theft of City property, such as inventory or supplies
Waste is defined as the needless, careless or extravagant spending of City funds or misuse of resources due to inefficient or ineffective practices, systems, or controls
Abuse is defined as the use of employment position with the City to obtain personal gain or benefit to which one is not entitled, for the employee or for someone else, such as a friend or family member. Such actions are an abuse of position and abuse of the public trust.
COMPLAINT EVALUATION AND EXPECTATIONS
The Office of the City Auditor will conduct a thorough analysis of each complaint and will then take the most appropriate action. At each step of the process, you can be assured that your confidentiality will be protected.
In order to protect the confidential reporting process, updates and conclusions of actions will not be provided. The Whistleblower is not entitled to receive information that is confidential to other parties involved in any allegations.
Discussion of your complaint with others, including family, friends, and coworkers, may jeopardize your confidentiality and protections granted under the Whistleblower Protection Ordinance.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
In order to fulfill our vision of continuing to make the City of Oakland better by promoting transparency and ensuring efficient operational practices, the Whistleblower Hotline is a safe, confidential way for anyone to alert us of fraud, waste, or abuse problems in City government.
The City Auditor’s office provides the public and City employees a safe method to report incidents of possible fraud, waste, or abuse of City resources. To protect whistleblowers, there is an ordinance that protects City employees from retaliatory acts.
Once we have received adequate information about a complaint we will investigate and take appropriate action. However, we will not undertake an investigation unless we have sufficient basis that the complaint has merit. Additionally, in order to protect the confidential reporting process, updates of actions will not be provided.
Yes. When you call the hotline or report online you can choose to remain anonymous. Under The Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989, all reports made are confidential. However, in order to preserve your confidentiality of the process, the City Auditor does not give updates on the investigations. Discussion of your complaint with others, including family, friends and coworkers, may jeopardize your confidentiality and affect the investigation.
Yes, please submit all complaints through our Whistleblower Program.
The Whistleblower Program purpose is for reporting fraud, waste, and abuse in City government, whereas, the Public Ethics Commission is an independent, non-partisan City board created to oversee compliance with the City’s campaign finance, transparency, and ethics laws.
If the Whistleblower Program receives a complaint that falls under the jurisdiction of the Public Ethics Commission, the complaint will be referred to them.
Please submit all complaints through our Whistleblower Program.
MORE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS