Ethics Commission adopts implementing regulations for ACAO, clarifies affiliate and disclosure rules

The San Francisco Ethics Commission voted unanimously to adopt a consolidated set of regulatory amendments to implement provisions of the Anti-Corruption and Accountability Ordinance (ACAO) and to update campaign and governmental conduct rules.

Staff presented several technical and substantive changes designed to conform regulation text to the new ordinance and to create operational practices for disclosure and enforcement. Key edits include replacing the prior phrase "10% shareholder" with "greater than 10% owner" to match the ACAO’s scope and correcting a nomination-deadline clause so the regulation aligns with California Elections Code references. Pat Ford explained that staff would create distinct, structured electronic forms for three new disclosure obligations — behested payments, bundler disclosures and corporate donor details — and that those forms would be implemented initially through a DocuSign workflow and posted to the City’s open‑data portal for public searchability.

Staff also recommended, and commissioners adopted, a limited safe-harbor for behested-payment disclosure: if a committee receives a contribution without being informed by the contributor that the gift was made at an elected official’s behest, the committee will not be held liable for nondisclosure; the Commission said this preserves statutory intent while still allowing enforcement against contributors who fail to provide statutorily required notice. The staff position to retain sponsored or controlled committees in the affiliate definition (to prevent circumvention of contractor bans) was explained and defended in committee discussion; some public commenters and outside counsel urged deletion, arguing the ACAO’s text excluded sponsored committees, but staff and Deputy City Attorney Shen disagreed and maintained the proposed regulatory language better effectuates the ban’s purpose.

Multiple public commenters (including campaign-law practitioners and nonprofit advocates) urged integration of the new reporting elements into the public-facing NetFile system or, at minimum, a searchable public dataset. Staff said initial forms will be built in DocuSign, integrated with the Commission’s open-data pipeline (DataSF) to make filings searchable in real time, and that NetFile integration will require additional funding and coordination with that vendor.

Commissioners moved and adopted the regulatory package, incorporating two technical corrections identified by staff (the "greater than 10% owner" change and the nomination-deadline clause punctuation/correction). The Commission transmitted the final rules for the Board’s 60‑day review period; absent Board action, the regulations will proceed into implementation and staff will complete form-creation, outreach, training and electronic posting.