Oakland city whistleblower responds to Oaklandside ‘hit piece’
Transportation director Josh Rowan responds to media stories that named him as a whistleblower using records the city provided, which he alleges violated whistleblower protection laws
BY JOSH ROWAN
Editors’ note: This statement was released by city of Oakland transportation director Josh Rowan on his Substack page in response to a July 8 article published in local media outlet The Oaklandside.1
The article, which appears to have been written based on records the city provided through a Public Records Act request, named Rowan as a city whistleblower who has “filed several complaints about new City Administrator Betsy Lake and other officials.”
In his statement, Rowan alludes to “two media hit pieces,” possibly also referring to an earlier article in The Oaklandside about an ethics complaint Rowan filed against council member Ken Houston.2
Rowan provided Oakland Report with emails he sent to The Oaklandside requesting corrections to the July 8 article which have not been published to date, as far as we can tell. His emails also alleged that the records the city provided the media outlet violated the city’s whistleblower protection rules and state law.
Rowan also claimed that he searched past articles and “could not find another example where Oaklandside named a whistleblower.” (We could not independently verify this claim.)
We offer Rowan’s statement and emails here, with citations to relevant research added, for our readers to consider.
Response to Oaklandside ‘hit piece’
STATEMENT OF JOSH ROWAN
Director, Oakland Department of Transportation (OakDOT)
A Resident of Oakland
The facts are not in dispute.
In 2025, deadly crashes in Oakland fell to 23 — down from a high of 36. That is a 36 percent reduction.3 OakDOT paved more miles and delivered more capital infrastructure than this city has seen in years. When other city officials were publicly stating that Oakland could not sell Measure U bonds,4 OakDOT stood firm. The bonds were sold. We are paving again in 2026. The Civil Grand Jury and the City Auditor independently validated concerns about illegal dumping that I raised and reported through proper channels.56 I did not write those reports. Two independent bodies with subpoena power did.
I have filed formal complaints through every channel the law provides. I did so because public employees are required to report misconduct. Those complaints say exactly what I intended them to say. It is now up to the City Administrator to investigate.
The complaints do not fully capture what preceded them. I was pressured to change parking meter repair vendors. I was pressured to change the outcome of a $45 million building security contract procurement. I was pressured to award a construction contract under the false premise of a vendor being most responsive. I refused every time. These are not isolated events — they reflect a pattern that began in early 2025 and has not stopped.
The former city administrator gave me a glowing performance review when he removed me from Public Works. Council President Jenkins has stated publicly that I am the best director at the city and OakDOT is the best run department. I was the subject of a fraudulent ethics complaint that was dismissed for lack of evidence, and I have now been the subject of two media “hit pieces.”
In June 2026, the City Auditor published an Ethical Climate Survey of 555 Oakland city employees.7 The single lowest-scoring indicator in the entire survey was whether employees feel encouraged to report questionable ethical behavior. Whistleblower protection and fear of retaliation were among the most common themes in written responses. The survey was not about me. It describes the institution I have been working inside for the past 18 months.
A former mayor of Oakland has been indicted. A federal investigation is active. The Civil Grand Jury has documented a decade of failed illegal dumping contracts that cost millions and solved nothing. The people who benefited from that arrangement have a clear interest in discrediting the person who reported it, conducted his own investigation, and submitted his report to the city administrator and mayor’s chief of staff over the weekend.
I have not resigned. I will not resign. I have not compromised my professional ethics under 18 months of sustained pressure to do so. I do not intend to start.
OakDOT will continue to deliver. The record will continue to speak.
Josh Rowan
Director, Oakland Department of Transportation
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Josh Rowan is the director of transportation for the city of Oakland. A resident of Oakland, he joined the city as transportation director in April 2024 during the tenure of former mayor Sheng Thao. He then served as the city of Oakland’s public works director for several months before returning to the transportation director role in 2025.
Prior to working for Oakland, Rowan served as commissioner of the city of Atlanta’s department of transportation. His career in the public sector includes work as a program manager for transportation, transit, education, healthcare, and law enforcement capital construction. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology.
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Orenstein, Natalie et al. “Accusations against top Oakland officials flowed in as city picked new administrator.” The Oaklandside, Jul. 8, 2026. https://oaklandside.org/2026/07/08/josh-rowan-betsy-lake-legal-claim-oakland/
Wolfe, Eli. “Oakland watchdog dismisses Ken Houston’s complaint against senior city staffer.” The Oaklandside, Dec. 15, 2025. https://oaklandside.org/2025/12/16/josh-rowan-ken-houston-oakland-ethics-complaint-dismissed/
City of Oakland. "Monitoring traffic deaths in Oakland," table: City of Oakland Traffic Fatalities: January 2019 – May 2026, accessed Jul. 17, 2026. https://www.oaklandca.gov/Public-Safety-Streets/Traffic-Safety/Safe-Oakland-Streets/Monitoring-Traffic-Deaths-in-Oakland
Reinhart, Sean S. “Oakland can’t sell infrastructure bonds approved by voters due to fiscal mismanagement, Grand Jury reports.” Oakland Report, Nov. 3, 2025. https://www.oaklandreport.org/p/oakland-cant-sell-infrastructure
Houston, Michael et al. “Performance audit of illegal dumping: improvements to the accessibility of legal waste disposal and the city’s enforcement and remediation policies and operations could help alleviate Oakland’s illegal dumping problem.” Office of the Oakland City Auditor, Apr. 23, 2026. https://www.oaklandauditor.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260423_Performance-Audit-of-Illegal-Dumping-1.pdf
Alameda County Grand Jury, "Illegal dumping in Oakland: city buried under trash." 2025–2026 Alameda County Grand Jury Final Report, June 2026. https://grandjury.acgov.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/2025-2026-Alameda-County-Grand-Jury-Final-Report.pdf
Houston, Michael et al. “Ethical Climate Survey: 2025-26 results.” Office of the Oakland City Auditor, Jun. 29, 2026. https://www.oaklandauditor.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Ethical-Climate-Survey-Report.pdf
Oaklandside has been propaganda hell bent on protecting our corrupt administration since they arrived in 2020, along with tens of millions of dark $ funding for local progressives, funneled through Quinn Delaney and Lateefah Simon.
If you still read that soggy rag and believe their sloppy spin, I’ll (fervently) pray you develop discernment, morality and a spine.