Ethics Commission debates tone and presentation of 2021 annual report draft

The San Francisco Ethics Commission spent substantial time on June 11 reviewing a draft of its annual report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021 and offered a series of edits designed to improve clarity and audience reach.

Chair Ambrose opened discussion by noting the charter requires the chair and executive director to prepare an annual report and urged commissioners to help shape the forward-looking section. Director Pelham said the draft focuses on the past fiscal year and that final numbers and charts will be incorporated before a July meeting.

Commissioners recommended reorganizing the narrative around three themes—improving program impact, heightening awareness of laws, and ensuring service excellence—rather than a long bulleted recitation. Commissioner Chiu proposed a "year-at-a-glance" with charts to make accomplishments more accessible. Commissioner Busch asked that Pelham's recent letter to the mayor and the commission's response to the Budget Legislative Analyst be included, together with counts (for example, number of registered lobbyists, permit expediters and consultants added this year) to convey the scope of the commission's work.

Public input: Dr. Derek Kerr, identifying himself as a whistleblower, called to thank staff for expanded disclosures in the whistleblower protection section and highlighted that the report now explains outcomes of retaliation complaints and training compliance levels. Several public callers also used the annual-report agenda item to raise broader corruption allegations about city contracting and nonprofit relationships; those callers urged stronger enforcement and federal involvement.

Next step: Staff will fold commissioners' edits into a revised draft for the July meeting, add charts and finalize outstanding data points before the commission adopts the report.