Mr. John St. Croix
Ethics Commission
30 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 3900
San Francisco, CA 94102

September 29, 2006

Dear Mr. St. Croix:

We are writing because we believe that serious violations of San Francisco’s campaign laws are occurring in District 6. These violations include failure to properly report tens of thousands of dollars in electioneering communications and independent expenditures. Properly reported, these expenditures would trigger a lifting of the spending cap in that race. We request that you immediately order an investigation and lift the spending cap in District 6.

1) District voters received a mailer sent by the independent expenditure political action committee Golden Gate Restaurant Association at a cost of $17,984.70. The mailer advocated Rob Black’s election as District 6 Supervisor.

2) District voters received a mailer sent by the independent expenditure political action committee Building Owners and Managers Association PAC at a cost of $17,701.13. The mailer advocated Rob Black’s election as District 6 Supervisor.

3) SFSOS staff member Ryan Chamberlain handed out to district voters a 22 document titled “The Case Against Chris Daly.” A reasonable estimate of the design, writing, printing, and research time for the document is $7,500.

4) “Dump Daly” window signs were printed and distributed

5) A website, www.DumpDaly.org, went live on August 15th.

6) A poll was conducted on the viability of Chris Daly’s candidacy in late July included 27 questions. Estimates by pollsters put the cost at least at $15,000.

7) Over the past year, SFSOS staff member Ryan Chamberlain has spent at least half, if not three-quarters of his paid staff time organizing against Chris Daly’s candidacy. He has organized house parties to raise money for the effort, sent out negative emails, distributed of window signs, and organized a luncheon featuring candidate Rob Black. Assuming his salary is $60,000, the value of his efforts would be at least $30,000.

8) 8) A door-hanger printed by SFSOS was hung on Sept 24th. Whether this was a paid canvas, walked by Dump Daly volunteers or distributed by the Rob Black campaign, at least the cost of printing should be reported to the ethics commission.

9) District voters received three different fliers from a group calling itself “Concerned Residents of District 6” which advocated against Chris Daly’s reelection. Assuming a cost of $17,000 per mailer, the total cost of these efforts is estimated at $51,000.

We believe the cost of all of these electioneering efforts, if reported in compliance with the Campaign and Government Code as cited above, would show that the aggregate amount spent on electioneering communications and by independent expenditure committees to oppose Chris Daly’s reelection would exceed 100% of the applicable expenditure ceiling, thus triggering the lifting of that limit for all candidates in the race. Section 1.134 (a) reads:

If a person or persons make expenditures or payments, or incur expenses for the purpose of making independent expenditures, electioneering communications or member communications in support of or in opposition to a candidate that total more than 100 percent of the applicable expenditure ceiling, the applicable expenditure limit shall no longer be binding on any candidate seeking election to the same City elective office.

We respectfully request that the Ethics Commission call for an immediate investigation into unreported electioneering communications in District 6, and call for an emergency meeting of the Commission to direct the Executive Director to lift the expenditure limit in the race for District 6 Supervisor. Waiting for the outcome of the investigation while unaccountable groups continue to violate ethics laws will cause irreparable harm to District 6 candidates who have played by the rules.

Maria Guillen
Vice-President
SEIU Local 790

Debra Walker
District 6 Resident

Jim Meko
District 6 Resident