Commission tables stipulation for Human Rights commissioner Mark Kelleher amid questions about training lapses and penalties

The San Francisco Ethics Commission on April 11 tabled consideration of a proposed stipulation with Human Rights Commissioner Mark Kelleher after commissioners and members of the public questioned the enforcement timeline and the size of the proposed penalty.

Senior Investigator Eric Willett told the commission that Kelleher failed to complete annual ethics and sunshine training for 2022, 2023 and 2024 despite pre-filing notices and non-filer notices sent to the email address on record. Willett said those missed trainings disqualified Kelleher from participating in matters before his commission; staff’s summary said Kelleher nonetheless attended at least 24 Human Rights Commission meetings while disqualified and participated in actions approving grants totaling approximately $1,780,000.

The proposed settlement resolves two counts and carried a $2,500 aggregate financial penalty. Commissioners pressed enforcement staff on why the matter had not been pursued earlier; Director BC Matthews and Executive Director Pat Ford said the commission’s engagement-and-compliance system issues notices and enforcement typically prioritizes repeat or patterned non‑filing before initiating enforcement matters.

Several commissioners said the penalty appeared small in light of the length of noncompliance and the number of meetings attended. During public comment, attorney Jim Sutton said he had recently received calls from multiple volunteer commissioners who received similar stipulations and argued fines are “heavy handed” for volunteers who inadvertently miss a training notice. Other public commenters urged the commission to hold staff accountable for timely outreach and to consider the burden on volunteer commissioners.

After discussion the commission voted to table the proposed stipulation. The roll call shows Chair Flores Fang voted aye, Commissioner Tsai voted no, Commissioner Francois voted aye and Commissioner Yeh voted aye; the motion to table passed with three votes in the affirmative and one opposed.

Staff told commissioners the respondent acknowledged responsibility and corrected the filing defects; the draft stipulation and staff materials state there were no claims that the respondent did not receive the notices. Commissioners asked staff to revisit penalty recommendations and said enforcement might renegotiate with the respondent before the matter returns to the commission.

The item was tabled; no penalty was adopted at the April 11 meeting.