[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6702056,"mediaKeyId","2249776-b1d99f7353f35c608c7b189f0720e1f8","parentId",2249776,"title","Ethics director outlines 15% cut scenario and alternative budget requests; Clerk of the Board urges retention of Form 126 system","audioSeconds",1951,"startMs",1131345,"endMs",3082650,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2249776-b1d99f7353f35c608c7b189f0720e1f8&start=1131&end=3082","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2249776-b1d99f7353f35c608c7b189f0720e1f8/thumbnail_1131345.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6702056/San-Francisco-City/San-Francisco-County/California/Ethics-director-outlines-15-cut-scenario-and-alternative-budget-requests-Clerk-of-the-Board-urges-retention-of-Form-126-system","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6702056-7d7120de2345edaa2b01bbddd68c9e95/orig.mp4?Expires=1771032177&Signature=cUGE~Dud1fOLOHrQWrebweYXu8JvsMAX4OYafyiVtBjxisvqxqVniba7n6Ba~2Sz8SFPdovWHHSudWVsUtRypATP~f8MbiplQqv~WjPQvQNA1cIuPlIJeiUJu8kcK545npynNPOlLv5zADNutzE~vVuexkBIy1uTZQzGgS3QeE3fZ928xCSeHQqoHv~HZbJzP4Lfl5BgZfWCARfWGB35wEOCBzeQ4MYHBrobocVzdumvfStLBHSlIG5vkmA0FBQjjzmvgRG2Ipvs41x~KNn4D1nkY~pUU37zXs4mxaskYPVhd4oMgOYHjFKovK1iHQ4vNtlrp5JoAVvBKZ1URX8lbQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","City of San Francisco","date","2025-02-07T00:00:00Z","article","Director Aaron Ford (identified in the meeting as Director Ford) presented the San Francisco Ethics Commission’s second required public hearing on its proposed budget for fiscal years 2025–26 and 2026–27, including a 15% cut scenario and an alternative request to keep staffing and services intact.

“City law requires each department to have 2 public hearings on its budget each year,” Director Ford said as he opened the presentation and a slide deck. He told commissioners the commission’s operating budget is roughly 87% salaries and benefits and described two budget pathways: (1) a required 15% cut scenario that would reduce the commission’s funded positions from 29 to 25 (four positions) and (2) an alternative request to the mayor’s office to retain staffing and reclassify certain jobs to better align skills and pay.

Ford detailed the 15% cut plan would prioritize keeping core public-facing advice and intake services but would likely eliminate or scale back programs such as the campaign consultants registration and the major developer disclosure program. He told commissioners the cuts would likely come from one vacant Senior Program Administrator position plus three filled positions the director identified as candidates for reduction: a training design specialist, a personnel clerk, and a policy research specialist.

Ford said staff had identified some non‑personnel savings and found partial relief by allocating allowable administration costs of the public financing program to the Election Campaign Fund (up to 15% of that fund is available for program administration), reducing the net impact on staffing but not eliminating it.

Financial details presented by technology staff Stephen Massey included estimated licensing needs for the form 700/NetFile system and related software. Massey reported the NetFile/form 700 licensing currently funded by a COIT project will need new funding: “we're estimating roughly about $10,000 or so in the first year… the following year… that's around the time when the NetFile contract will also need to be renewed… we're currently estimating about $65,000.” He added other office software licensing increases were roughly $12,000 in year one and about $9,000 in year two (estimates provided in the hearing).

Public comment: Edward Diasas, deputy director of administration and finance for the Office of the Clerk of the Board, submitted and read a letter on behalf of Clerk Angela Calvillo. Diasas urged the commission to continue maintaining the Form 126 and DocuSign workflow used by the board and mayor’s office, arguing the system holds department-submitted contract and vendor data and that transferring maintenance would shift costs and workload elsewhere. “That alone is the reason why the system needs to be maintained by the ethics commission,” Diasas told the commission and noted that shifting the system could require additional DT staff and create no net general‑fund savings.

Director Ford said he had already reached out to the Clerk of the Board and the mayor’s office to give advance notice about the potential loss of the custom workflow under a 15% cut and that staff had held productive conversations with the mayor’s budget team and planned follow-up with the Department of Technology.

