Ethics Commission approves penalty in coordination case involving Labor and Working Families Slate and consultant Daniel Anderson

The San Francisco Ethics Commission on a unanimous 4-0 vote approved a stipulation, decision and order finding that the Labor and Working Families Slate and their consultant, Daniel Anderson, coordinated spending with staff of Supervisor Dean Preston's campaign and that part of the resulting flyer distribution should have been treated as a contribution rather than an independent expenditure.

The finding came after staff explained that text messages between Daniel Anderson and a Preston campaign staff member showed agreement on timing, location and mode of dissemination for printed event materials. "If an independent expenditure funds a communication that benefits a candidate, and it was coordinated with that candidate, then the expenditure is not independent,…