City and County of San Francisco
Ethics Commission

About the Notification of Recusal

On January 1, 2019, a new recusal reporting law that amends Sec. 3.209 of the City’s Campaign & Governmental Conduct Code became operational.

Sec. 3.209 specifies recusal procedures for Commissioners who have a financial conflict of interest arising from pending matters, including public disclosure of the conflict and leaving the room during discussion, voting and any other disposition of the matter. Commissioners who must recuse themselves also must file a public disclosure form with the Ethics Commission within 15 days after the date of the meeting at which the recusal occurred or would have occurred. Commissioners must file the form even if the member did not attend the meeting that would have required their recusal.

Specifically, under Sec. 3.209, any member of a City board or commission who has a conflict of interest under Sections 3.206 or 3.207, or who must recuse himself or herself from a proceeding under California Government Code Section 84308, shall, in the public meeting of the board or commission, upon identifying a conflict of interest immediately prior to the consideration of the matter, do all of the following:

1. publicly identify the circumstances that give rise to the conflict of interest in detail sufficient to be understood by the public, provided that disclosure of the exact street address of a residence is not required;
2. recuse themselves from discussing or acting on the matter; and
3. leave the room until after the discussion, vote, and any other disposition of the matter is concluded, unless the matter has been placed on and remains on the consent calendar.

Any member of a City board or commission other than a member of the Board of Supervisors who is required to file a Statement of Economic Interests (Form 700) must file a public disclosure form with the Ethics Commission each time the member recuses him or herself from a matter being considered by the board or commission.

• The recusal disclosure form is due within 15 calendar days after the date of the meeting at which the recusal occurred.
• The recusal form discloses information about the Commissioner’s recusal, including the name of the Member and the Board or Commission; the date of the meeting and agenda item number of the item for which the recusal occurred (or would have occurred had the Member been present; and a brief description of the matter.
• The recusal disclosure form must be signed by member and must file it along a copy of the meeting agenda containing the item that triggered the recusal.

Please note an SFEC Form 3.209b may also be used to amend information provided in an earlier submission by filing it with a notation that it is amending a prior statement.