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(a) If any campaign consultant files an original statement or report after any deadline imposed by this Chapter, the Ethics Commission shall, in addition to any other penalties or remedies established in this Chapter, fine the campaign consultant $50 per day after the deadline until the statement or report is received by the Ethics Commission. If any campaign consultant files an original statement or report after any deadline imposed by this Chapter, when the deadline is fewer than 30 days before or after an election, the Ethics Commission shall, in addition to any other penalties or remedies established in this Chapter, fine the campaign consultant $100 per day after the deadline until the statement or report is received by the Ethics Commission. The Ethics Commission may reduce or waive a fine if the Commission determines that the late filing was not willful and that enforcement will not further the purposes of this Chapter. The Ethics Commission shall deposit funds collected under this Section in the General Fund of the City and County of San Francisco.
(b) Any person who believes that Section 1.510 has been violated may file a complaint with the Ethics Commission. Upon receipt of a complaint, or upon its own initiative, the Commission may investigate allegations of a violation of Section 1.510 and enforce the provisions of Section 1.510 pursuant to the procedures established in San Francisco Charter Section C3.699-13, and the Commission's rules and regulations adopted pursuant to Charter Section 15.102.*
(c) When the Commission, pursuant to the procedures specified in Charter Section C3.699-13, determines on the basis of substantial evidence that a person or entity has violated Section 1.510, the Commission may require the person or entity to: (1) cease and desist the violation; (2) file any reports or statements or pay any fees required by this Chapter, and/or (3) pay a monetary penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation, or three times the amount not properly reported, whichever is greater. The Commission may cancel for up to one year the registration of any campaign consultant who has violated Section 1.510. A campaign consultant whose registration has been canceled pursuant to this Section may not provide campaign consulting services in exchange for economic consideration for the period that the registration is canceled. When the period of cancellation ends, the campaign consultant may reregister pursuant to Section 1.515(a) and (c).
(d) Any person or entity which knowingly or negligently violates or who causes any other person to violate Section 1.510 may be liable in a civil action brought by the City Attorney for an amount up to $5,000 per violation, or three times the amount not properly reported, whichever is greater.
(e) Any person or entity which intentionally or negligently violates Section 1.510 is guilty of a misdemeanor.
(f) No administrative, civil, or criminal action shall be maintained to enforce Section 1.510 unless brought within four years after the date the cause of action accrued or the date that the facts constituting the cause of action were discovered by the Ethics Commission, City Attorney, or District Attorney, whichever is later.
(g) In investigating any alleged violation of Section 1.510, the Ethics Commission and City Attorney shall have the power to inspect, upon reasonable notice, all documents required to be maintained under Section 1.515(i). This power to inspect documents is in addition to other powers conferred on the Ethics Commission and City Attorney by the Charter, or by ordinance, including the power of subpoena.
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000) (Derivation: Former Administrative Code Section 16.545; added by Proposition G, 11/4/97)
Editor's note
*The Ethics Commission's authority to adopt rules and regulations was previously codified as Charter Section 3.699-9. Under Proposition E, adopted by the San Francisco voters on November 7, 1995, Charter Section 3.699-9 was recodified as Charter Section 15.102. Accordingly, references to Section 3.699-9 have been changed to Section 15.102.
At the time of initial registration and reregistration, each campaign consultant must elect whether to voluntarily comply with the following Code of Conduct:
"I am familiar with all the laws, rules and regulations applicable to local campaigns;
"I will not knowingly make false statements about the qualifications or positions of any candidate, or about the scope and effect of any measure;
"I will not knowingly make false statements that any real or fictitious person supports or opposes a candidate or measure;
"In the event that I make inadvertent false statements about the qualifications or positions of any candidate or about the scope and effect of any measure, I will endeavor to provide corrected information in written form to the Ethics Commission within five days;
"I will refrain from appealing to prejudice in the conduct of a campaign, and from conducting, managing or advising a campaign, which appeals to prejudice based on race, gender, ethnic background, religious affiliation or nonaffiliation, sexual orientation, age, disability, or economic status;
"I will refrain from seeking to obtain the support of or opposition to any candidate or measure by the use of financial inducements or by the use of threats or coercion;
"I will refrain from influencing the submission of a measure to the San Francisco voters for the sole purpose of obtaining economic consideration for campaign consulting services;
"I will disclose through a filing at the San Francisco Ethics Commission any agreements that would result in a campaign consulting contract resulting from my efforts to influence the submission of a measure to the San Francisco voters at the time that I seek submission of any such measure;
"I will refrain from seeking to evade, or participating in efforts of others to evade, the legal requirements in laws pertaining to political campaigns;
"I will not knowingly participate in the preparation, dissemination, or broadcast of paid political advertising or campaign materials that contain false information; and
"I will refrain from accepting clients whose interests are adverse to each other."
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000) (Derivation: Former Administrative Code Section 16.546; added by Proposition G, 11/4/97)
If any Section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this Chapter, or the application thereof to any person or entity is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Chapter or its application to other persons, business entities, or organizations. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have adopted this Chapter, and each Section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more Sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions, or the application thereof to any person or entity, to be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000) (Derivation: Former Administrative Code Section 16.547; added by Proposition G, 11/4/97)
(a) ELECTRONIC FILLING REQUIRED. Whenever campaign consultants are required by this Chapter to file an original statement or report, the Ethics Commission may require the consultants to file an electronic copy of the statement or report. The electronic copy shall be due no later than the deadline imposed by this Chapter for filing the original statement or report.
(b) POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE ETHICS COMMISSION.
(i) Pursuant to San Francisco Charter Section 15.102, the Ethics Commission shall adopt regulations specifying the electronic filing requirements applicable to campaign consultants. The Ethics Commission shall adopt these regulations no fewer than 120 days before the electronic filing requirements are effective.
(ii) The Ethics Commission shall prescribe the format for electronic copies of statements and reports no fewer than 90 days before the statements and reports are due to be filed.
(c) PENALTIES. If any campaign consultant files an electronic copy of a statement or report after the deadline imposed by this Section, the Ethics Commission shall, in addition to any other penalties or remedies established in this Chapter, fine the campaign consultant $10 per day after the deadline until the electronic copy is received by the Ethics Commission. The Ethics Commission may reduce or waive a fine if the Commission determines that the late filing was not willful and that enforcement will not further the purposes of this Chapter. The Ethics Commission shall deposit funds collected under this Section in the General Fund of the City and County of San Francisco.
(Added by Ord. 223-00, File No. 000742, App. 9/29/2000)
Lobbying by campaign consultants and employees of campaign consultants is governed by the applicable provisions of Article II, Chapter 1 of this Code, including Section 2.117, which prohibits campaign consultants and employees of campaign consultants from communicating with current and former clients on behalf of another person or entity for the purpose of influencing local legislative or administrative action in exchange for economic consideration.
(Added by Ord. 28-04, File No. 031656, App. 2/20/2004)