Date: May 1, 2023
To: Members of the Ethics Commission
From: Michael Canning, Acting Policy and Legislative Affairs Manager
Re: AGENDA ITEM 5 – Draft Statement of Incompatible Activities (SIA) for the Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board (SDOB) and Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
Summary and Action Requested
This memo provides a brief review on the City’s Statement of Incompatible Activities (SIA) rules and presents a recommended draft SIA for the Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board (SDOB) and Office of the Inspector General (OIG).
Staff recommends the Commission vote to approve the draft SIA as presented in Attachment 1.
Statements of Incompatible Activities
The Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code requires that every department, board, commission, and agency of the City and County maintain a Statement of Incompatible Activities, or SIA (per Section 3.218). An SIA is a document that the department creates, based on an Ethics Commission template, which specifies certain activities that are incompatible with the duties of the officers and employees of that department. It is a violation of the Code, punishable under the Code’s penalty provision, for any officer or employee to violate the terms of their SIA.
No department may create or amend an SIA without the approval of the Ethics Commission. Additionally, the Commission may at any time amend the SIA of any department on its own. Before any SIA becomes operative, the City must satisfy the meet and confer requirements of State law with any affected employee bargaining units. Every department, board, commission, and agency of the City must annually provide a copy of its SIA to its officers and employees. It is common for departments and the boards or commissions that oversee them to share a single SIA that applies to both entities.
The Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board and Office of the Inspector General
In November of 2020, voters approved Proposition D, which amended the City Charter to create the Sheriff’s Department Oversight Board and Office of the Inspector General. This new board is charged with providing independent, impartial, and diligent oversight of the Sheriff’s Office and fostering a transparent, accountable, and responsive Sheriff’s Office through the Office of the Inspector General. The Inspector General is appointed by SDOB, and OIG operates under SDOB. Neither SDOB nor OIG currently have an SIA. Staff have worked with OIG staff to create an SIA for SDOB and OIG.
The proposed draft SIA is provided as Attachment 1. The draft SIA largely aligns with the template SIA used by Ethics Commission for all departments, however at the request of the department, Staff have included some additional rules that are unique to this SIA. While most SIAs in the City are largely identical, several other departments also have unique rules in their SIAs. The unique rules in the SDOB/OIG SIA deal with activities that conflict with official duties (Section III.A.1.a-d) and activities subject to review by the department (Section III.A.3.b). Staff have reviewed these additions and do not believe they raise any concerns.
The City noticed this draft SIA to City bargaining units and conducted a meet and confer over this SIA. After meeting with a bargaining unit and responding to their questions in writing, the City closed out this matter on April 21, 2023. The City has currently satisfied its obligations to meet and confer under State law and the Commission may vote to approve these amendments.
Recommended Next Steps
Staff recommends the Commission vote to approve this SIA as drafted, so that the newly created SDOB and OIG are covered under an SIA, as required by Section 3.218 of the Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code.
Attachments:
Attachment 1: SDOB-OIG SIA – DRAFT – 5/01/23