Oakland watchdog dismisses Ken Houston’s complaint against senior city staffer

A number of weeks in the past, Councilman Ken Houston publicly introduced that he had filed an ethics grievance towards Josh Rowan, a high-ranking metropolis staffer, whom he accused of defamation and “character assassination.”

Oakland’s ethics watchdog has now dismissed Houston’s grievance after discovering no proof of a violation.

Tovah Ackerman, enforcement chief of the Oakland Public Ethics Fee, notified Rowan, head of town’s transportation and public works departments, on Dec. 4 that her workplace had dismissed Houston’s grievance after a preliminary investigation.

“With out proof of personal achieve, there is no such thing as a violation of the Authorities Ethics Act. Subsequently, now we have determined to dismiss the abuse allegation as a result of it falls outdoors the jurisdiction of the PEC and within the absence of adequate proof to ascertain a doable violation,” Ackerman wrote.

The Ethics Fee – a voluntary physique that oversees Oakland’s guidelines and legal guidelines relating to marketing campaign finance, lobbying and authorities transparency – might be knowledgeable of the firing at an upcoming assembly on January 21, 2026.

Houston didn’t reply to an interview request.

Houston’s grievance, which we reviewed, offered few particulars. Houston claims Rowan falsely accused him of “bid rigging,” however shares no extra context. The grievance additionally included Houston’s abstract of a short interplay he stated occurred on Oct. 28 between his assistant, Trinity Corridor, Metropolis Supervisor Jestin Johnson, and Rowan, during which the latter allegedly stated he would file an ethics grievance if Houston “did this once more.” Houston filed his grievance on October 30 and Rowan filed a separate grievance towards Houston on November 4.

Based on Houston’s grievance, the contact in query occurred throughout a dialog between Johnson and Corridor relating to a paving contract. As we beforehand reported, Houston questioned town’s determination on who would get the contract. Johnson informed The Oaklandside that the interplay described within the grievance displays how he remembers it going down.

Johnson stated he informed Corridor to tell her boss about Rowan’s remark as a result of it was critical, and it was stated “behind a room the place fairly a number of individuals heard the identical factor.”

Though Houston’s grievance is lifeless, the ethics committee continues to be investigating Rowan’s.

In his grievance, which we reviewed, Rowan accuses Houston of participating in a “sustained sample of interference, intimidation and misconduct” surrounding the awarding of a number of multi-million greenback authorities contracts. This consists of the paving contract, which Rowan claims Houston interfered with by publicly advocating for a building firm whose homeowners objected after town determined to award the contract to a competitor.

Rowan claims that Houston has violated Part 218 of the Metropolis Constitution, which prohibits elected officers from directing metropolis staff or interfering in administrative issues akin to metropolis contracts.

Rowan additionally complained about Houston’s habits towards Johnson, his boss. Shortly after the Nov. 4 Metropolis Council assembly the place Houston introduced he had filed an ethics grievance, Rowan wrote an e mail to Johnson, Metropolis Lawyer Ryan Richardson and Council President Kevin Jenkins decrying Houston’s “abusive” and “unprofessional” habits and asking the council to censure him.

Houston has denied Rowan’s allegations. Rowan declined to remark to The Oaklandside.

Ackerman informed The Oaklandside that Rowan’s grievance has been positioned within the fee’s formalized course of and is presently beneath preliminary overview.

She shared the amendments Rowan added to his grievance, which accused Houston of defaming him by calling him a liar. Rowan additionally wrote that when he went to the ethics committee, “It seems that Councilman Houston’s intent was to pre-empt my grievance and discredit me along with his frivolous, baseless grievance.”