Ethics commission delays vote on public financing changes after broad public objections

The San Francisco Ethics Commission on Jan. 14 heard hours of public comment and debate on proposed changes to the city's public financing program and voted to defer final action to its February meeting.

Advocates and campaign practitioners told commissioners the staff's draft would weaken spending limits that help small-dollar, publically financed campaigns. "The staff proposal is a meat cleaver that would undermine the law," said Steven Hill, a co-author of Proposition O, arguing that removing ceilings when independent expenditures rise would eliminate meaningful limits and spur larger outside spending. John Gollinger, a longtime campaign finance advocate, urged the commission to pursue narrower fixes such as raising the increment at which staff raises caps and to…