After closed session, Ethics Commission asks Supervisor Mark Farrell to respond to forfeiture letter by March 15

The San Francisco Ethics Commission went into closed session at its Feb. 23 meeting to discuss potential litigation involving local committees and Supervisor Mark Farrell. Deputy Director Jesse Menardy announced he would recuse himself from the matter before the closed session. After discussing the matter in closed session, the commission returned to public session and reported that it had voted to request Supervisor Mark Farrell to file a response to a previously served forfeiture letter by March 15.

Commissioner action was formalized with a publicly moved and seconded motion and a roll-call voice vote; the chair announced the motion carried 4'to'0nothing. The commission said it would not disclose the contents of the closed session beyond the public direction to Supervisor Farrell to respond by the March 15 date. The transcript records public commenters urging care about reputational effects and the timeliness of any litigation; members of the public argued that pursuing litigation five years after the events could be unfair to an individual who has been subject to prior FPPC findings.

Because the commission discussed the subject in closed session, the body limited public reporting to the procedural outcome and the filing deadline it set in open session.