Former Oakland Coliseum Authority Exec Dir Scott McKibben already is "facing criminal charges of violating state conflict-of-interest laws, but his spending habits as head of the special agency raise new questions about how he did his job," according to David DeBolt of the EAST BAY TIMES. Bills show McKibben "charged the public agency for two NBA Finals tickets given to lawyers, traveled out of state without board approval to meet with an executive he now works for, and authorized a $25,000 payment to the son of former state Sen. Don Perata, even though he cannot explain what work the younger Perata did for the authority." McKibben had previously said that Don Perata "would have no involvement in authority affairs." However, receipts show Perata, who already is a "controversial figure in East Bay politics," and McKibben "met more than a dozen times to discuss authority business." These revelations are "found in 280 pages of documents" obtained through a public records request covering the authority's spending under McKibben, who served as Exec Dir from '15 through his resignation in August." The full "extent of McKibben's spending was not known even to longtime members of the authority board." McKibben on Friday defended his actions, saying, "All those meetings or conversations are what you would expect of an executive director in his daily duties and interactions" (EAST BAY TIMES, 12/8).
