Twice-rejected police commissioner ‘not qualified’ to serve a new fixed term: City Attorney
City Attorney says the Oakland Police Commission can elevate ‘holdover’ alternate Omar Farmer to a vacant seat — but only temporarily, and he must be replaced ‘promptly.’
“Simply put, a person who has not successfully gone through the required City Council consideration process is not qualified to serve a new fixed term as a police commissioner.”
– City Attorney Ryan Richardson
Oakland’s city attorney has issued a legal opinion affirming that ‘holdover’ alternate Police Commissioner Omar Farmer is “by definition… not fully qualified to serve a new, fixed term on the Police Commission.”1
The legal opinion outlines “at least three ways a person could fail to qualify” for appointment, one of which being if “the City Council decided not to reconfirm them.”
The city council rejected Farmer’s request for reappointment twice: on Oct. 21, 2025 and again on Jan. 20, 2026.
After the council declined to reappoint Farmer the first time, he and fellow rejected commissioner Ricardo Garcia-Acosta issued a public statement accusing the police chief and blaming the city for “anti-commission harassment.”
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Farmer and Garcia-Acosta sought to have the OPC ratify and adopt their statement as an official submission to the federal judge overseeing the Negotiated Settlement Agreement (NSA).2
According to Richardson’s opinion, the Oakland Police Commission (OPC) still can elevate Farmer, whose term expired in October 2025, to a vacant regular seat — but only temporarily. Richardson adds that Farmer must be replaced ‘promptly’ with a properly selected and confirmed appointee.
Police Commission violated the Brown Act
As Oakland Report reported last week, the Oakland Police Commission (OPC) announced on March 26 that Farmer had been appointed to a full seat on the commission, after emerging from a closed-door session out of view of the public.
The posted agenda for the March 26 meeting included no public notice that a commission member appointment would be discussed or decided – an apparent violation of California’s sunshine law, the Brown Act.
See this related article:
The city attorney’s April 9 legal opinion affirms that the OPC appears to have violated the Brown Act by announcing that it had appointed Farmer without properly notifying the public or taking a formal public vote:
“The Police Commission… must take action, appropriately noticed, to vote to select an Alternate to fill a vacancy. We find no support for the idea that an Alternate could somehow be automatically selected, without action by the Police Commission as a body.”
– City Attorney Ryan Richardson
Richardson’s opinion also provides guidance on the process for appointing new members to the Selection Panel, a separate entity that submits candidates for appointment to the OPC to the city council for confirmation.
Police commission responds by claiming there was no action taken to appoint Farmer – but the meeting video contradicts that claim
After the OPC attempted to appoint Farmer, a formal “cure and correct” demand was filed under the Brown Act by Oakland resident Rajni Mandal, calling for the OPC to either void the action or defend its legality.3
In response, OPC vice-chair Shawana Booker claimed in a letter to Mandal obtained by Oakland Report that the announcement “was not a readout of a closed session vote” and blamed staff for misstating it as such.
However, the meeting video from March 26 shows Booker announcing immediately after the closed session that Farmer had, “taken over the term of former Commissioner Wilson Riles… we all welcome you in your transition from Alternate to Commissioner Farmer.” After the announcement, the staff asked Booker to confirm that the announcement was a readout from the closed session for the record, to which Booker responded, “Yeah.”
Video clip 1. OPC vice-chair Shawana Booker announces that Omar Farmer has “taken over the term of former Commissioner Wilson Riles… we all welcome you in your transition from Alternate to Commissioner Farmer,” on March 26, 2026. After the announcement, the staff asks for confirmation for the record that the announcement was a readout from the closed session, to which Booker responds, “Yeah.”
April 9 meeting cancelled — Farmer vote postponed again
The Police Commission was set to formally re-do Farmer’s appointment yesterday — but the meeting was canceled due to lack of quorum.
The April 9 posted agenda4 included a resolution “acknowledging the assumption” of Omar Farmer as a full commissioner — an apparent response to the Brown Act demand, public pressure, and national media coverage of Oakland Report’s story.5
The meeting cancellation extends the period of uncertainty over Farmer’s status until the next scheduled Police Commission meeting on April 23.
A significant setback
The city attorney’s opinion makes clear that as a ‘holdover’ alternate, Farmer can be appointed to the regular seat, but only on a temporary basis — and the duty to replace him promptly falls on the Selection Panel and, ultimately, the city council that has already rejected him twice.
For a commission that appeared to be using a vacancy-filling provision to install a twice-rejected, ‘holdover’ alternate member to a regular seat, the city attorney’s opinion is a significant setback.
Richardson, Ryan. “Third Interpretation of Charter Section 604(c) Regarding the Selection and Appointment of Oakland Police Commissioners and Selection Panelists.” Oakland City Attorney’s Office, Apr. 9, 2026. https://www.oaklandcityattorney.org/wp-content/uploads/Third-Legal-Opinion-re-Oakland-Police-Commission-and-Selection-Panel-FINAL-April-9-2026.pdf
Reinhart, Sean S. “Outgoing police commissioners accuse police chief and blame city for “anti-commission harassment” Oakland Report, Nov. 11, 2025. https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/20251111-rejected-police-commissioners-slam
Montana, Alex. “Police Commission appointment appears to violate state law.” Oakland Report, Apr. 2, 2026. https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/20260401-police-commission-appointment-brown-acts
City of Oakland. “Oakland Police Commission meeting agenda.” Apr. 9, 2026. https://www.oaklandca.gov/files/assets/city/v/1/police-commission/agendas/opc-regular-meeting-agenda-4.9.26.fin.mm.pdf
Koehn, Josh. “Twice-rejected Oakland commissioner who wants to defund police gets elevated after improper vote.” New York Post, Apr. 4, 2026. https://nypost.com/2026/04/04/us-news/twice-rejected-oakland-commissioner-who-wants-to-defund-police-gets-promoted-after-improper-vote/