Minutes – March 26, 2012 – San Francisco Ethics Commission

Minutes of the Regular Meeting of
The San Francisco Ethics Commission
March 26, 2012
Room 400, City Hall
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102

I. Call to order and roll call.

Vice-Chairperson Studley called the meeting to order at 5:32 PM.
COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Jamienne Studley, Vice-Chairperson; Beverly Hayon, Commissioner; and Paul A. Renne, Commissioner. Chairperson Hur and Commissioner Liu were excused.
STAFF PRESENT: John St. Croix, Executive Director; Mabel Ng, Deputy Executive Director, Shaista Shaikh, Assistant Deputy Director; Garrett Chatfield, Investigator/Legal Analyst.
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY: Andrew Shen, Deputy City Attorney.
OTHERS PRESENT: Donna Marion, Ray Hartz, Patrick Monette-Shaw, Peter Warfield, Catherine Bremmer, David Pilpel, and other unidentified members of the public.
MATERIALS DISTRIBUTED:
– Staff Memorandum re: Audit Selection of Year 2011 Committees, dated March 20, 2012.
– Report on San Francisco's Limited Public Financing Program – November 8, 2011 Mayoral Election.
– Staff Memorandum re: Proposed Amendments to SIA of Public Library, dated March 20, 2012.
– Draft Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the San Francisco Ethics Commission on February 27, 2012.
– Draft Minutes of the Special Meeting of the San Francisco Ethics Commission on March 9, 2012.
– Executive Director's Report to the Ethics Commission for the Meeting of March 26, 2012.

II. Public comment on matters appearing or not appearing on the agenda that are within the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission.

An unidentified member of the public stated that the Ethics Commission has previously found a
public official guilty of official misconduct. He stated that the Mayor has refused to remove that
official from her position of Library President.

Ray Hartz stated that the Ethics Commission sent a letter to the Mayor recommending that the
Library President be removed from her position. Mr. Hartz played an audio recording of an
exchange involving the Library President. Mr. Hartz stated that the recording was of the Library
President stating that she knew 12 people that would "bury" him.

Patrick Monette-Shaw stated that he has not yet received any information from the Ethics Commission regarding his two outstanding Sunshine Ordinance Task Force referrals. He stated that the Library President attempted to hit him with her bag.

Peter Warfield stated that the Mayor has taken no action regarding the Library President and that her misconduct was related to her position as a City officer.

III. Selection of Random Audits of 2011 Committees. Staff estimates that it will have time and resources to conduct five random audits of non-publicly financed candidate, ballot measure and general purpose committees that were active in the 2011 election.

[Item V was taken out of order and discussed before Item III.]

Assistant Deputy Director Shaikh introduced the item and explained the process to randomly
select the committees.

Public Comment:
David Pilpel stated that the number of committees to be selected should be increased from five to
six.

Patrick Monette-Shaw read the names of the committees whose level of financial activity was
from $10,000 to $50,000 as he placed individual slips of paper with each name into a box. Mr.
Monette-Shaw then randomly drew the committee "Terry Baum for Mayor 2011" to be audited.

Patrik Monette-Shaw read the names of the committees whose level of financial activity was
from over $50,000 to $100,000 as he placed individual slips of paper with each name into a box.
Mr. Monette-Shaw then randomly drew the committee "San Francisco Labor Council Labor &
Neighbor PAC" to be audited.

David Pilpel read the names of the committees whose level of financial activity was over
$100,000 as he placed individual slips of paper with each name into a box. Mr. Pilpel then
randomly drew the committees "Miyamoto for Sheriff 2011," "Ed Lee for Mayor 2011," and "Adachi for Mayor 2011" to be audited.

Vice-Chairperson Studley thanked Messrs. Monette-Shaw and Pilpel for their assistance in the random audit process.

IV. Staff presentation of public finance report. After each election cycle involving publicly-financed races, staff makes a report on execution of the public financing program for that election cycle. At this meeting, staff will present a report on the 2011 election cycle.

Assistant Deputy Director Shaikh introduced the public finance report.

Vice-Chairperson Studley,and Commissioners Hayon and Renne thanked staff for the report and
stated that the information was very useful.

Public Comment:
David Pilpel stated that there was an error on page five of the report.

V. Proposed amendments to the Statement of Incompatible Activities (SIA) for the San Francisco Public Library. At its last meeting, the Commission initially approved amendments to the Library's SIA. Since then, the City has met and conferred with the unions that represent employees who are governed by the SIA. At this meeting, the Commission will consider final approval of the amendments.

[Item V was taken out of order and discussed before Item III.]

Executive Director Ng introduced the item.

Donna Marion, representing the Library, stated that the proper meet and confer process
occurred between the Library and the employee unions.

Public Comment:
Patrick Monette-Shaw stated that the SIA under consideration does not address misconduct of the type in which the Library President engaged. He stated that the SIA should address criminal
behavior.

An unidentified member of the public stated that the Library is influenced by a private
partnership with the Friends of the Library. He stated that the department is essentially privately
run.

Ray Hartz reviewed an accounting report issued on March 1, 2012, by the Friends of the Library.

Catherine Bremmer stated that she supported the proposed SIA.

Peter Warfield stated that the SIA should not make the Library less accountable. He stated that
the incompatible activities process should be visible to the public.

David Pilpel stated that he supported the proposed SIA.

Motion 12-03-26-1 (Hayon/Renne): Moved, seconded, and passed (3-0, Chairperson Hur
and Commissioner Liu excused) that the Commission approve the proposed changes to the
San Francisco Public Library's Statement of Incompatible Activities.

VI. Minutes of the Commission's regular meeting of February 27, 2012 and special meeting of March 9, 2012.

Vice-Chairperson Studley stated that on page two, in the fourth paragraph of the draft minutes for February 27, 2012, her comments were not accurately reflected. She stated that the intent of her question was whether or not library staff provides training through some outside agency, and not that the library should not provide training.

Motion 12-03-26-2 (Hayon/Renne): Moved, seconded, and passed (3-0, Chairperson Hur
and Commissioner Liu excused) to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of February 27, 2012, as amended.

David Pilpel stated that his public comment in the minutes for the meeting of March 9, 2012, was not accurately reflected.

Motion 12-03-26-3 (Hayon/Renne): Moved, seconded, and passed (3-0, Chairperson Hur
and Commissioner Liu excused) to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of March 9, 2012.

VII. Executive Director's Report. An update of important Ethics Commission staff activities since the previous monthly meeting. The written report, which is available at the Commission office and on its website, covers the investigation and enforcement program, revenues, campaign finance disclosure program, revenues, public financing/campaign finance audit program, lobbyist program, campaign consultant program, and outreach and education. Any of these subjects may potentially be part of the Director's presentation or discussed by the Commission.

Executive Director St. Croix outlined the report.

Commissioner Hayon stated that she would like determine if there is any way to urge the Mayor to take action on the Ethics Commission's recommendation regarding the Library President.

Executive Director St. Croix stated that there is no formal procedure, but the matter could be agendized for discussion at a future meeting.

Public Comment:
David Pilpel stated that the requirement to televise the Ethics Commission's meetings might not apply to joint meetings with the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force.

VIII. Items for future meetings. Commissioners may propose items for future agendas and the Commission may determine the priority of these items

None.

Public Comment:
None.

IX. Public comment on matters appearing or not appearing on the agenda that are within the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission.