I. Introduction
This Audit Report summarizes the audit results of the committee, Malia Cohen for Supervisor 2010, Identification Number 1321410 ("the Committee"), for the period from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010. The audit was conducted to determine whether the Committee materially complied with the requirements of the Political Reform Act ("the Act") (California Government Code section 81000, et seq.) and San Francisco's Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance ("CFRO") (San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code section 1.100, et seq).
II. Audit Authority
San Francisco Charter section C3.699-11 authorizes the Ethics Commission ("the Commission") to audit campaign statements that are filed with the Commission along with other relevant documents to determine whether a committee complied with applicable requirements of State and local laws. Section 1.150(a) of the CFRO requires the Commission to audit all candidates who receive public financing.
III. Audit Scope and Procedures
This audit was performed in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. The audit involved a review of the Committee's records for the period covered by the audit. This review was conducted to determine:
- Compliance with all disclosure requirements pertaining to contributions, expenditures, accrued expenditures, and loans, including itemization when required;
- Compliance with applicable filing deadlines;
- Compliance with restrictions on contributions, loans, and expenditures;
- Accuracy of total reported receipts, disbursements, and cash balances as compared to bank records;
- Compliance with all record-keeping requirements;
- Compliance with all provisions related to the Commission's public financing program; and
- Any unexpended public funds that must be returned to the City up to the amount of public funds received by the candidate.
The Commission posts audit reports to its web site and, in cases of apparent violations of law, forwards them to the appropriate enforcement agency.
IV. Committee Information
The Committee was formed in September 2009 to support the election of Malia Cohen for District 10 Supervisor in the November 2, 2010 election. Cindy Hwang served as the treasurer. The Committee was active as of December 31, 2010.
V. Audit Findings
For the period covered by the audit, the Committee received $116,913 in contributions and $79,666 in public funds and incurred qualified campaign expenditures of $169,834. The CFRO provides that any candidate who receives public funds must return unexpended campaign funds to the City up to the amount of public funds received by the candidate (San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code § 1.148(d)). The Committee had $5,248.72 in unexpended funds.1
The Commission determined that there were no material findings with respect to the audit of the Committee. The Committee substantially complied with the disclosure and record keeping provisions of the Act and CFRO.
1 Unexpended funds are calculated by subtracting any unpaid bills, on-going qualified campaign expenditures, and forfeitures from the amount of cash that the Committee had on the 30th day following the date of the election.