City and County of San Francisco
Ethics Commission

English

1. Introduction

This Audit Report summarizes the results of the audit of the
committee, The Committee to Elect Brett Wheeler, Identification Number
1266485 (“the Committee”), for the period from January 1, 2004 through
December 31, 2004.  The audit was conducted to determine
whether the
Committee materially complied with the requirements of the Political
Reform Act (“the Act”) (California Government Code section 81000, et
seq.) and San Francisco’s Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance
(“CFRO”) (San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code
§ 1.100, et seq).

2. Audit
authority

San Francisco Charter Section C3.699-11 authorizes the Ethics
Commission (“the Commission”) to audit campaign statements that are
filed with the Commission.  Section 1.150(a) of the CFRO
requires the
Commission to audit all candidates who receive public
financing. 
Audits of publicly financed candidates include a review of campaign
statements and other relevant documents to determine whether the
candidate complied with applicable requirements of State and local law.

3. Audit Scope and Procedures

This audit was performed in accordance with generally accepted
auditing standards.  The audit involved a review of the
Committee’s
records for the period covered by the audit.  This review was
conducted
to determine:

1. Compliance with all disclosure requirements pertaining to
   contributions, expenditures, accrued expenditures, and loans, including
   itemization when required;
2. Compliance with applicable filing deadlines;
3. Compliance with restrictions on contributions, loans, and
   expenditures;
4. Accuracy of total reported receipts, disbursements, and
   cash balances as compared to bank records;
5. Compliance with all record-keeping requirements; and
6. Compliance with all provisions related to the Commission’s
   public financing program.

Audit reports are posted to the Commission’s web site and, in
cases
of violations of law, are forwarded to the appropriate enforcement
agency.

IV. Committee
Information

The Committee was formed in June 2004 to support the election
of
Brett Wheeler to Member, Board of Supervisors District 5 in the
November 2, 2004 general election.  Steven Gordon served as
the
Committee’s treasurer until November 14, 2004.  Thereafter,
the
candidate assumed the position of treasurer.  The Committee
received
public funds for Brett Wheeler’s 2004 supervisorial election
campaign. 
The Committee’s filing obligations were completed as of January 12,
2005.

V. Audit Findings

For the period covered by the audit, the Committee received
$29,096
in contributions, $35,957 in public funds, and incurred expenditures of
$59,563.  The CFRO provides that any candidate who receives
public
funds must return unexpended campaign funds to the City for deposit
into the Election Campaign Fund up to the amount of public funds
received by the candidate.  The Committee is required to
return $3,794 in unexpended funds to the Election Campaign Fund.

The Commission determined that there were four
material findings with respect to the audit of the Committee, as
follows: 

A. The Committee failed to retain
invoices/receipts for 188
payments totaling $54,935, in violation of Government Code section
84104 and S.F. C&GC Code section 1.106.

 Government Code Section
84104, which is
incorporated into local law by S.F. C&GC Code Section 1.106,
requires that committee treasurers maintain detailed accounts, records,
bills and receipts that are necessary to prepare campaign statements
and comply with the campaign disclosure provisions of the
Act.  The
detailed accounts, records, bills and receipts are to be retained by
the filer for a period of four years.

The Committee’s records did not include invoices/receipts for
188
payments totaling $54,935, which represents more than 92 percent of the
dollar amount of total expenses that the Committee incurred. 
Due to
lack of records, the Commisison was unable to determine whether the
Committee substantially complied with requirements of State and local
law.

B. The Committee failed to disclose full
contributor
information for two contributions of $100 or more totaling $250 and
failed to itemize nine contributions of $100 or more totaling $2,545,
in violation of Government Code section 84211(f) and S.F. C&GC
Code
sections 1.106 and 1.114(d) .

Government Code section 84211(f), which is incorporated into
local
law by S.F. C&GC Code section 1.106,  provides that if
the
cumulative amount of contributions (including loans) received from a
person is $100 or more, the recipient’s campaign statements must
provide the contributor’s full name, street address, occupation, and
the name of his/her employer (name of business if self-employed); the
date and amount of each contribution received from the contributor
during the reporting period; and the cumulative amount of contributions
received from the contributor during the calendar year. 
Section
1.114(d) of the CFRO prohibits the deposit of any contribution of $100
or more unless the Committee has obtained the required contributor
information.  A committee is deemed not to have had the
required
contributor information at the time the contribution was deposited if
the required contributor information is not reported on the first
campaign statement on which the contribution is required to be
reported.  Contributions that are deposited without the
required
contributor information must be forfeited to the City, in addition to
any other penalties.  The amount that is subject to forfeiture
is the
amount that exceeds the first $99.99 of a contributor’s contribution;
i.e., on a $100 contribution that lacks the required contributor
information, the amount subject to forfeiture is one cent. 
S.F.
C&GC Code § 1.114(e).

The Committee did not provide complete contributor information
for
two contributions.  In addition, the Committee failed to
itemize nine
contributions of $100 or more totaling $2,545 on the originally filed
campaign statements.  The contributions that the Committee
failed to
properly disclose and that are subject to forfeiture are listed below,
as follows: 

As explained above, contributions that are deposited without
first
obtaining the required contributor information must be forfeited to the
City, in addition to any other penalties.  The Committee is
required to
forfeit $1,695.11 in contributions.

C. The Committee failed to itemize
expenditures of $100 or
more totaling $10,734, in violation of Government Code section 84211(k)
and S.F. C&GC Code section 1.106.

Government Code section 84211(k), which is incorporated into local law
by S.F. C&GC Code section 1.106, provides that for each person
to
whom an expenditure of $100 or more has been made during the period
covered by the campaign statement, the following information is
required on the campaign statement: his/her full name, street address,
the amount of each expenditure and a brief description of the
consideration for which each expenditure was made.  For
persons to whom
an expenditure of less than $100 has been made during the period
covered by the campaign statement, the campaign statement shall contain
the total amount of these miscellaneous expenditures.

The Committee failed to report on the campaign statements
expenditures totaling $10,734, which represents 18 percent of total
expenditures incurred.  Of the $10,734 in expenditures that
were not
reported, $2,992 consisted of miscellaneous expenses and $7,742
consisted of 22 expenditures each of $100 or more.

D. The Committee failed to file an Itemized
Disclosure
Statements for one mass mailing, in violation of S.F. C&GC Code
section 1.161.

The Political Reform Act defines mass mailings as 200
substantially
similar pieces of mail sent within a calendar month.  Section
1.161 of
the CFRO requires any candidate for City elective office who pays for a
mass mailing that advocates for or against candidates for City elective
office to include on the mailing the statement “paid for by
______(insert candidate’s name and street address)” in not less than
14-point type and in a color or print which contrasts with the
background so as to be easily legible.  The candidate must
also file
with the Ethics Commission a clearly legible original or copy of the
mass mailing and an itemized disclosure statement within five working
days after the date of the mailing.

The Committee produced two mass mailings. It filed an Itemized
Disclosure Statement for one of the mass mailings.  The mass
mailing
for which an Itemized Disclosure Statement was not filed, is listed
below:

Committee’s Response to Findings

The Committee did not provide comment on this audit
report. 

_________________________________                                         
__________________
           
Grace
Chau                                                                                        
Date
           
Campaign Finance Auditor

______________________________________                               
__________________
           
John St.
Croix                                                                                    
Date
Executive
Director                          

S:\AUDIT\2004 Public Finance Candidates\Brett
Wheeler\Report-Brett Wheeler.doc