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Ethics commission approves revised incompatibility rules for San Francisco Public Library
Summary
The San Francisco Ethics Commission approved amendments to the Library’s Statement of Incompatible Activities, keeping two provisions while narrowing language that could have barred staff from some outside work. Library staff said exhibits are a small part of procurement and stressed the focus is on collections and contracting safeguards.
The San Francisco Ethics Commission on Wednesday approved changes to the Statement of Incompatible Activities (SIA) for the San Francisco Public Library, voting to retain two provisions while removing language the library said risked unnecessarily restricting staff activity.
Miss Singh, a commission staff member, told commissioners the draft retains provisions B and C but deletes certain terms that would bar any library employee or the city librarian from serving as a sales representative, purchaser, publicist or a publisher who sells books to the library. "We believe that these amendments will address the concerns raised by the commission at the last meeting," Miss Singh said.
Deputy City Librarian Jill Born told the commission exhibitions are "actually quite a small part of our overall operation" and that the library’s larger procurement is its electronic and physical collections, which are handled through contracts. Born said exhibitions typically go through a contract process and that singling out one organization could chill partnerships with small nonprofits or staff who are artists in their own time.
Commissioners asked for clarification on how exhibition proposals are evaluated; Born described an exhibitions policy adopted by the Library Commission, an exhibitions committee that plans quarterly and a small curatorial team that implements large shows and manages contracts and condition reporting.
Public comment included David Pilpel, who said he supported the revisions and asked that the library’s linked policies be hyperlinked when posted online. Andrea Grimes, a special collections librarian, told the commission staff had contributed substantial input and that the updated SIA would help staff "make decisions and benefit the public who we work for."
A motion to approve the SIA amendments was made and approved by voice vote. The commission did not record a roll‑call tally in the public record.
The commission asked staff to confirm official document titles (for example, adding the word "development" to the collection plan heading where appropriate) before materials are posted online. The measure takes effect as adopted and staff will update the posted packet with corrected typographical and cross‑reference edits.
