Skip to content

Executive Director’s Report – August 8, 2011

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
TO THE SAN FRANCISCO ETHICS COMMISSION
For the Meeting of August 8, 2011

1. Budget.

The Mayor signed this fiscal year’s budget into law on July 26.  As reported previously, the budget provides the Commission its requested budget, which includes $2,259,979 for the operating budget and $2,009,451 for the Election Campaign Fund (ECF), plus a repayment of $4,079,107 to the ECF.  This represents a 4.5% increase over last year’s operating budget.

2. November 8, 2011 Election. 

As of August 1, 2011, eight candidates for Mayor have been certified as eligible to receive public funds and a ninth candidate’s application is under review.  The eight eligible candidates have received public funds totaling $3,098,191.  Every publicly financed candidate’s IEC is currently at $1,475,000. 

The last day for candidates to submit an application for public funds is August 20, 2011.  In order to receive public funds, an interested candidate must demonstrate, among other things, that he/she has received at least $25,000 in qualifying contributions on or before August 29, 2011 from at least 250 individuals who reside in the City.     

3. Investigation and enforcement program.

As of August 1, 2011, there are 21 pending complaints alleging violations within the Ethics Commission’s jurisdiction.

Category# of Complaints
Campaign Finance7
Conflict of Interest3
Governmental Ethics0
Lobbyist Ordinance2
Campaign Consultant Ordinance2
Sunshine Ordinance7
TOTAL21

4. Campaign finance disclosure program.

a. Filing deadline.  The most recent filing deadline occurred on August 1, 2011 for the First Semi-Annual statement, which covers the reporting period ending June 30, 2011.  Staff continues to receive and process campaign statements and will notify non-filers about their past due statements. 

The next filing deadline falls on September 29, 2011 for the First Pre-Election statement, which covers the reporting period ending September 24, 2011.  In the interim, staff continues to receive and process campaign statements for other filing deadlines.  Staff continues to answer questions from and conduct outreach to candidates and other committee representatives about campaign finance filing obligations.

b. Collection of late filing fees and contribution forfeitures.  In the FY 10-11, the Commission collected a total of $49,768 in campaign finance late fees and forfeitures.  Outstanding late fees and forfeitures total $174,515 of which waiver requests are pending for $132,561; and $25,328 is pending at the Bureau of Delinquent Revenues.   

c. Status of accounts to San Francisco Bureau of Delinquent Revenues (BDR).  The following chart provides details on pending accounts referred to BDR:

#Committee/
Filer
ID #Treasurer or Responsible OfficerDate referral effectiveOriginal amount referredLast month’s balanceCurrent balance (Changes are in bold)
1Johnnie Carter for Community College Board1226264Johnnie Carter6/16/06$9,520$6,595$6,595
2Committee to Elect M. Valle for Treasurer1278937Manuel B. Valle6/14/07$5,525$5,525$5,525
3Bill Barnes for District 51265969Alix Rosenthal1/3/08$3,120$113$113
4Care Not Cash1244505Ronald Jin2/29/08$5,331$956$656
5Omar Khalif for Board of Educ.1287030Omar Khalif7/30/09$1,800$1,775$1,775
6Myrna Lim for District 11 Sup1306882Myrna Lim7/30/09$1,180$1,180$1,180
7Myrna Lim for District 11 Sup1256697Jia Jun Chen8/20/07$3,855$2,775$2,775
8San Francisco Women’s Political Committee1243711Giselle Barry5/16/06$1,906$50$50
9Johnny K. Wang
JKW Political Consulting
100716Johnny K. Wang4/19/11$2,000$2,000$4,0001
10Coalition to Elect Hon. Chris Jackson to Community College Board1302351Hon. Chris Jackson6/17/112,658.90New Referral2,658.90
      TOTAL$25,328

5. Revenues report. 

For FY 11-12, the Commission is budgeted to generate $100,000 in revenues.  As of August 1, 2011, the Commission received and deposited $5,829, as summarized below.  The figure represents collection of approximately .05 percent of expected revenues for FY 11-12. 

