APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
_________ __________________
CITY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO. ______________ C.M.S.
RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE POLICE COMMISSION SELECTION
PANEL’S SLATE OF TWO COMMISSIONERS, RICARDO GARCIA- ACOSTA
AND JOEY HARRISON, TO SERVE ON THE OAKLAND POLICE
COMMISSION
WHEREAS, Oakland voters approved Measure LL – establishing a Police Commission on November 8, 2016, with 83.19% in favor of the measure; and
WHEREAS, Measure LL established City Charter Section 604 which created a seven- member Police Commission to oversee the Oakland Police Department’s policies, practices, and procedures and ensure constitutional policing standards; and
WHEREAS, City Charter Section 604(c)(2) requires the Mayor to appoint three Oakland residents as regular members to the Police Commission and one Oakland resident as an alternate member; and
WHEREAS, City Charter Section 604(c)(3) established a nine-member Selection Panel to select candidates for the remaining five positions on the Police Commission (four regular commissioners and one alternate); and
WHEREAS, under City Charter Section 604(c)(3), the Selection Panel is responsible for reviewing applications, interviewing candidates, selecting nominees for its designated regular commissioner and alternate commissioner positions on the Police Commission, and submitting its recommended slate to the City Council for approval; and
WHEREAS, the initial members of the Police Commission served staggered terms of two, three, or four years; subsequent appointments serve terms of three years; and for vacancies that occur for reasons other than the expiration of a term, the Commission shall select one of the alternates to replace the regular member for that regular member’s remaining term of office; and
WHEREAS, the term of the Selection Panel’s regular commissioner appointee on the Police Commission, Jesse Hsieh, began on October 17, 2022 and was to expire on October 16, 2025; Commissioner Hsieh resigned on March 19, 2024 before his term ended, leaving the regular commissioner position vacant as of March 20, 2024; and
2 WHEREAS, the Selection Panel’s alternate commissioner appointee on the Police Commission, Ricardo Garcia-Acosta, whose term began on November 2, 2023 and expired on October 16, 2025, is now serving in holdover status; on May 8, 2024, he was elevated to fill the regular commissioner seat vacated by Jesse Hsieh through the end of Commissioner Hsieh’s term on October 16, 2025, leaving the alternate commissioner position vacant as of May 8, 2024, and the regular commissioner seat vacant as of October 17, 2025; and
WHEREAS, following the City Council’s rejection of the Selection Panel’s previously submitted slate on two separate occasions, the Selection Panel initiated a new recruitment and selection process to fill vacancies on the Oakland Police Commission; and
WHEREAS, during its 2026 recruitment process, the Selection Panel received forty-five (45) applications and conducted a comprehensive selection process, including independent application reviews, candidate evaluations, background and reference checks, finalist interviews, and standardized scoring to identify qualified nominees for the Oakland Police Commission to fill two extant regular commissioner vacancies (one of which to be filled by future resolution), the one extant alternate commissioner vacancy, one impending Fall 2026 vacancy and to add to the Selection Panel Reserve Pool; and
WHEREAS, following this process, the Selection Panel selected Ricardo Garcia-Acosta and Joey Harrison as its recommended nominees for three-year terms to fill, respectively, the one regular commissioner vacancy extant since October 17, 2025, and the one alternate commissioner vacancy; and
WHEREAS, Section 604(c)(3) of the City Charter provides the City Council with the authority to accept or reject the Selection Panel’s recommended slate of appointments to the Police Commission; now therefore, be it
3 RESOLVED: That pursuant to City Charter Section 604(c)(3), the City Council hereby accepts the Selection Panel’s slate of candidates, in its entirety, to serve as members of the Police Commission, as follows:
Ricardo Garcia-Acosta (Regular Commissioner, for seat formerly held by Jesse Hsieh) Term: October 17, 2025 – October 16, 2028
Joey Harrison (Alternate Commissioner, for seat formerly held by Ricardo Garcia -Acosta) Term: October 17, 2025 – October 16, 2028
IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,
PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:
AYES - BROWN, FIFE, GALLO, HOUSTON, RAMACHANDRAN, UNGER, WANG, AND
PRESIDENT JENKINS
NOES –
ABSENT –
ABSTENTION –
ATTEST:
ASHA REED
City Clerk and Clerk of the Council of the
City of Oakland, California
3475632 / JB