Yesterday afternoon, just after Mayor Ed Lee declared his candidacy for mayor, the Ethics Commission cleared Progress for All, the campaign that worked to get Lee into the election, of any illegal wrongdoing.
But right before making that decision, the commission was forced to discuss a Grand Jury report, "San Francisco Ethics Commission: The Sleeping Watchdog."
The Ethics Commission has long been criticized for overlooking what some believe to be illegal activity. And its decision regarding Progress for All's financial activity has become another example of a commission asleep at the wheel, City Hall insiders say.
"The Ethics Commission has clearly earned the Civil Grand Jury's title of sleeping watchdogs," says Aaron Peskin, chair of the local Democratic Party. "They are either complicit or they have their heads buried in the sand."
What's most notable is the fact that the commission completely detoured from executive director John St. Croix's recent decision on the matter. He had recently wrote a letter in response to concerns about the Run, Ed, Run campaign, ruling that anyone who worked on the campaign to draft Lee would not be able to also work on Lee's campaign should he decide to run. He clearly stated that it would be in violation of campaign finance rules that say that separate candidates and campaigns must operate independently of one another.
"Citywide campaign that it managed arguably has had a material effect on
the voters' opinions of Ed Lee as Mayor, particularly given the highly
positive message indicated in many of Progress for All's campaign
materials," St. Croix wrote in his letter. "As such, even though Ed Lee has not
officially entered the race, Progress for All's efforts result in the
promotion of a single candidate in the public arena."
But yesterday, the commission unanimously decided otherwise. Commissioners concluded that since Lee was not a candidate at the time that Run, Ed, Run was in operation, there is no conflict of interest. In other words, not only is the campaign finance activity legal, but those who have worked on Run, Ed, Run can now work for Lee the candidate.
"The juxtaposition of the executive director's statements prior to the hearing and the action of the commission surprised me," says Alex Clemens, a local political consultant whose firm, Barbary Coast, is regulated by the Ethics Commission. "It is unusual in San Francisco for the executive director and commissions to be this far apart on how they view matters that are squarely in the public's interest."
So why would the commission side with Lee's crusade?
"All decisions made by the Ethics Commission are a mystery to me," says Jim Ross, a local political consultant.
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