Request to the mayor: Ford described an alternative budget request the commission will submit seeking to reclassify several positions (including converting a training design specialist to a Senior Program Administrator and reclassifying enforcement and IS positions to reflect specialized duties) and to secure funding for NetFile licensing and certain software maintenance. He said the alternative would keep the commission’s budget roughly flat in year one and increase it slightly in year two if approved.

Outcome: This agenda item was a presentation and public hearing; no formal vote on a budget was taken. Director Ford will finalize and submit the 15% cut scenario to the city’s financial system as required and will also submit a budget memo presenting the alternative requests to the mayor’s office for negotiation.

Ending: Commissioners thanked staff for the analysis and noted the process will continue through the mayor’s proposed budget and the Board of Supervisors’ review.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","City of San Francisco - Video Open Video Only in Windows Media Player - Feb 07, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Ethics Commission staff presented a required second public hearing on the proposed fiscal plan, describing a 15% cut scenario that would reduce four positions and identifying alternative requests to the mayor to avoid staff reductions; the Clerk of the Board urged the commission to continue maintaining the Form 126/DocuSign workflow.","taxTitle","San Francisco City, San Francisco County, California","taxId",5751,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6702061,"Ethics staff find coordinated spending with consultant led to excess contribution in Preston-related flyers",775,308109,1083265,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2249776-b1d99f7353f35c608c7b189f0720e1f8&start=308&end=1083","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2249776-b1d99f7353f35c608c7b189f0720e1f8/thumbnail_308109.jpg","/articles/6702061/San-Francisco-City/San-Francisco-County/California/Ethics-staff-find-coordinated-spending-with-consultant-led-to-excess-contribution-in-Preston-related-flyers","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6702061-2a090c5c82933831ef0dbeabf166ab06/orig.mp4?Expires=1771032177&Signature=hE96DRwWzUVQvHOEllKrGCDYfGHxldInklfpYleaLH0emTWpcE7IjJG4yo4soxO5t7s3bt~LNfC03XTI~cw5L~JfBC1qwjJT7vE--qr205g6W~0F6NxpKcylmNh33n-OOGjwy9K4d1nvYxS0ZJdxori41OFJENnJJQsNiWUVES75GJ0KMMdZTTRozbewipOh2E4FLPTk9nx2-e5ZTfmPhn7vVEzc-UdILvmpEhhEnfEzidluSnMTaNyeUMr1fY8bwO12reGuRchNPSFaRhOEax5eikntuEpU6fIb34~qx1NPtyUmS8RQ9ea9-EidgYcvhymy65P2~B39OWgI0-95Rw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","San Francisco Ethics Commission staff recommended a stipulated decision finding coordinated spending by the Labor and Working Families Slate and consultant Daniel Anderson created an impermissible contribution benefiting Supervisor Dean Preston’s campaign, and the commission voted 4-0 to adopt the recommendation.

The commission’s enforcement counsel, Mr. D'Amico, summarized the case for the commission and members of the public. “This case involves respondents' Labor and Working Families Slate, which is a general purpose committee, and their consultant, Daniel Anderson,” D'Amico said, laying out staff’s view that text messages and other communications showed the consultant had coordinated timing, location and mode of dissemination with campaign staff.

Commission staff told commissioners the committee paid $6,968 for flyers used at a campaign event. Half the printing included lists of county central committee candidates; the other half said only a single message opposing Bilal Mahmood. Staff traced the portion targeted to Assembly District 19 to the Preston supervisor race and concluded that $2,613 of the spending benefitted Preston after coordination. D'Amico said the local contribution limit was $500, leaving $2,113 over the limit; staff added a 15% reporting penalty ($400) for a total recommended penalty of $2,513.

Why it matters: The enforcement memo emphasized the legal distinction between an independent expenditure and a contribution when communications benefitting a candidate are coordinated. D'Amico said, “if an independent expenditure funds a communication that benefits a candidate, and it was coordinated with that candidate, then the expenditure is not independent, and it should have been considered a contribution.”

