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BLA audit finds Ethics Commission understaffed and slow on audits and investigations; Commission pledges fixes
Summary
The Budget & Legislative Analyst's performance audit found the Ethics Commission had persistent vacancies, long audit and investigation timelines, and no completed lobbyist audits; Executive Director Leanne Pelham accepted the recommendations and said she will hire staff, post an audit manager and pursue process improvements.
The committee reviewed the Budget & Legislative Analyst (BLA) Officeperformance audit of the Ethics Commission on Nov. 19. The BLA identified five key findings: lack of performance and risk-assessment tools (including a historically missing annual report), persistent vacancies (average ~19% over four years), untimely discretionary campaign audits, slow investigations (averaging more than two years), and inadequate whistleblower-retaliation timelines (averaging more than 2.5 years). The audit also found the Ethics Commission had not executed a lobbyist audit as required.
BLA staff recommended that the Ethics Commission produce consistent annual reporting, assess training needs and target trainings by risk, fill vacancies (including hiring an audit manager), reduce discretionary-audit timelines, establish a lobbyist-audit program, improve investigation timeliness through training and expanded fixed-penalty enforcement, and enhance whistleblower-retaliation training and reporting.
Executive Director Leanne Pelham told the committee she "embraces" the BLA recommendations, that the commission issued its first annual report in September 2020, and that the FY2021 budget provides funding to post and fill five positions, including an audit manager and investigators. Pelham said the commission will post job descriptions in the coming weeks, expand administrative-resolution pathways for routine matters, improve performance monitoring and prioritize lobbyist audits and investigator training.
Supervisors pressed staff on whether some whistleblower retaliation investigations might better sit in other offices (DHR or the controller's whistleblower program); the BLA said jurisdictions vary and recommended improving training and processes first rather than immediate jurisdictional transfer. The committee had no public callers on the item and voted to file the audit; members praised the Commission's commitment to implement the recommendations.
