Draft Minutes of the Special Meeting of
The San Francisco Ethics Commission
Friday, May 19, 2023
Hybrid meeting conducted in-person in City Hall Room 416, 1 Dr. Carlton B.Goodlett Place, San Francisco, and also held online as a Remote Meeting via WebEx and aired live on SFGovTV
(Approved June 9, 2023)
Note: SFGovTV provides a continuous archive of audio, video, and Caption Notes recordings of Ethics Commission meetings that allows viewers to watch those meetings online in full at the viewer’s convenience. These archives of Ethics Commission meetings may be accessed at SFGovTV at http://sanfrancisco.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=142.
(Note: A complete recording of this meeting can be found on SFGovTv.)
COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: With Chair Yvonne Lee, Commissioner Theis Finlev, Commissioner Argemira Flórez Feng, and Commissioner Yaman Salahi participating, a quorum was present. Commissioner Michael Romano was not present due to an excused absence.
STAFF PRESENTING: Steven Massey, Acting Deputy Director; Ronald Contreraz, Online Meeting Moderator; Gayathri Thaikkendiyil, Acting Executive Director
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Brad Russi, Deputy City Attorney.
MATERIALS DISTRIBUTED:
Item 1. Call to order and roll call.
Chair Lee convened the meeting at 2:07pm and stated that members of the public may participate in-person or remotely. Meeting Moderator Ronald Contreraz summarized the procedures for participation by members of the public for the meeting.
Item 2. Public comment on matters not appearing on the agenda.
Under Item 2, the Commission provided the opportunity for general public comment on matters not appearing on the Agenda but within the Ethics Commission’s subject matter jurisdiction.
Public Comment:
A speaker expressed surprise that there were only 4 Commissioners for ethics and that ethics was huge for humanity.
No further public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.
Item 3. POTENTIAL CLOSED SESSION ITEM- Public Employee Appointment, Executive Director.
Chair Lee introduced the item and explained the basis for the closed session discussion was to discuss the public employee appointment of the Executive Director.
Chair Lee asked if any Commissioners or Deputy City Attorney Brad Russi had any questions before moving to closed session. There were no questions.
Commissioner Finlev moved to meet in closed session under California Government Code Section 54957.6 and Sunshine Ordinance Section 67.10(e) to discuss the public employee appointment. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Flórez Feng and approved unanimously (4-0).
Public Comment:
No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.
Motion 230519-01 (Finlev / Flórez Feng ): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (4-0) to move to closed session.
The Commission went into closed session at 2:12pm.
After reconvening in open session at 3:51pm, Commissioner Finlev made a motion pursuant to Brown Act section 54957.1 and Sunshine Ordinance section 67.12 to maintain confidentiality of discussions held in closed session and not disclose matters discussed in closed session, which was seconded by Commissioner Salahi and approved unanimously by a vote of 4-0.
Motion 230519-02 (Finlev / Salahi): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (4-0) to not disclose matters discussed in closed session.
Item 4. Discussion and possible action on items for future meetings.
Public Comment:
No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.
Item 5. Additional opportunity for public comment on matters not appearing on the agenda pursuant to Ethics Commission Bylaws Article VII Section 2.
Public Comment:
No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.
Item 6. Adjournment.
The Commission adjourned at 3:51pm.