Nicolas Heidorn has been hired as the new executive director of the City of Oakland Public Ethics Commission. Heidorn previously worked as chief consultant of the California State Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments committee and as legal director of the government watchdog group California Common Cause. Currently, Heidorn operates a consulting firm that focuses on election reform policy and has spearheaded Oakland’s Democracy Dollars program. With the city’s budget problems tightening the mayor’s budget, Heidorn has been brought in to navigate the program’s delayed rollout and the commission’s bloated caseload.