During follow-up, commissioners asked staff whether the Preston campaign itself had known of or participated in the communications’ substantive content. Audit Manager Eamon (former investigator) told the panel the consultant “was aware of the coordination line generally” and that the key issue here was that staff found no evidence the campaign had input on the substance; that lack of evidence informed staff’s decision to bring the case only against the committee and its consultant rather than the candidate’s campaign. Eamon said the respondents did not assert statutory confusion to staff during the investigation.

Public comment: No members of the public spoke on the item during the meeting.

Outcome and next steps: Commissioner chair Tice Finlow moved to adopt staff’s recommendation; the motion was seconded and approved 4-0. The commission’s action adopts the stipulation, decision and order as presented by staff. The commission record will reflect the stipulated resolution and the associated penalty.

Ending: The commission closed the enforcement matter and proceeded to other agenda items, including a separate public hearing on the commission’s budget.","San Francisco Ethics Commission staff recommended and the commission unanimously approved a stipulated decision finding that coordinated communications produced flyers that created an excessive contribution to Supervisor Dean Preston’s campaign; respondents agreed to penalties covering the misreported spending.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6702051,"At-a-glance: Ethics Commission votes — consent calendar, enforcement stipulation, and officer elections",3847,280610,4127925,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2249776-b1d99f7353f35c608c7b189f0720e1f8&start=280&end=4127","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2249776-b1d99f7353f35c608c7b189f0720e1f8/thumbnail_280610.jpg","/articles/6702051/San-Francisco-City/San-Francisco-County/California/At-a-glance-Ethics-Commission-votes-consent-calendar-enforcement-stipulation-and-officer-elections","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6702051-1745355dbacb5b6f365181549f984beb/orig.mp4?Expires=1771032177&Signature=Z6FERxlEf0KQmqchmXlJEZVULTs1vjNzPODfeS5I0l9b5kT6jKnUje4HBnHiTrax7ZhtlvjBjm4ZyM-UWTeZqqXrNMKUz0lU-QhtCEk9JaDabbbM00ZnsG81Oj1AVooxnMZCU17uqMfZWNRs2mBXP9UB-H0RA26ARDTJMtOTm~dVGT8tpR-BqMEIPs3piCCeNZE7rknNbfss6oTjtqWSb03d3CuDjVcoDAvBnGZqYZyQ1SNFH8K-DMdtuZBj6v65uGPvBmGANeaHRWkMR7zwH7zdMTsYkzC4jsdm9IdqeH9p-gf3MZAHUcy5qoUl7L1XLySaKigtujCzCFvdTthB1A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","At its February meeting the San Francisco Ethics Commission recorded several formal votes: the consent calendar was adopted unanimously; the commission adopted staff's stipulation, decision and order in an enforcement matter related to the Labor and Working Families Slate and consultant Daniel Anderson; and commissioners elected new leadership for the coming year.

Consent calendar: A motion to adopt the consent calendar was made and seconded. The clerk called the roll and recorded votes of “Aye” by Chair Tice Finlow, Commissioner Flores Fang, Commissioner Salahi and Commissioner Sy. The clerk announced the motion approved unanimously 4-0 with a quorum present.

Enforcement stipulation: Later in the meeting the commission voted 4-0 to adopt staff’s recommendation on item number 7 (the Labor and Working Families Slate / Daniel Anderson stipulation). The vote record shows Chair Finlow and all three commissioners present voting in the affirmative.

Officer elections: The commission elected Commissioner Flores Fang to serve as chair for a one‑year term beginning March 1, 2025. The roll call vote was 4-0 in favor. The commission then elected Commissioner Salahi as vice chair for the same one‑year term beginning March 1, 2025; that vote was also 4-0.

All recorded votes and the clerk’s roll calls are part of the meeting record.","The San Francisco Ethics Commission adopted the consent calendar, approved a stipulated enforcement decision in the Labor and Working Families Slate matter, and elected officers for the coming year; all recorded votes were unanimous.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Ethics director outlines 15% cut scenario and alternative budget requests; Clerk of the Board urges retention of Form 126 system

Ethics staff find coordinated spending with consultant led to excess contribution in Preston-related flyers

At-a-glance: Ethics Commission votes — consent calendar, enforcement stipulation, and officer elections