December 12, 2022
Contact: Michael Canning (415) 252-3100
Chair Yvonne Lee called the Meeting to order at 10:04 a.m. With Vice-Chair Larry Bush, and Commissioners Theis Finlev, Mike Romano, and Argemira Flórez Feng participating, a quorum was present.
Under Item 2, provided the opportunity for general public comment on matters not appearing on the Agenda but within the Ethics Commission’s subject matter jurisdiction.
Under its Consent Calendar, provided the opportunity for public comment on all consent calendar items and voted 5-0 to adopt a motion by Commissioner Flórez-Feng and seconded by Commissioner Bush to approve the following Consent items that required action by the Commission:
- Item 3, Proposed Resolution on Continuation of Remote/Hybrid Commission Meetings,
- Item 4, Draft Minutes for October 14, 2022 regular meeting; and
- Item 5, Draft Minutes for November 18, 2022, Regular Meeting.
Item 6, Executive Director’s report dated December 2, 2022 was informational and required no action by the Commission.
Under Item 7, heard an update from the Executive Search Committee and discussed next steps in the Executive Director recruitment process, and approved 4-1 a motion by Commissioner Romano and seconded by Commissioner Flórez-Feng to approve a contract with CPS HR Consulting for executive recruitment services, with Commissioner Bush in the dissent.
The Commission then took up Agenda Item 11a, and provided the opportunity for public comment on all matters pertaining to proposed closed session. Under Item 11b, the Commission unanimously (5-0) approved a motion by Commissioner Romano and seconded by Commissioner Flórez-Feng to proceed into closed session for an update with the City’s Department of Human Resources Labor Negotiator regarding Labor Negotiations on the status of ongoing meet and confer concerning the Ethics Commission’s gift and ethics recommendations for City law.
The Commission moved into closed session at 10:50 am.
After reconvening in open session at 11:50 pm, the Commission approved a motion by Commissioner Finlev and seconded by Commissioner Flórez-Feng by a vote of 4-1 to not disclose matters discussed in closed session, with Commissioner Bush in the dissent.
Under Item 8, heard presentations and discussed the post-employment waiver request for Phillip Wong, no action was taken and the item was continued to the Commission’s next regular meeting.
The Commission then took up Item 12. The Commission commended Direct Pelham for her service to the City.
Commissioner Romano left the meeting at 1:30 pm with an excused absence.
Under Item 9, the Commission approved a motion (4-0) by Commission Finlev and seconded by Chair Lee to approve legislation amending the City’s disclaimer rules for campaign advertisements.
Under Item 10, the Commission approved a motion (3-1) by Chair Lee and seconded by Commissioner Finlev to approve changes to the City’s behested payment regulations, with Commissioner Bush in the dissent.
Under Item 13, provided the opportunity to discuss items for future meetings.
Under Item 14, provided the additional opportunity for general public comment on matters not appearing on the agenda.
Under Item 15, adjourned the meeting at 2:10 pm.
Draft Minutes for the December 9, 2022, Regular Meeting will be available upon their completion and will be included on the Agenda for the Commission’s next Regular Meeting, which will be made available on the Commission’s website at sfethics.org.
Meeting agendas and materials are available at https://sfethics.org/ethics/category/agendas.
For further information, please 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.