The Port of Oakland, which was hit last year by a misuse of
funds scandal, provided a progress report on March 28 to its Board of Port
Commissioners regarding its efforts to strengthen policies to prevent future
financial misdeeds.
Updates included conducting a first-ever port
purchasing card audit in 2012 and revising the port’s purchasing card policy
based on audit recommendations; conducting an independent investigation of
improper expenditures; the resignation of the port’s former Executive Director
and Maritime Director; and the hiring of a new port attorney, with background
in a variety of legal areas including ethics.
The port says it has also provided additional ethics
training for employees; set up a public webpage related to accountability and
transparency that includes steps the port is taking and a timeline; and revising
travel policy to provide clarity, guidance and responsibility.
“It’s a milestone relative to the commitment that we, the port
staff and the Board, made to the public to become a more accountable and
transparent organization,” Port of Oakland Acting Executive Director Deborah
Ale Flint said.
The changes were the result of a fall 2012 scandal in which
then-Executive Director Omar Benjamin and then-Maritime Director James Kwon
were found to have spent $4,500 entertaining shipping executives at strip club
in Houston, Texas 2008 during a business conference.
