Department Heads:
Last month’s email from our Executive Director, LeeAnn Pelham, announced that effective January 1, 2022, employees occupying designated positions in the City’s Conflict of Interest Code, who currently file their Statement of Economic Interest (Form 700) statements on paper, will be required to file their statements in electronic format using the Ethics Commission’s Internet-based NetFile efiling system. Also mentioned in that email is the important role your designated Filing Officer(s) will play to help ensure a smooth transition for your department’s Form 700 filers from paper to electronic filing.
As our office prepares for the next phases of implementation, we are communicating here to request your assistance to confirm the name(s) of your department’s Filing Officer(s) in the coming year.
Your department’s Filing Officer(s) will have new and expanded online tools for managing your department’s Form 700 filers and their filings in the NetFile e-filing system. To enable our office to communicate important information to the appropriate individual(s) and help ensure training is rolled out effectively, we ask you to:
- Review the attached Filing Officer FAQ and your current Filing Officer designation. We request that you consider designating at minimum a primary and a back-up filing officer to ensure that there are at least two persons in your department that will have fulfilled mandatory training and have access to the NetFile system.
- Confirm your Filing Officer designation no later than Tuesday, August 17, 2021. Please note that as part of the City’s transition to electronic filing for all Form 700 filers, the existing roster of filing officers on file with the Ethics Commission will be retired and longer used.
- No change to report: Departments that are not making a change to their current Filing Officer designation, must submit a Department Contact Change Form via DocuSign to redesignate their current Filing Officer(s). Select “Add” in Section #1 of the form to re-designate your current filing officer. If redesignating more than one Filing Officer, a separate form should be completed for each Filing Officer.
- Add a Filing Officer: Complete a Department Contact Change Form via DocuSign to add a new Filing Officer. If designating more than one Filing Officer as recommended, a separate form should be completed for each Filing Officer designation. Select “Add” in Section #1 of the form to add a filing officer.
What’s Next?
Our office will be reaching out to your office during the first week in August to confirm your list of active Form 700 designated filers.
Thank you in advance for your ongoing leadership and for your partnership with our office. Please reach out to me or our Executive Director LeeAnn Pelham with any questions.
Sincerely,
Rachel Gage
Engagement & Compliance Manager
San Francisco Ethics Commission