Date: October 7, 2019
Based on candidate filings and reported third party expenditures, the Ethics Commission has determined that an adjustment to the Individual Expenditure Ceiling (IEC) of one or more publicly financed candidates is required. The table(s) below indicates any new IEC levels and summarizes how any adjustment was determined. Note: Pursuant to Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code sec. 1.104, only a candidate’s contributions that do not exceed that candidate’s current IEC are counted toward that candidate’s level of Total Supportive Funds. Thus, an increase in the candidate’s IEC may increase the amount of contributions counted and, as a result, increase the candidate’s level of Total Supportive Funds. This may in turn require adjustment of the IEC of another candidate in the same race. If such an adjustment is required, it will be shown in a separate row in the chart below.
| Candidate Name | Total CTBs Reported by Candidate | IEC before analysis | 3rd party Supportive Funds | Total Supportive Funds (TSF) | Highest Opponent TSF in Race | Total Opposition Spending (TOS) | Opponent’s TSF + TOS | IEC after analysis |
| Brown, Vallie | $441,360 | $400,000 | $22,700 | $422,700 | $401,764 | $0 | $401,764 | $450,000 |
| Preston, Dean | $401,764 | $450,000 | $0 | $401,764 | $422,700 | $0 | $422,700 | $450,000 |
| Brown, Vallie | $441,360 | $450,000 | $22,700 | $464,060 | $401,764 | $0 | $401,764 | $450,000* |
| Preston, Dean | $401,764 | $450,000 | $0 | $401,764 | $464,060 | $0 | $464,060 | $500,000* |
*Denotes current adjusted IEC level for candidate
Under the City’s public financing laws, Candidates who seek public funds must agree to limit their spending to the applicable IEC. The IEC for supervisorial candidates starts at $250,000 and may be raised in increments of $50,000. The IEC for mayoral candidates starts at $1,475,000 and may be raised in increments of $250,000. The Ethics Commission must raise a candidate’s IEC to the sum of the highest level of Total Supportive Funds among that candidate’s opponents and the Total Opposition Spending against that candidate, rounded up to the nearest whole increment of $50,000 or $250,000 (for supervisorial and mayoral candidates, respectively).
Total Supportive Funds (TSF) is the sum of all funds (including monetary contributions, loans, in-kind contributions and public funds) received by a candidate, up to an amount equal to that candidate’s current IEC, plus any expenditures made or expenses incurred by any person for the purpose of making independent expenditures, electioneering communications or member communications to support that candidate.
Total Opposition Spending (TOS) is the sum of all expenditures made or incurred by any person for the purpose of making independent expenditures, electioneering communications or member communications to oppose a specific candidate. Total opposition spending does not include spending by a candidate to support himself or herself or to oppose his or her opponents in the same election.
Information about individual expenditure ceilings, third party spending reports, and public funds disbursed to qualified candidates are available on the Ethics Commission’s campaign finance data dashboards.
# # #
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, including the assessment of fines through its administrative enforcement authority. 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. We invite you to follow our work at https://www.sfethics.org.