How We Differ from the Mayor’s Office of Ethics and Integrity

Ethics Commission

The City of San Diego Ethics Commission has the responsibility of monitoring, administering, and enforcing the City’s governmental ethics laws; conducting audits and investigations; providing formal and informal advice to persons who fall within the jurisdiction of the Commission; conducting training sessions for the regulated community; and proposing governmental ethics law reforms. Governmental ethics laws include the Ethics Ordinance (PDF: 76K), as well as the Election Campaign Control Ordinance (PDF: 110K) and the Municipal Lobbying Ordinance (PDF: 157K). The Ethics Commission accepts complaints regarding alleged violations of laws within its jurisdiction, and protects individuals from retaliation for reporting violations. The Ethics Commission may impose fines up to $5,000 for each violation of local governmental ethics laws.

Persons that fall within the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission include the following:

• Mayor, Councilmembers, City Attorney, and their respective staffs
• unclassified City managers
• City candidates & campaign committees
• members of boards & commissions who file Statements of Economic Interests
• members of Project Area Committees
• consultants who file Statements of Economic Interests
• lobbyists

Examples of ethics issues that fall within the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission:

• disclosure of economic interests
• conflicts of interest involving an official’s economic interests
• restrictions on gifts, loans, honoraria, and travel payments
• valuation of gifts
• use of City position for private gain
• use of City equipment/supplies/time for private gain
• use of City equipment/supplies/time for campaign activities
• solicitation of campaign contributions from City employees
• post-employment lobbying activities
• retaliation for reporting violations

Examples of campaign issues that fall within the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission:

• contribution source and amount limitations
• campaign expenditures
• permitted uses of campaign funds
• campaign disclosure reports
• campaign bank accounts
• campaign loans
• surplus campaign funds
• time periods for contributions
• campaign money laundering
• extensions of vendor credit
• legal defense funds
• campaign advertising

Examples of lobbying issues that fall within the jurisdiction of the Ethics Commission:

• registration of lobbyists
• filing of quarterly reports
• payment of registration fees
• amendments to registration forms

The Ethics Commission currently provides mandatory training on the Ethics Ordinance (PDF: 76K) for elected officials and their staffs, members of City boards and commissions, and all unclassified City managers. The Ethics Commission also provides training to City candidates and their campaign staff on the provisions of the City’s Election Campaign Control Ordinance (PDF: 110K)

Mayor’s Office of Ethics and Integrity

The City of San Diego Mayor’s Office of Ethics and Integrity (“OEI”) is tasked to provide a program for all employees who work in departments under the Mayor. This program includes ethics training which provides information to employees concerning relevant ethics related state/local law/regulations/policies and procedures, such as the City Code of Ethics (PDF: 71K), Conflict of Interest and Employee Conduct (PDF: 83K), to name a few. Included training is values based training designed to improve each employee’s understanding of ethics with the purpose of strengthening his/her ethical decision-making skills.

OEI also maintains the Employee Ethics Hotline where any employees may confidentially report unethical behavior, in addition to waste, fraud, and abuse 24 hours a day. OEI reviews, refers (including to the Ethics Commission where appropriate), and monitors each complaint until its resolution/disposition. It is responsible for developing ethics educational/informational resources, such as a comprehensive Employee Code of Conduct Handbook, for all City employees (unclassified and classified) who work in departments under the Office of the Mayor.