PRESS RELEASE
For release
September 9, 2008
Contact:
John St. Croix
(415) 252-3100
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS TAKEN AT SEPTEMBER 8, 2008 MEETING
At its meeting on September 8, 2008, the San Francisco Ethics Commission took the following actions:
- Received testimony from Supervisor Daly regarding proposed legislation to amend section 1.134.5 of the Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code to provide that the Executive Director would raise a publicly financed candidate's individual expenditure ceiling (“IEC”) by an amount equal to the total opposition spending against that candidate, as long as the amount of opposition spending exceeded $10,000. Supervisor Daly stated that that he supported an alternative proposal providing that opposition spending would not raise a candidate’s IEC unless the amount of the opposition spending, combined with the total supportive funds of a competing candidate, exceeded the publicly financed candidate’s IEC. The Commission, by a 5-0 vote, approved the alternative proposal.
- Approved for final adoption, by 5-0 votes, the draft Statements of Incompatible Activities (“SIAs”) for the Board of Supervisors and the Ethics Commission, respectively. Because the Commission has completed the SIA approval process, the SIAs of all City departments, boards and commissions will go into effect in thirty days, on October 8, 2008. The Commission will post all SIAs on its website.
- Received public comment on a draft annual report for FY 07-08 and continued its consideration of the report.
- Voted 5-0 to authorize the issuance of subpoenas to obtain the records of the Vote for Chicken Committee (formed to support the campaign of “Chicken” John Rinaldi for Mayor in 2007). The Ethics Commission randomly selected the Vote for Chicken Committee for an audit on March 10, 2008, along with several other committees; and Mr. Rinaldi subsequently refused to cooperate with the staff's attempt to audit the records of the Vote for Chicken Committee. The Commission also instructed staff to make another attempt to obtain the necessary records prior to serving the subpoenas.
The Commission’s next meeting will be held on Monday, October 6, 2008, at 5:30 p.m. in Room 408 City Hall. This will not be the usual date of the Commission’s regular meetings because of the holiday on October 13, 2008.
#
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.