Commission demos automated campaign finance dashboards to make filings more accessible

San Francisco Ethics Commission staff demonstrated new and automated campaign finance dashboards designed to help the public, journalists and researchers explore campaign finance data more easily.

Tyler Field, the commission’s senior IS engineer, explained that the dashboards draw on FPPC Form 460 filings and organize committees by contest and candidate, breaking down totals, itemized expenditures and contributor details. He reviewed reporting periods (semiannual deadlines on July 31 and Jan. 31 and additional pre‑election deadlines in September, October and November) and showed interactive features for filtering by contest, seeing contributions by geography, and examining itemized expenses.

Field also demonstrated a newly automated, simplified dashboard mode intended to reduce manual uploads during the busy 90‑day pre‑election period and said staff have added separate dashboards that highlight committees that give money to other committees. When asked about mapping contributions to precinct‑level voter registration data, Field said the idea is interesting but cautioned they must respect state rules that limit publishing individualized addresses.

Chair and commissioners complimented the presentation and asked about analytics and user feedback; Field said the office tracks aggregate download counts and is open to feedback and training for journalists and users.