San Francisco  The Government Audit and Oversight Committee on Oct. 16 advanced a resolution renewing behested-payment waivers that allow city officials to solicit donations to support legal and other services in five policy areas, and separately forwarded a duplicate file limited to the Assessor-Recorders office with no recommendation.

The original resolution authorizes the mayor, the city attorney, the city administrator, the head of each division, office and department under supervision of the city administrator, the assessor-recorder and designated staff in those offices to solicit donations from private, nonprofit, philanthropic and other entities to support legal services and related goods and services for: (1) immigration-related legal services; (2) communities defending and supporting LGBTQ rights; (3) defending and supporting reproductive rights; (4) defending and promoting environmental protection; and (5) racial equity initiatives. The resolution language notes the solicitations are "notwithstanding the behested payment ordinance." President Rafael Mandelman said the original waiver had been approved in February and expired in August.

Presenters and witnesses described both need and risk. Deputy City Attorney Brad Russi told the committee the City Attorney's Office has been party to roughly 10 lawsuits against the federal administration and has sought philanthropic and pro bono assistance; he said the city attorneys office expects to receive about $850,000 in grants from philanthropic foundations and has coordinated with third parties such as the Public Rights Project. Jorge Rivas, representing the City Administrators Office (OSEA), told the committee his office has not yet raised resources under the waiver but has established relationships with several foundations, including the Haas Jr. Fund and the San Francisco Foundation, and is preparing solicitations. Holly Lung of the Assessor-Recorders Office said her office has engaged philanthropic entities under the existing waiver while observing defined ethical boundaries; she stressed the definition of "interested parties" in the behested-payment rules is broad and said that complexity creates a risk of inadvertent conflicts.

Chair Jackie Fielder said she wanted to consider the Assessor-Recorder's waiver separately and the committee duplicated the file so it could vote on the assessor-specific waiver apart from the others. The meeting record shows a number of procedural votes, rescinds and roll calls while committee members and the deputy city attorney discussed the correct order for taking public comment. The clerk called for public comment at the appropriate point and recorded none.

The committee ultimately voted to forward the original file to the full Board of Supervisors with a positive recommendation. Separately, the duplicate file limited to the Assessor-Recorder was forwarded to the board with no recommendation. Both committee votes were recorded as two ayes with one member excused.

Why it matters: Behested-payment waivers temporarily suspend or clarify restrictions that would otherwise limit solicitations from parties with potential interests before the city. Supporters argued the waivers let city offices fill urgent legal and service gaps amid budget strain; critics and questions raised at the hearing focused on the breadth of the "interested party" definition and public-trust risks.

Next steps: Both files will go to the full Board of Supervisors for further consideration. The committee record contains analyst and departmental statements and the amendments that were circulated.