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Office of the Assessor-Recorder General Disclosures
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Ticket Distribution Policy
Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to define the conditions under which the Department of the Assessor-Recorder can accept and distribute gifts of tickets or event passes to the Department.
General Rules and Policy
It is the policy of the Department to abide by the San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code and Fair Political Practices Commission Regulations.
A. San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code Section 3.216(b):
https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/san_francisco/latest/sf_campaign/0-0-0-1615
B. San Francisco City Attorney Good Government Guide:
https://www.sfcityattorney.org/good-government/good-government-guide/
C. Fair Political Practices Commission Regulations, Title 2, Division 6, Sections 18944.1 of the California Code of Regulations:
Definitions
Restricted Source
Any person or entity that contracts or is seeking to contract with the department of the officer or employee, or any affiliate of that entity (Affiliates include the entity’s board of directors, principal officers, or persons with a 10% or more ownership interest.) The prohibition is effective until 12 months after the term of the contract ends or, if no contract is approved, until 12 months after negotiations regarding the contract end.
Any person or entity involved in proceedings regarding non-ministerial permits, licenses or other entitlements for use or any affiliate of that entity, as follows:
For permits that go before a department head, board or commission, or the Board of Supervisors, the applicant or holder is a restricted source to all officers and employees in the department from when the applicant starts the proceeding until 12 months after the final decision regarding the permit or license is made.
For all other non-ministerial permits, a person seeking, obtaining, or possessing a license, permit, or other entitlement for use in which the officer or employee was personally and substantially involved is a restricted source to the officer or employee from when the applicant starts the proceeding until 12 months after the final decision regarding the permit or license is made.
Anyone who during the prior 12 months knowingly attempted to influence the officer or employee in any legislative or administrative action.
Any permit consultant who has registered with the Ethics Commission, if the permit consultant has reported any contacts with the designated employee’s or officer’s department to carry out permit consulting services during the prior 12 months.
For City officers, a registered lobbyist.
Relevant restricted source exceptions
Widely Attended Conferences. Free attendance at a widely attended convention, conference, seminar, symposium, or ribbon-cutting or ceremony, where attendance is appropriate to the officer’s or employee’s duties and the organizer of the event provides the free attendance voluntarily. This exception includes a waiver of all or part of an admission fee, local transportation, and food, refreshments, entertainment, or instructional materials provided to all attendees as an integral part of the event.
Ceremonial Role. A ticket provided to an official and one guest for admission to a facility, event, show, or performance for an entertainment, amusement, recreational, cultural, or similar purpose at which the official performs a ceremonial role on behalf of the official’s agency. A “ceremonial role” is an act performed at an event by the official as a representative of the City at the request of the holder of the event or function where, at least for part of that event or function, the focus of the event is on the act performed by the official.
Non-Profit Fundraisers. A single ticket provided by a non-profit organization to a fundraiser event hosted by the non-profit organization if the ticket is used by an official for whom attendance at the event is necessary to carry out the official’s City duties. Purposes that are “necessary to carry out the official’s City duties” may include attending an event to share information with other attendees, to build and maintain relationships with grant recipients or potential grant recipients for purposes of City business, or to show departmental support for City‐funded projects, so long as such tasks are part of the official’s City duties. The department may not use the ticket for employee appreciation or as a reward for public service. The department must publicly report tickets an employee or officer accepts under this exception as described in Section III below.
Tickets to Art, Cultural, Sporting, and Entertainment Events. A single ticket to an art exhibit, performance, athletic, sporting, cultural, or other entertainment event or production provided by an organization holding the event if the ticket is used by an official for whom attendance at the event is necessary to carry out the official’s City duties.
- Purposes that are “necessary to carry out the official’s City duties” may include monitoring City‐funded or permitted events, or assessing local events to inform future funding or permitting decisions, and ensuring proper use of City facilities, so long as such tasks are part of the official’s City duties.
- Employees of departments that regularly fund or permit arts, recreational, and culture events and productions, may accept a single additional ticket for a guest to accompany them to the event or production.
- The department may not use the ticket for employee appreciation or as a reward for public service. The department must publicly report tickets an employee or officer accepts under this exception.
Gifts to the City that benefit particular employees or officers
In narrow circumstances, a City department may accept a gift that would benefit a City official or a group of officials within the department, without violating any gift limits or rules that would otherwise apply. When a City agency or department receives a gift of goods or services that will benefit particular employees or officers rather than the department as a whole, state law imposes additional restrictions and reporting requirements. Such a gift may be considered a gift to the City and not to individual employees or officers, only if the following criteria are met. These requirements do not apply to gifts of travel or tickets received by a City department. Those gifts are addressed by separate regulations.
- The department uses the gift for official department business. Note that departments may accept and report some strictly programmatic gifts from a restricted source. Gifts to departments from restricted sources may not confer a personal benefit on an individual officer or employee but may confer operational or programmatic benefits to the department, which may be used by individual officers or employees, such as new office equipment in City facilities.
- The department head determines and controls the use of the gift and independently decides which officers or employees will use it. The department head may not select himself or herself as a recipient, unless the gift is a good or service that may be generally used by other department employees, such as a network printer connected to several office computers.
Roles and Responsibilities
Public Affairs – shall review the nature of all gifts of tickets offered to the Assessor to determine acceptability as a gift to the Department, make recommendations to the Deputy Assessor(s) for approval or rejection and disclose all gifts accepted by the Assessor as required.
Human Resources Manager – shall review the nature of all gifts of tickets offered to the department to determine acceptability, make recommendations to the Deputy Assessor(s) for approval or rejection and disclose all gifts accepted by the Department as required.
Deputy Assessors – shall recommend the approval or rejection of gifts of tickets to the Department and make recommendations for the distribution of any tickets accepted by the Department.
Assessor – shall approve all gifts accepted by the Department.
ASR Executive Team – consists of the Assessor, Deputy Assessor of Administration and Deputy Assessor of Operations. Together, the Executive team will decide how gifts of tickets are distributed to employees.
Procedure
Review
- All gifts of tickets or event passes to the Department must be reviewed to ensure they are not being offered by a restricted source
- If a gift is offered by restricted source, determine if an exception exists to accept the gift
- Determine the value of the ticket or event pass
- Make a recommendation to accept or reject the gift to the Deputy Assessor
- Determine the required disclosures to the SF Ethics Commission and Fair Political Practices Commission.
Acceptance
The Deputy Assessors will confer with the Assessor to decide on the acceptance of tickets and event passes.
Accepted tickets and event passes will be disclosed to the Ethics Commission or Fair Political Practices Commission as required
Distribution
The method of distributing tickets will depend upon the nature of the event and be determined by the ASR Executive Team considering:
- Relevance of the event to an employee’s job function
- Ability to represent the Department in an official capacity
- Option to provide the tickets on a first-come-first-served basis
- Other applicable criteria determined at the time of acceptance by the Deputy Assessors and approved by the Assessor
Reporting and Public Posting
Per the California Fair Political Practices Commission, an agency must post its ticket policy on its website. The Office of the Assessor-Recorder's policy is above.
Additionally, each use of a ticket or pass under the policy must be reported on the Fair Political Practices Form 802 and posted on the agency's website.
Below are the Office of the Assessor-Recorder's Form 802s.