Supervisors alarmed as mayor's budget proposes deep cuts to Ethics Commission

Gayathri Thakendil, acting executive director of the San Francisco Ethics Commission, told the Budget & Appropriation Committee the Mayor's proposed budget would cut the commission's operating budget by about 32% and reduce staffing by roughly 40% in FY25, primarily by not renewing limited-term positions that had expanded the office's compliance, education and enforcement capacity.

Thakendil said the expiring positions include jobs that support the campaign finance program's filing and compliance functions, an IS engineer that maintains online disclosure tools, and investigators and trainers. She warned that losing the positions would hamstring the commission's ability to assist candidates and committees, produce enforcement analytics and provide the public and press with accessible finance visualizations ahead of the 2024 elections.

Supervisors pressed the Mayor's budget director, Anna Dunning, who said many recent commission programs began as limited-term efforts. Dunning said the mayor's team extended two critical positions and expects to work with the newly hired commission director to define which programs merit permanent funding next year. Several supervisors called the proposed reductions an unacceptable rollback of oversight the city has been rebuilding after past scandals and vowed not to accept gutting the office without further review.

The committee deferred budget decisions for follow-up. Thakendil asked the board to convert key limited-term positions to ongoing funding to avoid attrition and service disruption; the Mayor's Office said it will review which programs should be part of the baseline.