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(a) Notwithstanding Section 275, when the City Attorney determines that the City Attorney’s office has a possible conflict of interest and that the office should not investigate or prosecute an alleged violation of the Charter, City ordinance or regulation, or statute relating to campaign financing, lobbying, conflicts of interest or governmental ethics, the City Attorney shall notify the City Ethics Commission, which by a four-fifths vote of all of its members may determine to appoint a special prosecutor to conduct the investigation. A special prosecutor shall not be appointed when it appears from a preliminary investigation that an alleged violation will warrant only an action for civil damages or administrative penalties.
(b) The commission’s appointment of a special prosecutor shall be made from a list of special prosecutors approved by the commission at the beginning of each odd-numbered year. The special prosecutor, upon appointment, shall have the authority to file and prosecute criminal and civil actions in the name of the People.
(c) Each fiscal year the budget of the City Ethics Commission shall include the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) for expenditure to support any special prosecutor appointed pursuant to this section. In the event that all of these funds have been or are likely to be expended before the end of any fiscal year, the commission may request an additional appropriation from the Council. Under no circumstance shall the amount appropriated or provided under contract for a special prosecutor exceed five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in any fiscal year without Council approval. The Council shall have 30 days (excluding weekends and holidays) following its receipt to accept, reject, or modify a request for additional funds from the commission. If Council does not act within that time period, the request is deemed approved. The Mayor shall act on the Council’s action or inaction if the request is deemed approved within five days (excluding weekends and holidays). If the Mayor vetoes the Council’s action, the Council shall have five days (excluding weekends and holidays) to override the veto by a two-thirds vote.
(d) A special prosecutor appointed pursuant to this section may be removed from office only by the action of the commission, and only for good cause, physical disability, mental incapacity, or any other condition that substantially impairs the performance of the special prosecutor’s duties.
SECTION HISTORY
Amended by: Subsecs. (a), (b) and (c), Charter Amendment ER, approved November 5, 2024, effective January 8, 2025.
(a) Starting with the 2025-2026 fiscal year budget, the Council shall appropriate a minimum of seven million ($7,000,000) dollars for each fiscal year for the commission’s annual operating budget. The appropriation amount shall be adjusted each fiscal year based on the change to City’s revenues in the prior year. However, adjustment to the commission’s annual budget based on the change to City’s revenues in the prior year is not required if the Council finds that exigent circumstances exist such that an adjustment should not be made for that fiscal year.
(b) The expenditures of the commission shall not require prior approval of City offices or personnel where the expenditures are within the Commission’s budget, unless Council makes a finding of exigent circumstances. The commission shall comply with applicable City requirements, procedures, and laws relating to the expenditures.
(c) The commission is not subject to hiring freezes when it operates within its budget, unless the Council makes a finding of exigent circumstances.
SECTION HISTORY
Amended by: Title and Section, Charter Amendment ER, approved November 5, 2024, effective January 8, 2025.
This Article is adopted pursuant to and under the authority of Article XI, Section 5 of the California Constitution, and California Government Code Section 81013. In the event any provision of this Article conflicts with other provisions of the Charter, this Article shall prevail.