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Ethics Commission requires electronic behested-payment filings, approves financial-disclosure rules and hears enforcement report
Summary
The commission adopted regulations requiring behested-payment reports to be filed electronically and approved financial-disclosure filing procedures; staff reported enforcement metrics and confirmed a court denied an injunction seeking to block public-financing certification.
The San Francisco Ethics Commission voted to codify electronic filing for behested-payment reports and to adopt updated financial-disclosure filing procedures, while staff delivered a monthly enforcement update and described a recent court action involving the city's public-financing program.
On behested payments (reports of solicited contributions on behalf of public officials), staff said the Board of Supervisors had directed the Ethics Commission to require certain board and commission members to file behested-payment reports with the commission, and the regulation before the commissioners codified an electronic-submission requirement. The commission moved, seconded and approved the regulation.
Commissioners also approved a regulation governing financial-disclosure filing procedures (Form 700 process). Public commenters and Commissioners asked staff to produce clearer guidance on when filers should amend Form 700 mid-year to report substantial changes in financial interests; staff said the commission's forthcoming guidance and outreach would address such situations and would coordinate with the FPPC where necessary.
Enforcement staff reported operational statistics: 9 new complaints received, 11 new investigations opened, 23 complaints dismissed over the prior month, and 63 open investigations overall. The preliminary-review backlog has declined from nearly 190 unreviewed complaints down to about 58.
Staff also briefed the commission on recent litigation: papers filed by a mayoral candidate sought to enjoin certification for a public-financing participant. City counsel Andrew Shannon said the judge issued a tentative order denying injunctive relief and adopted the tentative order from the bench at a subsequent hearing. City attorney staff thanked Ethics Commission staff for rapid assistance in supplying materials to the court.
What happens next: staff will roll out e-filing and outreach for behested-payment and Form 700 filers, continue enforcement processing and audits as investigators move cases through preliminary review to investigation or disposition, and monitor any further litigation developments in public-financing matters.
