Oakland council puts off paying contractor after auditor objects

Oakland’s city auditor on Tuesday raised strong objections to a nonprofit contractor’s request for $150,000 in extra city funding, saying it could set a dangerous precedent.

In a letter to the City Council and Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, City Auditor Brenda Roberts called the demand from the nonprofit Oakland Private Industry Council “extraordinary” and urged city officials to consider its potential impact.

The City Council was scheduled to vote Tuesday night on the payment to the Private Industry Council, but Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan postponed the vote indefinitely after Roberts distributed the letter.

The Private Industry Council holds a $1 million annual contract with the city to provide job-training programs and had already asked for tens of thousands of dollars in extra funding.

Assistant City Administrator Claudia Cappio recommended that the city pay the Private Industry Council the $150,000 to fend off a lawsuit threat from the group’s executive, Gay Plair Cobb, who claims that money is a penalty the city must pay for late grant payments it made to the group between July 2010 and March 2013.

Cobb justified the demand by citing the city’s prompt- payment ordinance, which was enacted in 2008 to require the city to pay vendors on time for goods and services.