Revenues received and deposited as of August 1, 2011:

SourceBudgeted Amount FY 11-12Receipts
Lobbyist Fees$27,000$1,000
Other Ethics General$1,000$4
Campaign Finance Fines$50,000$3,900
Campaign Consultant Fees$18,000$500
Lobbyist Fines$1,000$100
Statements of Economic Interests Fines$1,000$325
Other Ethics Fines$1,000$0
Campaign Consultant Fines$1,000$0
   
Total$100,000$5,829

6. Draft regulations related to complaints regarding Sunshine Ordinance and referrals from the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force.

On August 1, the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force (SOTF) sent to the Commission comments on its review of draft regulations related to the handling of complaints regarding alleged violations of the Sunshine Ordinance and referrals from the SOTF.  Staff will review these comments and provide recommendations to the Commission at a future meeting. 

7. Lobbyist program. 

As of August 1, 2011, 74 individual lobbyists were registered with the Commission.  In FY 11-12, total revenues collected to date amount to $1,100, which consist of $1,000 in lobbyist registration fees and $100 in late fines.  The July 2011 reporting period deadline is August 15, 2011.

8. Campaign Consultant program. 

As of August 2, 2011, thirty-two campaign consultants are active and registered with the Commission.  $500 in registration fees have been collected so far during the 2011-2012 fiscal year.  The next campaign consultant quarterly report deadline is Thursday, September 15, 2011.  Staff will mail and e-mail reminder notices to all active campaign consultants two weeks before the deadline. 

9. Statement of Economic Interests program.

On July 8, staff sent 35 second non-filer notifications to 27 commissioners and 8 designated employees.   

On July 8 and July 11, staff sent 12 first non-filer notifications to designated employees from the Department of Public Works (DPW).  On July 28, staff sent 3 second non-filer notifications to designated employees from DPW.

As of August 2, 2011, there are 20 remaining non-filers:  15 commissioners and 5 designated employees.  A non-filer who does not file by August 11 will be referred to the Fair Political Practices Commission’s (FPPC) Enforcement Division.

FPPC’s Recommendations for Notification and Referral for Agencies with More than 50 Filers

 First Non-Filer NoticeSecond Non-Filer NoticeEnforcement ReferralFines Notices
FPPC’s RecommendationsWithin 120 days after annual deadline (August 1 or earlier)Within 60 days after first non-filer notice is sent (October 1 or earlier)Within 45 days after second non-filer notice is sent (November 15 or earlier)Within 4 years of the violation
Ethics Commission’s Notification Schedule for 2011
  • Sent on June 14, 2011
  • Letters with revised addresses sent on June 23, 2011
  • Letters to DPW designated employees sent on July 8, 2011
  • Within 60 days after first non-filer notice is sent
  • Sent on July 8, 2011
  • Letters to DPW designated employees sent on July 28, 2011
Within 45 days after second non-filer notice is sentAfter the Ethics Commission completes the enforcement referral process, the Commission staff will begin the fines notification process from November through January.

10. Outreach and Education.

On July 19, staff met with a 22-member delegation from the Henan provincial government of China.  The members were interested in learning about anti-corruption and government transparency topics in the United States.  

The Commission continues to offer trainings on Statements of Incompatible Activities to City departments. 

The following is a currently scheduled live training for 2011:

Candidates’ Training:  August 18

The following are web video trainings available on the Commission website:

Department of Building Inspection SIA Training
Candidates’ Training
Controller’s Office SIA Training
Department on the Environment SIA Training
Governmental Ethics Ordinance Training for City Employees
Lobbyist Ordinance Training
Medical Examiner’s Office SIA Training
Non-Candidate Recipient Committee Training
Public Utilities Commission SIA Training
SIA Template Language Training

Respectfully submitted,

 

_________________________
John St. Croix
Executive Director                

S:\ED Report\2011\8.8.2011.doc


1Under a signed settlement agreement, this filer had agreed to make two payments as follows: 1) $2,000 due by 1/3/2010 and 2) $2,000 due by 3/16/11.  Because this filer did not make these payments, the Commission referred the filer to BDR.

Was this page helpful?

Contact us to provide feedback on this page.