Thursday, May 30, 2019
Contact: Pat Ford (415) 252-3100
- Chair Chiu called the meeting to order at 2:01 p.m. With Vice-Chair Noreen Ambrose and Commissioners Yvonne Lee and Fern M. Smith in attendance, a quorum was present.
- Under Item 2, received public comment on matters appearing or not appearing on the agenda.
- Under its Consent Calendar, unanimously (4-0) adopted a motion by Commissioner Lee and seconded by Vice-Chair Ambrose to approve Item 3, Draft Minutes for the Ethics Commission’s April 12, 2019, regular meeting.
- Moving to items on its Non-Consent Calendar, heard and discussed Item 4, a Staff presentationon the Phase II Public Financing Review Project legislative recommendations and draft ordinance. In a unanimous 4-0 vote on the draft ordinance, the Commission voted to approve:
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- matching up to $150 of a qualified contribution at a six-to-one rate;
- an increase in the initial public financing grant for qualified public financing candidates from $20,000 to $60,000 (Supervisor) and from $100,000 to $300,000 (Mayor);
- an increase in maximum public funding for a participating candidate to: $255,000 for non-incumbent Supervisorial candidates and $252,000 for incumbent Supervisorial candidates; and to $1,200,000 for non-incumbent Mayoral candidates and $1,185,000 for an incumbent Mayor;
- increase the initial Individual Expenditure Ceilings for candidates participating in the public financing program in Supervisorial races to $350,000 and to $1,700,000 for the Mayoral race;
- allow contributions received by Mayoral candidates on the 70th day before the election to be matched with public funds; and
- require Supervisorial candidates to file threshold disclosure reports upon raising or spending $10,000, rather than $5,000.
- The ordinance contains an operative date of January 1, 2020.
- Under Item 5, heard and discussed a Staff presentationon proposed amendments to regulations related to Article I (Chapter I) and Article III (Chapters III and VI) of the Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code. The Commission voted to adopt the amendments as proposed in Agenda Item 5 and additional amendments proposed through public comment as detailed during the Commission’s discussion.
- Under Item 6, heard and discussed the Staff Policy Report. No action was taken as it was provided for informational purposes only.
- Under Item 7, heard and discussed the Staff Enforcement Report. No action was taken as it was provided for informational purposes only.
- Under Item 8, heard and discussed the monthly Executive Director’s Report. No action was taken as the item was for informational purposes only.
- Under Item 9, regarding items for future meetings, no items were discussed and no action was taken.
- Under Item 10, provided the opportunity for additional public comment on matters appearing or not appearing on the agenda.
- Under Item 11, adjourned the meeting at 5:35 p.m.
Draft Minutes for the May 29, 2019, regular meeting will be available upon their completion and will be included on the Agenda for the Commission’s next meeting. The next meeting of the Ethics Commission is Friday, June 28, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. in City Hall Room 416. For further information, please feel free to contact the Ethics Commission at ethics.commission@sfgov.org or (415) 252-3100.
SFGovTV provides a continuous archive of selected Commission, council and board meetings that allows viewers to watch those meetings online in full at the viewer’s convenience. Video, audio, and closed-captioning archives of Ethics Commission meetings may be accessed here.