What's the Fraud, Waste & Abuse Prevention Program all about? Given the legacy of mismangement in Oakland, can a city program make a difference? How? This City Translator article digs into a City Auditor program designed to help keep officials honest.

In January 2009, Oakland took a step toward improving transparency and accountability in city government with the launch of the Fraud, Waste and Abuse Prevention Program (FW+A) by the Office of the City Auditor.  Last week that office released its first annual report, including statistics that show an impressive improvement in city practices and employee participation. Here are the details:

Within its first year of operation the prevention program saw an astonishing 625 percent increase in reported concerns, wrongdoings witnessed in the workplace and in dealings with government.  The number skyrocketed from an average of 19.5 reports between 2007 and 2008, to 122 reports in 2009.  Types of problems range from pay rate disputes within city offices to erroneously levied property taxes, showing that this new program affects both city employees and Oakland citizens.

While it was possible to make such reports in the past, the creation of this program has increased accessibility, heightened awareness and ensured privacy.  By letting citizens keep a closer watch over city government, Oakland can now identify wasteful practices and stop unnecessary losses of resources. 

Fwa Report 20091. Volume 01

Essential to the program was securing protections against retaliation for city employees who chose to file reports.  In August 2008, the State of California passed the Municipal Whistleblower Protection Act penned by Oakland City Auditor, Courtney Ruby, and introduced by Assemblyperson Sandre Swanson.  In September, a similar ordinance was passed by the Oakland City Council.  Shortly afterward, the council designated an annual fund of $250,000 to get the program off the ground. 

In January 2009, the FW+A Hotline was launched, but was only available on a limited basis while the city was working to hire a program manager.  The selection was completed in April, allowing for policies and procedures to be finalized.  By September, the program became fully operational, a report was presented to the council and in the months leading up to 2010 an informational public outreach campaign was launched.

The Auditor's annual report points out that although the program was not fully fledged for most of 2009, the increase in reporting was evident even earlier in the year after the launch of the limited FW+A Hotline.  

The number of tips gathered over the year from the hotline exceeded the national average by 10 percent.  In the past year the auditor closed 93 cases, the majority by investigation, referral to audits or redirection to proper city channels, and carried 32 cases over to 2010. (For full details, guidelines for what to include in your report and information about how reports are treated, please visit the full report.)

Take Action

To report potentially fraudulent, wasteful or abusive activity, call the anonymous FW+A Hotline 24/7 at 888-329-6390, or fill out the online form.

Previous City Translator articles:

• How Oakland social justice groups convinced feds to yank Airport Connector stimulus funds
• Hard Lessons for Oakland Police: Inside the Board of Inquiry report on the Lovelle Mixon shooting
• Oakland City Council meeting, January 5, 2010: Agenda in plain English