Ethics Commission holds closed session on executive director appointment, votes 4-0 not to disclose

The San Francisco Ethics Commission met in a special session on May 23 to consider whether to go into closed session to discuss the public employee appointment of an executive director and later voted 4-0 not to disclose the closed-session discussions.

Chair Lee opened the special meeting and outlined the process for agenda item 3: receive public comment on whether to meet in closed session; vote on whether to go into closed session under California Government Code section 54957(b)(1) and applicable city administrative rules; conduct the closed session; and then vote on whether to disclose any actions or deliberations from that closed session. Deputy City Attorney Rossy was present during the procedural explanation.

The clerk explained public-comment procedures at the meeting'including that speakers have three minutes per item, in-person comments could be made in Room 416 of City Hall, remote callers could join by phone at +1 (415) 655-0001 with access code 25971123412 or via the WebEx link on the agenda, and that written comments submitted to the commission email on the agenda would be included in the official meeting file. The transcript shows one brief in-person comment during general public comment praising the value of ethics work; no remote callers were in the queue for the closed-session item.

A motion to go into closed session was made and seconded; the commission conducted a roll-call vote and moved into closed session. When the commission returned to open session it took a second motion to withhold disclosure of the closed-session discussions. The commission voted unanimously, with four affirmative votes, not to disclose the closed-session actions or deliberations. The meeting then moved on to housekeeping items and adjourned.

The meeting record shows Commissioners who participated in roll-call votes during the session as Commissioner Flores Vane, Commissioner Finlave, Chair Lee, and Commissioner Salahi; the transcript does not identify the mover and seconder by name for either motion in the provided record. The closed session itself occurred while the public audio/visual feed was paused, and the commission did not disclose its contents when it reconvened.