PRESS RELEASE
Contact: For release:
John St. Croix March 25, 2008
(415) 252-3100
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS TAKEN AT MARCH 24, 2008 MEETING
At its meeting on March 24, 2008, the San Francisco Ethics Commission took the following actions:
- Received testimony from Supervisor Aaron Peskin regarding three pieces of proposed legislation that would: (1) amend sections of the Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance (CFRO) to expand the definition of controlled committees to encompass elected officials who raise $10,000 or more in contributions for the committee and to prohibit elected officials and their controlled committees from soliciting or accepting contributions from certain City contractors; (2) amend the CFRO to ban the making of contributions to or the solicitation or acceptance of contributions by members of the Board of Supervisors, candidates for the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor, candidates for Mayor and their controlled committees from any person with a land use matter before a City board or commission; and (3) to amend the Lobbyist Ordinance to require campaign consultants to disclose lobbying contacts with any officer of the City and County. The Commission deferred action on these items until a legislative record is compiled regarding each proposal.
- Approved by a vote of 4-1 policy changes that staff recommended in response to concerns raised at a November 8, 2007 interested persons meeting.
- Randomly selected 10 committees for audit from the pool of candidate, ballot measure and general purpose committees that were active in the November 2007 election. The committees selected were: The Committee for Election Sunshine, Yes on C, Sponsored by League of Women Voters of SF, SPUR, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and San Francisco Small Business Advocates PAC, ID. No. 1299682; Campaign for Small Business, I.D. No. 1300697; Citizens Against Recall Abuse, I.D. No. 1298421; Parking for Neighborhoods, Yes on H, No on A, I.D. No. 128141; Yes on A – A Coalition of MUNI Riders, Environmentalists, Labor and Supervisor Aaron Peskin, I.D. No. 1300074; Captain Democracy for Mayor of San Francisco, I.D. No. 1287601; Vote for Chicken, I.D. No. 1301289; Re-Elect District Attorney Kamala Harris, I.D. No. 1291628; Gavin Newsom for Mayor, I.D. No. 1290430; and Plan C San Francisco PAC, I.D. No. 124538.
The Commission will hold its annual retreat this coming Saturday, March 29, 2008, at 10 a.m. at the offices of the Ethics Commission, 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 220, San Francisco. The Commission’s next regular meeting will be held on Monday, April 14, 2008, at 5:30 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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