Ethics staff report: two supervisors'race candidates qualified for public financing in 2014, receiving about $195,000 combined

Shaista Shaikh, Assistant Deputy Director for the Ethics Commission, presented the staff'prepared public financing report for the 2014 supervisorial races at the Feb. 23 meeting. The report covered the five even-numbered supervisorial districts on the November ballot. Shaikh said 17 candidates ran in those contests; eight expressed interest in public funds but only two qualified under the program's criteria and applied for public financing. Those two candidates, both from District 10, received a combined total of approximately $195,000.

Shaikh explained that the public-financing program has been amended several times since its adoption in 2002 (changes to qualification thresholds, deadlines and matching formulas), which makes it difficult to draw straightforward historical patterns from year to year. She described the supervisorial qualifying threshold for a non-incumbent candidate as raising at least $10,000 in qualifying contributions from at least 100 city residents in amounts between $10 and $100, plus meeting other filing and eligibility requirements.

Commissioners asked for context about why more candidates did not qualify; Shaikh reiterated that many potential applicants did not meet the qualifying threshold. Commissioners noted the relatively large sums public-financed candidates can receive and asked staff to clarify the program's operation and outreach in future meetings. There was no formal commission vote on the report; commissioners thanked staff for the thorough analysis and asked staff to be prepared to answer follow-ups at future meetings.