Minutes – December 08, 2023 – San Francisco Ethics Commission

Minutes of the Special Meeting of
The San Francisco Ethics Commission
Friday, December 08, 2023

Hybrid meeting conducted in-person in City Hall Room 400, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, and also held online as a Remote Meeting via WebEx and aired live on SFGovTV

(Approved January 24, 2024)

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, Vice Chair Theis Finlev, Commissioner Yaman Salahi, and Commissioner Argemira Flórez Feng participating, a quorum was present. Commissioner David Tsai arrived shortly after the meeting was called to order.

STAFF PRESENTING: Eric Willett, Online Meeting Moderator; Patrick Ford, Director of Enforcement; Zachary D’Amico, Senior Investigative Analyst; Steven Massey, Acting Deputy Director & Chief Operating Officer; Gayathri Thaikkendiyil, Acting Executive Director.

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Jaime Delaye Huling, Deputy City Attorney.

MATERIALS DISTRIBUTED:

Item 1. Call to order and roll call.

Chair Lee convened the meeting at 10:04am and stated that members of the public may participate in-person or remotely.

Meeting Moderator Eric Willett 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:

Ellen Lee Zhou recited the pledge of allegiance. She has been coming to the Ethics Commission meeting for many years. When she ran for mayor in 2019, she had no paid staff and the Ethics Commission came after her volunteers. She has continued to be harassed by the commission. She wants it on the record that she attended this meeting and wants the commission to stop harassing her and spelling her name incorrectly.

Written public comment received during the meeting

A speaker stated that the commissions arms are tied by the system that is oppressive. It’s a slow process to make an understanding of the situation. We must take responsibility for what we do, or else it will be a failure for our life. They want everybody to be happy.

A caller stated that they are a Department of Public Health healthcare worker. They were a part of the group brought in to amend whistleblower ordinances. They ask the commission to look into the job losses for the DPH workers that have been displaced by the COVID policies. Consider the sacrifices that these workers have made.

No further public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.

Item 3. Discussion and Possible Action regarding Hearing on the Merits In the Matter of Paul Allen Taylor, Case No. 20-243 (1920-031)

Chair Lee requested to continue this hearing to a future hearing date. Once a new hearing date is established, the enforcement team is to notify Taylor.

Zachary D’Amico requested to make a comment outside of public comment as he is involved in this case.

Deputy City Attorney Jaime Delaye Huling stated that’s permissible as long as the other party can respond if they’re present.

D’Amico stated that Ethics Commission staff has followed protocol over the last two years and Taylor has not responded to any subpoenas or communication. Taylor’s mailing was not a hearing brief as the Chair stated. The hearing is protocol when a settlement cannot be reached, and a settlement cannot be reached. He hopes that the commission takes seriously that lending credence to Taylor’s actions may allow others to follow suit.

Public Comment:

Ellen Lee Zhou asks the commission to end their investigation into her volunteer, Paul Allen Taylor. If not, the lawsuit will be $1-5 million against the City & County of San Francisco, and anyone personally involved. She worked with commission staff, John, he gave her instructions, and she followed them during her campaign for mayor. The commission did not go after the election interference.

No further public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.

Item 4. POTENTIAL CLOSED SESSION ITEM: Public Employee Appointment/Hiring, Executive Director

Public comment on all matters pertaining to Item 4(c), including whether to meet in closed session.

Ellen Lee Zhou has been a public worker for more than 15 years. She is opposed to anyone being hired for this position until all employees who were fired for being unvaccinated are re-hired. When the vaccination requirement was lifted, the City refused to re-hire the fired workers. She believes that Jesus is her personal savior. The commission publicly discriminated against unvaccinated workers. If anyone is hired into this position, a lawsuit will be launched for unethical practices. 1,168 Christians have been wrongfully terminated; this is illegal.

A speaker stated that it doesn’t matter what they are talking about. Something they said in the past is that it is not allowed to ask anybody to inject anything into their body, by the skies.

A caller stated that they were involved in initial COVID policies. Please consider bringing back the healthcare workers who were displaced post-COVID. Do you want San Francisco to lead with these types of practices or do you want to be remembered as the City who took away over 1,000 jobs over a vaccination and pandemic that has passed?

