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Sunshine Task Force members and residents press Ethics Commission to schedule hearings on referrals
Summary
Public commenters, including Sunshine Ordinance Task Force members and whistleblowers, urged the San Francisco Ethics Commission to hold public hearings on referrals they say have been dismissed without hearings; the commission said it will meet with the task force to address the concerns.
Public commenters at the San Francisco Ethics Commission’s Jan. 23 meeting accused the commission of routinely dismissing Sunshine Ordinance Task Force referrals without public hearings and asked commissioners to take action.
Patrick Monet Shaw told the commission his case (referral 11 O1311O14) has not been scheduled for a hearing after five months and asked when the commission would place it on the agenda or recuse Executive Director John Saint Croix. “You have not yet scheduled a public hearing on my item, and it should not take you five months,” Shaw said.
The crowd of speakers included members and allies of the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force. Dr. Allison Washburn, chair of the task force’s Compliance and Amendments Committee, asked for a joint meeting with the Ethics Commission to discuss proposed regulations for handling sunshine enforcement cases and said she had sent a Jan. 6 letter requesting such a meeting.
Other commenters described a broader pattern. One speaker said that between 2004 and February 2011 the commission rejected 26 public‑record enforcement cases sent by the task force and handled dismissals without commissioner participation. “No hearing. No vote. Case closed,” the speaker said, accusing the executive director of managing the process from start to finish and denying complainants due process.
Former Laguna Honda staffers and whistleblowers pressed similar complaints. Dr. Derek Kerr said the commission’s record on whistleblower retaliation and sunshine complaints was troubling: “If experts say retaliation occurs in 90 percent of the cases, why do you report a retaliation rate of 0?” he asked.
Peter Warfield of the Library Users Association and Ray Hartz, an open‑government advocate, urged more transparency and public hearings for referrals from the task force. Hartz said the commission’s failures are documented in a recent civil grand jury report and criticized the library’s relationship with the Friends/Foundation, noting the city librarian reportedly receives substantial discretionary funding from that group.
Chair Herr thanked the public for their comments and told speakers the commission intends to meet with the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force. “We certainly will look into it,” Herr said, committing to follow up and to coordinate a joint meeting.
The commission did not take formal enforcement action during the Jan. 23 meeting on any specific Sunshine Task Force referral. Instead, commissioners and staff agreed to pursue a joint meeting with the task force to discuss regulations and next steps.
What’s next: The executive director said staff will work to schedule a joint meeting with the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force in February and will canvass commissioner and task force availability.
