Ethics commission orders merits hearing for Charlie Chiam case, will have full commission preside

On Dec. 12, 2025, the San Francisco Ethics Commission accepted staff recommendations to proceed to a merits hearing in the matter involving respondent Charlie Chiam and to have the full commission, rather than a single assigned commissioner, preside over that hearing.

Senior Investigator and legal analyst Bailey Bryant told commissioners the present case "contains a total of 20 violations related to incompatible activities, misuse of city resources, and gifts from restricted sources," and reminded the commission it ratified probable cause on all 20 counts in July. Bryant said staff had attempted outreach to the respondent by email and phone and that conversations stalled when the respondent stopped engaging on settlement offers.

On staffing and notice questions, Bryant and other staff said email service has been used appropriately so long as the respondent has been receiving and responding to email; staff noted the respondent had been contacted repeatedly and that moving forward to a merits hearing was prudent given the stalled settlement discussions.

The commission voted to adopt staff's recommendations (items 4 and 5 in the memo): the full commission will preside at the merits hearing and the enforcement director will prepare a proposed final order and hearing brief for later commission consideration. The motion passed by roll call with four "Aye" votes. The enforcement division said the commission may deliberate on and amend the proposed order after the hearing and that a minimum of three commissioners will be required to adopt a final order.