December 15, 2009
Dear Lobbyist:
RE: Electronic Filing System Registration
Beginning on January 1, 2010, all lobbyists in San Francisco will be required to disclose their activities (1) electronically and (2) on a monthly basis. [1]
The definition of who is a “lobbyist” under the Lobbyist Ordinance has been revised. Effective January 1, 2010, any individual who receives or is promised economic consideration of $3,000 or more within three consecutive calendar months, AND makes any contact with an officer of the City and County of San Francisco, is deemed a “lobbyist” under the Ordinance. (S.F. Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code section 2.105(g).)
The current registration numbers will be cancelled, and each individual lobbyist will be required to submit his or her reports under his or her registered e-mail address, which will be the user ID. In order to establish an account, each individual lobbyist must submit the required information below by mail to 25 Van Ness Avenue, STE 220, San Francisco, CA 94102 or via e-mail to ethics.commission@sfgov.org:
- Name
- Firm, if any
- Business address
- Business telephone
- E-mail address
- Digital photograph (head and shoulders) in JPEG format, no larger than 2 megabytes
The individual lobbyist registration fee is $500. Please submit a check payable to the City and County of San Francisco and send it to the Ethics Commission at the time of registration. The Ethics Commission will e-mail each lobbyist his or her unique password once the registration fee has been received.
If you would prefer to have a representative or firm file electronic lobbyist reports on your behalf, please have your representative or firm send a signed letter to the Ethics Commission stating that the representative or firm has agreed to file your individual lobbyist reports on your behalf. In addition, please send a signed letter to the Ethics Commission stating that you authorize your representative or firm to file lobbyist reports on your behalf. If you are a representative or firm and expect to file on behalf of multiple lobbyists, please bundle all of the necessary authorization letters together and send them to the Ethics Commission in order to expedite your ability to file on behalf of the individual lobbyists.
The first deadline to file electronic lobbyist reports is February 15, 2010, covering the period of January 1, 2010 to January 31, 2010. A live training will be offered to lobbyists on January 13, 2010 at 10 a.m. in Room 416 City Hall. Please see the Ethics Commission’s web site at www.sfethics.org for details about the training and feel free to contact me if you have any questions. We hope to make the transition to the new filing requirements as smooth as possible.
Regards,
Garrett Chatfield