Contact:
John St. Croix
(415) 252-3100
For release:
December 15, 2009
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS TAKEN AT DECEMBER 14, 2009 MEETING
At its meeting on December 14, 2009, the San Francisco Ethics Commission took the following actions:
- Determined, by a vote of 4-0, that continuing its contract with Netfile is the most efficient way for the Ethics Commission to provide electronic filing services related to the Commission’s campaign finance, financial disclosure and lobbyist reports;
- Adopted, by a series of 4-0 and 5-0 votes, amendments to the Commission’s regulations for the Lobbyist Ordinance, San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code section 2.100 et seq. The amendments implement the changes to the Ordinance that will take effect on January 1, 2010. They delete regulations that are no longer necessary; clarify that a person communicating with a City officer on behalf of a labor union is making a contact under the Ordinance unless the communication relates to the working conditions of employees represented by a collective bargaining agreement or memorandum of understanding with the City; require a lobbyist to supply a digital color photograph to aid identification; permit a business, firm or organization to register and file reports on behalf of individual lobbyists; and require each lobbyist to register and submit information required under the Ordinance using the Commission’s online filing system.
- Adopted, by a 5-0 vote, technical amendments to the Commission’s regulations for the Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance (CFRO), San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code section 1.100 et seq. Such amendments implement the changes to the CFRO that will take effect on January 1, 2010. The Commission also adopted, by separate 5-0 votes, a regulation clarifying that a candidate committee would not violate the committee’s trust account limit if it transfers excess contributions to the candidate’s campaign contingency trust account within two business days of depositing those contributions, and a regulation clarifying how the Commission would lift voluntary expenditure ceilings.
- Approved, by a 4-1 vote, a recommendation that the Commission submit, for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, a budget request at this year’s budget figures.
The Commission’s next scheduled meeting will be held on Monday, January 11, 2009, 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.
S:\Commission\Meeting Summaries\2009\12.14.09.doc