PRESS RELEASE
Contact: For release:
John St. Croix
November 15, 2005
(415) 581-2300
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS TAKEN AT NOVEMBER 14, 2005 MEETING
At its regular meeting on
November 14, 2005
, the San Francisco Ethics Commission took the following action:
- Voted 3-0 to grant a waiver from Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code section 3.224 (compensated advocacy ban) to Lucia Bogatay, a licensed architect, who sits on the seat mandated to be filled by a licensed architect on the Unreinforced
Masonry
Building
- Took action related to various amendments to the Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance (“CFRO”), as follows: by a 4-1 vote, approved shortening the time for filing copies of mass mailings and itemized disclosure statements with the Commission from 5 working days to 48 hours during the last 16 days before an election; rejected a proposal to increase the late fee for paper reports due under CFRO from $10 per day to $25 per day; by a 5-0 vote, amended the definition of “measure” so that it includes any City, San Francisco Unified School District and Community College District referendum, recall or ballot proposition; by a 5-0 vote, imposed training requirements for candidates and treasurers; continued consideration of changes to the False Endorsements Ordinance to December; and by a vote of 5-0, adopted amendments to identify circumstances in which a coordinated expenditure will be presumed to be a contribution to the candidate it benefited. The approved amendments will be forwarded to the Board of Supervisors when the Commission completes its review of CFRO.
- Approved by a 4-1 vote an amendment to clarify that the exception to the compensated advocacy ban in Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code section 3.224 applies to any communication by a City officer who is a licensed attorney engaged in the practice of law, which includes representing clients in communications with the City Attorney’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, the Public Defender’s Office, attorneys in the Tax Collector’s Office or Sheriff’s Office, outside legal counsel hired by the City, and City officers and employees who are named in a pending litigation or are witnesses or potential witnesses in a pending litigation matter.
- Adopted, by a 5-0 vote, a resolution to urge the Board of Supervisors to obtain the assistance of the Legislative Analyst to perform a study to determine if the Ethics Commission is staffed to meet its Charter mandates according to the best practices available.
- Voted 5-0 to approve an amendment to the City’s Conflict of Interest Code to require all candidates for City elective office to file Statements of Economic Interests with the Department of Elections no later than the final date for filing a declaration of candidacy.
- Discussed various provisions of CFRO related to the public financing program and received testimony from many members of the public regarding legislation proposed by Supervisor Mirkarimi to extend the public financing program to candidates for Mayor. The Commission will consider proposals related to the public financing program and the Mirkarimi legislation at its
December 19, 2005
6:00 p.m.
The Commission will hold its next regular meeting on December 12 at
5:30 p.m.
in Room 408 City Hall and a special meeting on
December 19, 2005
at
6:00 p.m.
in Room 408 City Hall.
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The Ethics Commission, established in November 1993, serves the public, City employees and officials and candidates for public office through education and enforcement of ethics laws. Its duties include: filing and auditing of campaign finance disclosure statements, lobbyist and campaign consultant registration and regulation, administration of the public financing program, whistleblower program, conflict of interest reporting, investigations and enforcement, education and training, advice giving and statistical reporting.
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