Board votes to require public calendars and attendee disclosure for elected officials, with exceptions and a new disclosure rule

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted on July 16 to pass on first reading amendments to the Sunshine Ordinance requiring the board and other elected city officials to maintain publicly available calendars of official meetings and to report attendees for meetings of 10 people or fewer.

Supervisor David Campos introduced the ordinance; Supervisor John Avalos was lead sponsor of the amended ordinance. Deputy City Attorney John Gibner summarized the amendment of the whole: calendar-keeping would require naming attendees only for meetings of 10 people or fewer (not counting the official), officials would have three business days to update their calendars with attendee names and organizational affiliations, and the requirements would not apply to events where city business was only incidental, casual unplanned discussions, or campaign events. The amendment also creates a "good faith" compliance standard.

Supervisor Mark Farrell offered an amendment that the calendar must include the names of "employees or representatives of any entity that has received a grant from or entered a contract with any city department within the previous 12 months" when those entities are present at a meeting; that amendment passed without objection.

President London Breed unsuccessfully proposed two amendments: requiring the Department of Technology to certify a calendar management system before supervisors must publish calendars, and prohibiting recording the exact physical location of a meeting (she argued safety concerns). Those motions failed (one for lack of a second, the other rejected). Several supervisors said safety and technology concerns merit follow-up; others argued existing department heads comply with the Sunshine Ordinance and supervisors should be similarly accountable.

The board approved the ordinance as twice amended by roll call, 10-1, with Supervisor Breed recorded as the sole no vote. Under the amendment, officials must make a reasonable effort to obtain attendee names and disclose whether an attendee is a lobbyist, campaign consultant, or the employee/representative of a recent city contractor or grantee. The deputy city attorney said the office will prepare a standard sign-in sheet and suggested that a good-faith effort (for example, circulating such a sheet) would shield officials from technical violations if an attendee does not sign.

Ending Supervisors said they intend to work further on implementation details after first-reading passage. The item will return for a subsequent reading under the city's ordinance process.