No further public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.

Vote on whether to meet in closed session to consider Item 4(c) under California Government Code Section 54957(b)(1) and Administrative Code Section 67.10(b). (Action.)

Motion 231208-01 (Finlev / Flórez Feng): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (5-0) to meet in closed session.

Executive Director Recruitment. (Discussion and possible action.) Closed session began at 10:29am.

If closed session is held, reconvene in open session. Open session resumed at 2:03pm.

Disclosure of action taken, if any, that must be disclosed pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.1 and Administrative Code Section 67.12(b).

If appropriate: Discussion and vote pursuant to Administrative Code Section 67.12(a) whether to disclose closed session discussion of Item 4(c). (Discussion and possible action.)

Motion 231208-02 (Flórez Feng / Finlev): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (4-0) to not disclose closed session discussion. Commissioner Tsai had an excused absence and did not rejoin the meeting after the closed session.

CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, AND 11

The Commission took up its Consent Calendar, provided the opportunity for public comment on all Consent Calendar items, and voted 4-0 to adopt a motion by Commissioner Finlev and seconded by Commissioner Salahi to approve the following Consent Calendar items that required by the Commission:

Item 5. Draft Minutes of the Ethics Commission October 13, 2023, Regular Meeting (Continued from November 9 Commission meeting)
Item 8. Draft Minutes of the Ethics Commission November 9, 2023, Regular Meeting
Item 9. Ethics Commission Regular Meeting Schedule for Calendar Year 2024

The following Consent Calendar items were informational and required no action by the Commission, but the opportunity for public comment was provided.

Item 6. Acting Executive Director’s Report (Continued from November 9 Commission meeting)
Item 7. Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget Update (Continued from November 9 Commission meeting)
Item 10. Acting Director’s Report for December
Item 11. Director of Enforcement’s Report highlighting Enforcement Division Operations

Commissioner Finlev asked to move Item 12 to Regular Calendar.

Motion 231208-03 (Finlev / Salahi): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (4-0) to approve consent calendar items requiring action by the Commission.

Public Comment:

No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.

REGUALR CALENDAR

Item 12. Proposed Stipulation, Decision and Order In the Matter of Christian Kitchin (SFEC Complaint No. 2223-527)

Patrick Ford provided a brief overview.

Commissioner Finlev disagreed with Ford’s credit of Kitchin’s cooperation for amending their filings.

Commissioner Finlev confirmed the penalty amount. Ford confirmed the range of the penalty amount. Commissioner Finlev stated that he would have been comfortable with a higher amount given the amount of money that was not disclosed originally in this case.

The proposed stipulation was then approved unanimously (4-0) by a motion made by Commissioner Finlev and seconded by Commissioner Salahi.

Motion 231208-04 (Finlev / Salahi): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (4-0) to approve the proposed stipulation.

Public Comment:

No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.

Item 13. Discussion and possible action on Ethics Commission Draft Annual Report for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2023. (Continued from November 9 Commission meeting)

Gayathri Thaikkendiyil provided an overview of this item.

Commissioner Finlev asked to wait as he hadn’t been able to review the report.

Chair Lee confirmed that this item was on the agenda for the November meeting. She assumed all commissioners submitted their questions/comments by the previously determined date.

Chair Lee asked Commissioner Finlev if he had any specific concerns.

Commissioner Finlev stated that he does not have any specific concerns.

A motion by Chair Lee and seconded by Commissioner Salahi to approve the annual report as drafted was approved unanimously (4-0).

Motion 231208-05 (Lee / Salahi): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (4-0) to approve the report.

Item 14. Items for Future Meetings (Discussion and Possible Action)

Commissioner Flórez Feng stated that she would like to revisit the Chair’s request for certain presentations.

Thaikkendiyil confirmed that the presentations would be planned for early 2024.

Commissioner Finlev asked what commissioners are allowed and not allowed to say regarding the current ballot measure.

Delaye Huling stated that the City Attorney’s Office could also provide information to address this concern.

Public Comment:

No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.

Item 15. 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 16. Adjournment.

The Commission adjourned at 2:17pm.