Ethics Commission directs DHR to solicit RFPs for national executive search

The San Francisco Ethics Commission voted Oct. 14 to ask the Department of Human Resources to issue requests for proposals to the city’s five prequalified executive search firms and to include the prior executive director job description, with amendments from the chair, in the RFP materials.

Chair Lee opened discussion of the recruitment process for a replacement executive director and said the commission intended a “transparent, open, [and] inclusive” search. Kate Howard, managing deputy director at the city’s Department of Human Resources, told commissioners that commissions may work with a recruitment firm or rely on DHR staff and that firms typically propose a 16‑week timeline and protect candidate confidentiality. “If you were to decide to work with a recruitment firm, DHR has a prequalified pool of executive recruitment firms,” Howard said, adding the city has five firms currently available.

Commissioners debated whether to prepare a job profile and some materials in parallel with a firm solicitation to shorten the process and whether to run a national search. Several commissioners urged broad outreach and stakeholder engagement; Commissioner Bush recommended soliciting views from other state ethics agencies and past commissioners. Deputy City Attorney Brad Russi advised that discussions of qualifications and the recruitment process must occur in open session, while review of resumes and candidate interviews may occur in closed session to protect confidentiality.

After discussion, Commissioner Finlaf moved that DHR solicit RFPs to the approved executive search firms and include language from the prior job description, allowing the chair to amend that language. The motion, seconded, passed on a roll call vote recorded Oct. 14 as four votes in the affirmative and zero opposed. Chair Lee said the commission’s goal is to have RFPs issued as soon as practical and to obtain responses in time to review them at the next commission meeting if possible.

The commission also discussed interim leadership options and whether to convene a subcommittee to carry out outreach and draft an updated job description. Commissioners agreed that the subcommittee’s meetings and the recruitment process must be noticed and public, and that any staff or commissioner interested in applying should recuse from the process.

Next steps: DHR will be asked to issue the RFPs to the prequalified firms and return responses for commission review at a subsequent meeting; commissioners said they will also conduct their own outreach to potential candidates and stakeholders.