CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
Campaign Finance Audit Report
Stephen Martin-Pinto for District 7 Supervisor 2020
FPPC ID #: 1427311
January 1, 2020 – December 31, 2020
Introduction
To promote campaign compliance with laws and regulations, the San Francisco Ethics Commission (hereinafter the “Commission”) engaged Macias Gini & O’Connell LLP (MGO) to assist in assessing election committees’ compliance with applicable requirements. This report summarizes the audit results on the Stephen Martin-Pinto for District 7 Supervisor 2020 #1427311 committee (hereinafter “the Committee”) covering the period of January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.
Authority
The Commission has a duty and responsibility under San Francisco Charter Sec. C3.699-11(4) to audit campaign statements and other relevant documents that are filed with the Commission to ensure compliance with applicable state and campaign finance laws and regulations. Under SFC&GCC Sec. 1.150(a), all candidate committees whose candidates have received public financing must be audited and committee that have not received public financing may be randomly selected for audit at the discretion of the Executive Director of the Commission.
Objectives and Scope
The objective of the audit was to reasonably determine whether the Committee substantially complied with requirements of the Political Reform Act Sec. 81000 et. Seq. and supporting regulations, and the San Francisco Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance Sec 1.100 et. Seq. and supporting regulations. The audit was performed based on a review of the Committee’s filing and records covered by the review period to determine, among other things:
- Compliance with campaign activity disclosure and record-keeping requirements, and
- Compliance with applicable campaign activity limits, restrictions, and prohibitions.
As a recipient of public financing, the Committee was subject to mandatory audit.
Nothing in this report shall be interpreted to prevent an enforcement action by the Commission or another appropriate agency for conduct in violation of the law, whether or not that conduct is covered in this report.
The report will be forwarded to the Commission’s Enforcement Division for review to determine whether any further action may be warranted.
Committee Information
Background
The Committee’s primary purpose was to support the election of Stephen Martin-Pinto to the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco (“City”) in the November 3, 2020 election. During the period covered by the audit, the Committee’s Treasurer was Thomas E. Montgomery. The Committee was established on February 27, 2020, and the Committee did not file a Form 501 for termination date. As such, we used the date of last expenditure of December 17, 2020.
| Total Funds Raised | Total Expenditures Made | |
| Private Contributions | $29,700 | $128,908 |
| Public Funds Received | $101,478 |
The Committee activity totals were taken from disclosure statements filed with the Commission covering the period January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.
The audit respondent identified below was the primary audit contact during the audit and responded to audit inquiries and requests on behalf of the Committee.
Thomas E. Montgomery
95 Professional Center Pkwy, A100
San Rafael, CA 94903
Audit Results
The CA Gov. Code Sec. 81000 et. Seq and supporting regulations, and SFC&GCC Sec. 1.100 et. Sec and supporting regulations, require campaign committees to timely disclose information about election campaign activity and adhere to applicable campaign activity limits, restrictions, and prohibitions.
The following findings were noted during the audit:
- Under CA Gov. Code Sec. 84211(a), committees are required to report the total amount of contributions received from all persons during a reporting period. CA Gov. Code Sec. 84211(f) further states that if the cumulative amount received from any one source is $100 or more, committees must also disclose, in addition to the date and amount, the full name, street address, and occupation/employer information of the contributor.
Out of 19 contributions examined, three contributions totaling $1,150 were disclosed in the incorrect filing period.
| Contributor | Amount | Transaction Date | Reported Period |
| Maurice Kanbar | $500 | 09/14/2020 | 09/20/2020 – 10/17/2020 |
| San Francisco Fire Fighters PAC | $500 | 09/17/2020 | 09/20/2020 – 10/17/2020 |
| Mila Caceres | $150 | 10/19/2020 | 09/20/2020 – 10/17/2020 |
| $1,150 |
Campaign Disclosure Statements
- SFC&GCC Sec. 1.152(a)(1) states, “… each candidate committee supporting a candidate for the Board of Supervisors shall file a statement with the Ethics Commission indicating when the committee has received contributions to be deposited into its Campaign Contribution Trust Account, or made expenditures that equal or exceed $10,000 within 24 of reaching or exceeding that amount.”
The Committee reached the $10,000 contribution threshold level on August 20, 2020. A SFEC 152 Form was filed 4 days late on August 25, 2020. The stated form was due on August 21, 2020.
Campaign Advertisements
- SFC&GCC Sec. 1.161(a)(3) states, “Any disclaimer required by the Political Reform Act and by this section on a mass mailing, door hanger, flyer, poster, oversized campaign button or bumper sticker, or print advertisement shall be printed in at least 14‑point, bold font.”
Of the 12 written campaign advertisements published by the Committee, one advertisement had a disclaimer in 12-point, regular font, which did not meet the minimum font requirement.
Conclusion
Except as indicated in the Audit Findings section above, and in our opinion, the Committee substantially complied with the requirements of the Political Reform Act Sec. 81000 et seq. and supporting regulations, and the San Francisco Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance Sec. 1.100 et seq. and supporting regulations.
Auditee Response
Audit Respondent did not provide a response to the audit findings.