Ethics Commission urges Board to set threshold for permit-consultant fee disclosures

The San Francisco Ethics Commission voted to recommend that the Board of Supervisors adopt a monetary threshold for disclosure of permit-consultant fees, saying a floor would balance transparency and the competitive concerns raised by small consultants.

The recommendation grew out of public comment from consultants and their attorney who said a drafting error left fee disclosure language in the ordinance the Board had intended to remove. Ryan Patterson, an attorney representing mainly small "mom-and-pop" permit consultants, told commissioners that public, per-client disclosure of modest consulting fees would provide "no public benefit" while allowing large competitors to undercut small firms. "Disclosing the permit consultants generally very small fees to the public provides no public benefit that we can see," he said.

Several permit consultants described their day-to-day work to the commission. Jeremy Paul…