The Government Audit and Oversight Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Feb. 6 to forward a resolution that would temporarily allow the mayor, the city attorney, the city administrator and specified department heads to solicit or coordinate donations intended to cover legal services and related support to protect immigrant communities, LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive rights, environmental protections and racial equity.

The committee voted to amend and recommend the original file to the full Board of Supervisors as a committee report and directed that a duplicated, amended file adding the Assessor-Recorder's Office be continued to the committee's Feb. 20 meeting for public comment. Committee members recorded unanimous aye votes on the motions taken (3 ayes at roll call).

The resolution asks the board to temporarily waive portions of the city's behested payment ordinance so that city officers and certain department heads who file Form 700 may accept or coordinate donations, including pro bono legal services and funding, to respond to federal actions the sponsors said threaten local communities. "This is really an all hands on deck situation and so we're gonna need all the help that we can get to mount this effort," Deputy City Attorney Brad Russi said while describing the request.

Under amendments agreed in committee, any donations arranged or received under the waiver would require reporting: departments receiving funds must report, within 60 days after the end of the waiver period, the identity of any donor, the amount donated and the donor's interested relationship with the receiving department. The committee also agreed to disclosure thresholds that were described on the record: reporting of payments made at the behest of an elected official of $5,000 or more and reporting of payments made by an interested party to an official or an employee's department of $100 or more.

Calvin Ho, legislative aide to Board President Mandelmann and representative for the file sponsor, described the measure as a tool to "bolster our efforts" by allowing coordination with outside law firms, philanthropic foundations and nonprofits. "We need to partner with outside firms, philanthropic foundations and other nonprofits to bolster our efforts," Ho said.

Holly Long of the Assessor-Recorder's Office told the committee the office sought to be included so it could participate in coordinated fundraising for the same categories of legal and related services. Long said past fundraising work by her office during the pandemic demonstrated the office's ability to secure donations during urgent city need and that the office did not intend to "actively solicit from interested parties," but instead sought legal clarity to participate in joint efforts.

Committee members and staff clarified the waiver's scope would cover senior officials in the offices named and the heads of divisions under the city administrator, not every individual who files a Form 700. Deputy City Attorney Russi said the assessor-recorder addition required duplicating the file and would be continued to allow public comment on the amended version. The committee duplicated the file, agreed to the amendments adding the Assessor-Recorder, and voted to continue the duplicated, amended file to the Feb. 20, 2025 GAO meeting.

There was no public comment on the item during the Feb. 6 meeting.

Next steps: the committee forwarded the original, amended resolution to the full Board of Supervisors as a committee report for the board meeting scheduled Feb. 11, 2025; the duplicated file that adds the Assessor-Recorder's Office was continued to the committee's Feb. 20, 2025 meeting for public comment.