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Ethics Commission presses staff to narrow library conflict rules after public concerns
Summary
The commission discussed proposed changes to the San Francisco Public Library SIA; library staff asked for the SIA as drafted, but public commenters and commissioners urged narrower language to preserve conflict restrictions and oversight. Staff will return with revised text.
The San Francisco Ethics Commission debated proposed amendments to the San Francisco Public Library’s SIA (incompatible activities statement) on Jan. 23, with library staff urging approval and public commenters and several commissioners pushing for more narrowly tailored language.
Donna Marion, human resources director for the San Francisco Public Library, told commissioners the library ‘‘would like the SIA approved as is’’ and said the department already has collection, exhibit and acquisition policies that staff believe address potential conflicts.
Public commenters urged the commission to retain substantive prohibitions. One urged the commission to ‘‘stop the corporate rate for the public library’’ and not accept funds from the Friends/Foundation, and warned broad exemptions could remove oversight that prevents conflicts involving vendors, digitization projects and exhibitions. Ray Hartz, an open‑government advocate, cited his finding of a Sunshine violation against the city librarian and said the Friends have provided roughly $65,000 a year to the librarian for discretionary use.
Commissioners probed the difference between department policies and commission regulations and asked whether a waiver process could address concerns. Deputy City Attorney Andrew Shen explained that the SIA provisions are broader than other conflict laws (for example, the Political Reform Act) because they can apply even when an employee is not on a decision‑making chain and rely on advance written determination rather than recusal.
Several commissioners said the author exemption seemed the most commonly recurring issue and suggested narrowing deletions to preserve other prohibitions. Staff and Donna Marion agreed to take that approach: retain certain restrictive categories (sales representative, purchaser, publicist) for employees, narrow the exemptions and return with revised language.
What’s next: Staff will meet again with library staff and return to the commission with new, more narrowly tailored SIA language that clarifies which provisions apply to commissioners versus employees.
