Political tensions boil over in Emeryville

EMERYVILLE — As cities welcome new elected officials to their council ranks, Emeryville councilmembers have chosen to reprimand one of theirs, prompting a hunger strike and backlash from those who back the singled-out official.

Councilmember Kalimah Priforce is accused by his colleagues of violating the Brown Act by publicly sharing confidential information from a closed-session meeting with a Pinole councilmember despite being advised not to do so, failing to properly file financial disclosure and campaign contribution records, and breaking the council’s code of conduct policy by speaking unprofessionally about and to his colleagues.

Priforce was also accused of confusing the public when he shared campaign materials that claimed he was running for mayor. Emeryville has a rotating mayor and vice mayor, meaning elected councilmembers nominate and appoint a colleague to the roles rather than holding a city-wide election.

“These violations are not isolated incidents but instead reflect a pattern of behavior that shows he regularly engages in unacceptable conduct, using poor judgment, bringing embarrassment and disrepute to the city,” Councilmember Courtney Welch said during a Dec. 3 council meeting in which accusations were made clear.

Priforce did not immediately respond to a request for comment but defended himself during the Dec. 3 meeting.

Regarding the Brown Act violation charge, Priforce said he has the legal right to share an opinion on what occurred in a closed-session meeting under whistleblower protections but was unable to comment further on the matter because he did not have the evidence before him.

City Attorney John Kennedy said during the meeting that the protections did not apply in this case.

With the financial records and campaign accusations, Priforce asserted he provided documentation to the Fair Political Practices Commission, which oversees such complaints. He also noted his colleagues and the city clerk, who referred the case to the commission, would not be privy to his communication with the body.

Fair Political Practices Commission Executive Researcher Cole Smith shared documents confirming a complaint was filed against Priforce in September 2023 and additional complaints have been added to that case, but was unable to comment further given that the investigation is ongoing.

A double standard is also at play, Priforce said on the code of ethics issue. He pointed to social media posts Welch has shared in which she publicly criticized Priforce and other community members.

Priforce further accused his colleagues of engaging in “Drake-like behavior” to stunt his progressive “Kendrick movement,” referencing a feud between the Canadian musician and California hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar.

“Although times have changed, the people who stand to hurt us the most can look like us, and sometimes they sound like us, but they not like us,” Priforce said. “The name of the game is still about power, who has it and who gets theirs stripped, raped, colonized, gentrified, sanctioned and recalled.”

Following the council’s decision, Priforce announced he’d partake in a hunger strike until a petition calling for the establishment of an independent ethics commission reached 1,000 signatures. That goal was hit in about nine days, Priforce announced on his social media pages.

If established, the ethics commission would be responsible for ensuring government transparency, monitoring for compliance with the city’s code of ethics and investigating claims that the code has been violated.

The independent body would also ensure bias and political retribution was removed from the governing process, a concern raised by Priforce and his supporters during the Dec. 3 meeting.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing, my council colleagues have done has shrunken who I am but that doesn’t mean they’ll stop trying and they’re not alone,” Priforce said.

Former Councilmember John Bauters, whose last day on the council was Dec. 10, noted during the Dec. 3 meeting that Priforce supported the council’s current code of ethics, adopted September 2023, which allows for the council to sanction colleagues who violate the code.

Sanctions could include a reprimand, formal censure and loss of seniority, according to the policy. Welch said Priforce is the only member of the council who has refused to sign the code of ethics acknowledgement, as required by the code.

“As I said at the council meeting when we adopted (the code of ethics policy), the purpose of this is not to create the rules for a game. The purpose of this is to remind each of us what our accountability is to one another and the public,” Bauters said. “It exists for the purpose of us to hold one another accountable when we as individuals refuse to do so ourselves.”

Ultimately, four of five councilmembers voted to censure Priforce, removing him from all local committee and regional board appointments and prohibiting him from traveling or attending conferences on the city’s dime for a full year, after asserting he showed little accountability for what they say are factual charges of impropriety.

A mailer of the resolution will also be sent to every household in the city, as requested by Bauters.

“As we’ve just seen and heard, Member Priforce is very passionate and his words resonate. Unfortunately in this instance, Member Priforce’s actions do not match his words,” Mayor David Mourra, who was vice mayor at the time, said during the Dec. 3 meeting. “The ethical violations are factual and serious. The behavior described is corrosive to the function of this council and the government of this city.”