A Record of Success
Michael has been productive since being elected City Auditor during the City of Oakland’s March 5, 2024 Special Election and being sworn into office on May 3, 2024.
Michael and his team have coordinated, planned, prepared, and presented audits and investigations covering a wide range of City operations from high-profile public-facing services, to behind-the-scene strategic support functions. Listed below are some of the audits and investigations the City Auditor’s Office has conducted since Michael was elected City Auditor.
Performance Audits
✦ Performance Audit of Illegal Dumping
✦ Performance Audit of the Revenue Management Bureau’s Business Tax Collections Process
✦ Performance Audit of Other Oakland Police Commission, Community Police Review Agency, and Office of the Inspector General
✦ Performance Audit of Citywide Pay Equity
✦ Performance Audit of Oakland’s Police Emergency Response Times
✦ Performance Audit of the Oakland Children’s Fund for Fiscal Year 2018-19 through 2023-24
✦ Performance Audit of Grants from the City of Oakland to Saba Grocers Initiative and its Fiscal Sponsor
✦ Performance Audit of the Development Services Fund
✦ Performance Audit of Library Parcel Taxes for Fiscal Years 2019-20 through FY 2022-23
Investigations
✦ Conflicts of Interest & Outside Employment
✦ AIDS Project of the East Bay
✦ Oakland Senior Centers
✦ FLSA Overtime Pay
Assurance
The Oakland City Charter requires the Oakland City Auditor’s Office to follow Government Auditing Standards established by the Comptroller General of the United States. In October 2025, a team of outside government auditors conducted a peer review of the Oakland City Auditor’s Office, confirming that the Office conforms with the authoritative standards for government auditing that the Oakland City Charter requires. The peer reviewers gave the Oakland City Auditor’s Office the highest possible marks and recognized the Office for engaging the community in its audit work. Oaklanders can be assured that their independent City Auditor and his team are conducting their work accurately, ethically, and in accordance with the utmost quality and professional standards.
Recognition
The Association of Local Government Auditors recognizes the best performance audit reports issued by its members, 300 local government audit organizations in the United States and Canada. Audits are evaluated based on their clarity, potential for significant impact, and the potential of their recommendations in improving government.
2025 Distinguished Award: The Performance Audit of Police Emergency Response Times. Judges praised the report for identifying critical staffing shortages at the 9-1-1 communications center and for making 10 actionable recommendations to improve equitable and timely service.
2024 Distinguished Award: The Performance Audit of Citywide Pay Equity. Judges highlighted its neutral, data-driven approach, clear findings, and exceptional use of graphics.
Impact
Audit and investigation reports alone are limited in their ability to make a difference. Implementing the recommendations from audits and investigations actually improve government operations.
Michael and his team developed a citywide policy on implementing audit recommendations. The policy describes the process for the City Auditor’s follow-up process. In early 2025, the City Administrator co-signed the policy, underscoring the importance of City departments implementing recommendations.
The City Charter requires the City Auditor’s Office to follow-up on the recommendations every six months which facilitates a process to regularly report on the status of audit recommendations to the public, and those responsible for governance of City operations: the Mayor, the City Administration, the City Council, and civilian oversight bodies.
The audit recommendation follow-up cycle for the period through December 31, 2025, confirmed that most audit recommendations from past audits were implemented. Specifically, the City implemented 192 (64 percent) of the 300 unique audit recommendations issued since 2014.
