The Ethics Commission often resolves certain violations through the Streamlined Administrative Resolution Program (SARP).
SARP is designed to provide accountability for violations of City laws while reducing the amount of time and resources required for typical case resolution. SARP does this by establishing a standardized method for resolving an expanded range of matters through a streamlined stipulated settlement with the Ethics Commission, and by establishing a framework of standardized penalty formulas for violations of forty-one provisions of law across three articles of the San Francisco Campaign & Governmental Conduct Code (SF C&GCC). The Program likewise identifies circumstances under which the issuance of a warning letter is appropriate in lieu of administrative penalties. SARP typically only applies to violation types that require little, if any, additional investigation or other evidence to show that the violation occurred. Because SARP matters are handled through a streamlined administrative procedure, SARP allows the Commission to reserve a larger share of investigative resources for investigations of greater severity, complexity, and breadth.
Because stipulations resolved through SARP apply standardized penalty formulas and may provide summary descriptions of the violation at issue, matters resolved under SARP will generally result in a penalty that is less severe, and a description of the violation and surrounding events that is less detailed, in comparison to matters resolved through the regular administrative enforcement process. Both the streamlined and the regular administrative processes require action by the Commission in a publicly noticed meeting.
For questions regarding how SARP operates, please contact the Ethics Commission at ethics.commission@sfgov.org.