(ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA) - Shawn Wilson, Chief of Staff to Board Supervisor David Haubert in Alameda County, is facing serious allegations of bribery to silence a Livermore resident’s exposure of erroneous information.
Photo Credit: Content.Gov Delivery
The resident, Kiersten Skov, was allegedly invited by Wilson in person at the Alameda County Fair Grounds office where the supposed “behind closed doors” bribery deal took place. “He then made me an offer that any reasonable person would understand to be a bribe,” Skov said during a Press Conference.
The bribe involved the apparent use of discretionary funds that would be allocated to a non-profit of Skov’s choosing, only conditional upon her silence. The situation stems from an erroneous email sent by a staffer from Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert’s District 1 office requiring unincorporated Livermore residents to pay for Livermore Sanitation service, a waste collection company.
The Jul. 2024 email cited Senate Bill 1383, which “requires jurisdictions to provide organic waste collection services to all residents and businesses,” according to CalRecycle.ca.gov.
This, however, did not apply to all unincorporated residents and was merely optional, which Skov would find out two years later in late January of this year, when Alameda County Waste Management Lead Andy Schneider confirmed her address never applied to these services.
Photo Credit: Livermore Sanitation / Facebook
Shawn Wilson spoke with OpGov.News clarifying that the initial email sent was a communications error on the part of a staffer working with the County who, consequently, has since been terminated.
Skov was apparently told by Wilson that the staffer had violated a communications policy to which, upon speaking with the ex-employee, Skov said they weren’t aware of any such policy.
Regardless, Skov had been paying for services she never needed, and since her discovery of the error, she’d been in constant communication with officials seeking a corrected email and her money back. That’s when Skov finally spoke with Wilson earlier this year.
Wilson told Opgov.news that he felt the conversation was productive and explained that Skov seemed fine during their initial interaction. To remedy her concerns, he also said that he told Skov during their discussion that while Livermore Sanitation was not planning on refunding her, they would at least credit her account.
Photo Credit: Livermore Sanitation / Facebook
He was informed by LSI that this would be considered a one-time courtesy. Skov, during this conversation, was allegedly told she'd been offered the discretionary funds in exchange for silence on the entire matter.
“I never bribed her, I never pressured her,” Wilson told Opgov.news. Skov also alleges that she was offered Disney on Ice tickets. Although Skov allegedly left, pondering the meeting without agreeing to anything initially, she returned a month later to inform Wilson that the offer he gave would not work.
It was also during this second meeting when Wilson had allegedly recommended that Skov sue the County. This option was allegedly tied to one condition: that the County be free from any and all liability and responsibility regarding the matter.
Skov walked away from this offer as well. This issue ties into a broader problem that Skov discovered through meeting State Senator Aisha Wahab, who created and introduced Senate Bill 1193.
If passed into law, the Alameda County Discretionary Funds Transparency Act would require “Alameda County supervisors to publicly vote on and disclose discretionary fund awards to community organizations, nonprofits, and private entities,” according to SD10.Senate.Gov.
Photo Credit: Leginfo.Legislature.Ca.gov
Skov and Wahab met on May 6 when Skov reached out to her for aid in resolving the issue. It was after this meeting that Wahab realized that Skov's situation was the exact reason for the creation of SB1193.
Currently, both women have been actively working together to advocate for the passing of the bill, which only needs to go through the full California State Assembly before being signed or vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Wilson told Opgov.news that he and the council actively oppose the bill, citing the ‘90-day rule’ which outlines the exemption of supervisors who are on the ballot for an election giving any discretionary funds to non profits.
Opposers to the bill note this rule can hurt innocent non-profit organizations who may need money quickly.
This is a developing story. If you have any questions, comments or want to leave a tip, please email me at yikaileau.w@lead4earth.org
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