Which City Attorney Candidate Will Fight to Keep Coal Out of Oakland?
Two candidates are running for the position of Oakland City Attorney in November: Ryan Richardson and Brenda Harbin-Forte. The differences between them could have serious implications for the future of the coal campaign.
They each met with members of No Coal in Oakland and allies who have been working to keep coal out of Oakland. Only one pledged not to accept campaign contributions from coal supporters.
Ryan Richardson
Mr. Richardson has worked in the Office of the City Attorney since 2014, and is currently serving as Chief Assistant City Attorney. Although he hasn’t worked directly on the legal cases related to coal, he was very familiar with the history of the issue. The City Attorney does not set City policy or goals but must instead take direction from the City Council and Administration on all issues, including coal. Thus, unlike candidates for City Council, City Attorney candidates do not run on policy platforms. However, Richardson readily committed not to accept campaign contributions from supporters of coal, signing this pledge:
As a candidate for Oakland City Attorney, I recognize that the City Council and the City Administration are empowered to set goals for the City in relation to the handling of coal or petroleum coke at the former Army Base.
That said, I will not solicit or knowingly accept support, whether financial or in-kind, for my candidacy for Oakland City Attorney from any developer, West Gateway lessee or West Gateway sublessee who is proposing or advocating to export or otherwise handle coal or petroleum coke at the former Oakland Army Base. I will not solicit or knowingly accept support directly from these parties, or indirectly from their agents or lobbyists.
If an independent expenditure committee or other group is supporting my candidacy, and that that committee or group is administered, controlled, or substantially funded by any of these parties, or by their agents or lobbyists, I will publicly denounce such support.
Brenda Harbin-Forte
Retired Judge Harbin-Forte emphasized her extensive legal experience (45 years, including 27 as a judge). She launched and has played a leading role in the campaign to recall Mayor Sheng Thao, which is also on the November ballot. (The Thao recall is largely financed by a Piedmont hedge fund operator who is also funding the recall of Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.) Our discussion with Harbin-Forte raised three major concerns.
- She refused our request to decline campaign support from coal terminal interests or their agents. Coal terminal lobbyist Greg McConnell’s Independent Expenditure Committee “SOS Oakland” is backing her campaign. We don’t know how much parties angling to build a coal terminal may spend this year, but they weighed in on the 2022 mayor’s race with $600,000 in contributions to another of McConnell’s Independent Expenditure Committees.
- In response to our request concerning campaign contributions, Judge Harbin-Forte said she is open to “listening to both sides” and will be “fair.” This is concerning, because the City Attorney’s job is not to judge fairly between the City and its legal opponents – it is to represent the City against its opponents. Moreover, Harbin-Forte seems to have accepted as fact coal lobbyist McConnell’s spin on the failure of settlement negotiations. She thought that the 2022 settlement negotiations ended because the City “rejected a no coal settlement.” According to then- and currently-serving City Attorney Barbara Parker, the City continued to negotiate in good faith for a settlement with no “loopholes” that could have allowed coal to ship through Oakland – until would-be coal developer Phil Tagami broke off negotiations.
- One of Harbin-Forte main priorities, she said, is “reducing reliance on outside law firms” and using lawyers in the City Attorneys’ office on major litigation. She told us “sometimes you have to cut your losses” and “stop the flow of money.” This is of concern because in the ongoing, high stakes coal litigation, the City has benefited from collaborating with experienced, specialized attorneys who could take on nationally prominent firms representing the City’s opponents. The City will continue to need this expertise as it pursues an appeal of the judge’s decision restoring the developer’s lease, and defends against a billion dollar lawsuit brought by the hedge fund operator who holds the West Gateway sublease.
Judge Harbin-Forte stressed her expertise at negotiating settlements. She claims that in a settlement “both sides win” and that it’s “fair to all parties involved.” She didn’t acknowledge the disastrous environmental and climate impacts of shipping up to 10 million tons of coal a year through Oakland (and on all points along the rail line from Utah). She did say that she is concerned about asthma and social issues in general, but did not relate those concerns to the dangers posed by coal. She seems more focused on “what does the law say” and “contract principles.”
Judge Harbin-Forte’s unwillingness to refuse campaign contributions from coal terminal interests as well as her uncritical repetition of coal lobbyist McConnell’s claim that the City sabotaged the settlement talks of 2022 raise serious concerns about how well she would represent the best interests of Oakland and Oaklanders if she is elected City Attorney.
In related election news, No Coal in Oakland posted City Council Candidates’ Positions on Coal on September 30, 2024.