Draft Minutes of the Regular Meeting of
The San Francisco Ethics Commission
Friday, April 12, 2024
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 ____)
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 Theis Finlev, Vice Chair Argemira Flórez Feng, Commissioner Karen Bell Francoise, and Commissioner Yaman Salahi participating, a quorum was present. Commissioner David Tsai had an excused absence.
STAFF PRESENTING: Kevin Kincaid, Online Meeting Moderator; Patrick Ford, Executive Director; Ryan Abussa, Engagement & Compliance Officer; Peter Lauterborn, Ethics@Work Program Manager; Tyler Field, Senior IS Engineer; Olabisi Matthews, Senior Investigative Analyst.
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Bradley Russi, Deputy City Attorney
MATERIALS DISTRIBUTED:
- Draft Minutes for March 22, 2024, Regular Meeting
- Executive Director’s Report dated April 8, 2024
- Cover Memo and Proposed Stipulation in SFEC Case No. 23-598
- Proposed Amendments to Ethics Commission Campaign Finance Regulations Staff memo dated April 8, 2024
- Presentation on Implementation of Proposition D dated April 8, 2024
- Presentation on Campaign Finance Dashboards dated April 8, 2024
Item 1. Call to order and roll call.
Chair Finlev convened the meeting at 10:06am and stated that members of the public may participate in-person or remotely.
Meeting Moderator Kevin Kincaid 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:
No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.
CONSENT CALENDAR Items 3 and 4.
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 Chair Finlev and seconded by Commissioner Salahi to approve the following Consent Calendar items that required by the Commission:
- Item 3. Draft Minutes of the Ethics Commission March 22, 2024, Regular Meeting
The following Consent Calendar item was informational and required no action by the Commission, but the opportunity for public comment was provided.
- Item 4. Executive Director’s Report
Public Comment:
No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.
Motion 240412-01 (Finlev / Salahi): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (4-0) to approve consent calendar item requiring action by the Commission.
REGULAR CALENDAR
Item 5. Discussion and Possible Action regarding Proposed Stipulation, Decision and Order In the Matter of David Wasserman
Olabisi Matthews provided an overview of the case and proposed stipulations.
Commissioner Flórez Feng and Chair Finlev thanked staff for their work.
Chair Finlev asked what the respondent failed to report.
Matthews confirmed that the respondent didn’t list the individual names of the additional sources of income on their Form 700.
The Commission voted 4-0 to approve a motion by Commissioner Salahi, seconded by Commissioner Flórez Feng, to adopt the stipulation.
Motion 240412-02 (Salahi / Flórez Feng): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (4-0) to adopt the stipulation.
Public Comment:
No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.
Item 6. Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Proposed Amendments to Ethics Commission Campaign Finance Regulations.
Ryan Abusaa presented an overview.
Chair Finlev asked if there is a pre-signature form.
Abusaa confirmed that the signature verification would be folded into an existing electronic form.
Chair Finlev asked if there was already a safe harbor.
Abusaa confirmed that it did exist, and it’s now being standardized.
Chair Finlev asked if attendees of the interested persons meetings expressed concerns about these changes.
Abussa confirmed that there were concerns on the last two regulation changes. Treasurers don’t always have access to printers or scanners.
Chair Finlev asked if committees can bring their documents into the office to have commission staff scan.
Abusaa stated that at the discretion of the audit and enforcement teams, committees may be able to do so.
Commissioner Salahi asked if respondents who object to a subpoena are withholding documents.
Patrick Ford confirmed that it would depend on what the objections were.
Chair Finlev suggested that the following subclause be added to the first clause of 1.170-2: “or to provide a timely response to a subpoena”.
Chair Finlev confirmed with Brad Russi that this addition would be fine. Russi had no objection.
The Commission voted 4-0 to approve a motion by Chair Finlev, seconded by Commissioner Salahi, to adopt the proposed amendments to the regulations discussed.
Motion 240412-03 (Finlev / Salahi): Moved, seconded, and approved unanimously (4-0) to adopt the proposed amendments discussed.
Public Comment:
No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.
Item 7. Presentation on Implementation of Proposition D.
Peter Lauterborn presented.
Commissioner Francoise asked if City employees can complete trainings during work hours, Lauterborn confirmed yes.
Commissioner Francoise asked if there is a timeline for City employees to complete the training.
Lauterborn confirmed that employees and Commissioners would need to complete the training on the same timeline as the Form 700. New employees would need to complete the training within 30 days of employment.
This item was informational and required no action from the Commission.
Public Comment:
A caller from the Human Services Network stated that there is a need for ethics training for nonprofits and their contractors.
No further public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.
Item 8. Presentation on Campaign Finance Dashboards.
Tyler Field presented.
Chair Finlev commented that there may be ways to connect this data to other departments’ data.
Chair Finlev asked if staff would track how many people access this dashboard data, Field confirmed yes.
Flórez Feng stated concern about receiving feedback on these dashboards.
Field stated that staff are open to feedback and presented this information to local journalists, who were engaged.
This item was informational and required no action from the Commission.
Public Comment:
No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.
Item 9. Items for Future Meetings (Discussion and Possible Action)
Chair Finlev asked what training resources were available to non-City officials, related to the last public comment.
Commissioner Flórez Feng stated that with Prop D, there would be more resources available on the Commission website.
Public Comment:
No public comment was received and public comment on the item was closed.
Item 10. 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 11. Adjournment.
The Commission adjourned at 11:17am.