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Ethics Commission gets funding for an investigator, delays e‑filing launch and training program
Summary
At its Sept. 11 meeting the Ethics Commission reported a reduced attrition-savings requirement that frees funding to fill an investigator post effective Jan. 1, 2021, while an Ethics-at-Work training initiative was not funded and a full Form 700 e‑filing rollout is now targeted for Jan. 1, 2022.
The San Francisco Ethics Commission received a budget update Sept. 11 that included partial wins and new constraints for staff programs going into fiscal year 2021.
Executive Director Deborah Pelham said the mayor’s budget office agreed to reduce the commission’s attrition-savings rate for FY2021 so the agency can fill a vacant investigator position. "After we met last month ... we were informed by the mayor's budget office that they have agreed to reduce our attrition savings rate for this fiscal year ... so that we can fill that vacant investigator position," Pelham said.
But not all proposals were funded. Pelham told commissioners the proposed "Ethics at Work" training program would not be included in the Oct. 1 budget, and staff must plan for FY2022 to pursue longer-term funding solutions. Commissioner Chu and others described the lack of training funding as "appalling," arguing training is essential to a culture of compliance.
On technology, the commission’s Form 700 e-filing project remains under development. Director Pelham and Acting COO Stephen Massey said the commission will serve as the citywide administrator of the online system while departments administer their own filers. Massey said departments will manage adding and removing their filers because the commission lacks visibility into department HR movements. Staff set a realistic launch target for full implementation and broader filers of Jan. 1, 2022; a subset approach earlier than that was judged infeasible.
Massey noted staffing and implementation will be phased: hiring can begin but funding to pay new staff will be effective Jan. 1, 2021 for the investigator position and for a policy analyst position tied to the project. Commissioners asked staff to report periodically on hiring progress and coordination with DHR.
Pelham also briefed the commission on public financing for the November election: 15 of 22 board candidates were eligible for the public-financing program, representing roughly $2.5 million in matching funds available to qualified participants.
Next steps: staff will proceed with hiring plans, continue e-filing implementation work and return with periodic updates to the commission.
