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Ethics Commission

Help and Advice

One of the primary duties of the Ethics Commission is to serve as an educational resource for individuals under its jurisdiction. In this regard, the Ethics Commission offers a variety of educational materials and resources to City officials, candidates for City office and their campaign staff, lobbyists, and others whose actions are subject to the City's governmental ethics laws. In addition to providing live and online training to City officials, the Ethics Commission publishes on its website a variety of advice letters, fact sheets, and answers to frequently asked questions; all which are designed to provide plain language information regarding the City's campaign finance laws, Ethics Ordinance and Lobbying Ordinance.

  • Candidates and campaign treasurers interested in reviewing the City's campaign laws, campaign manuals, fact sheets, and FAQs can find these materials on our Candidates and Committees page.
  • Lobbyists, lobbying firms, organization lobbyists, and expenditure lobbyists interested in reviewing the City's lobbying laws, the Lobbying Manual, fact sheets, and FAQs can find these materials on our Lobbyists page.
  • City Officials interested in reviewing the City's ethics laws, ethics sheets, and FAQs can find these materials on our City Officials page.

In addition, Commission staff is available to provide technical assistance by telephone (619) 533-3476 and by email: ethicscommission@sandiego.gov. Please note that the Ethics Commission only offers prospective advice; it does not provide assistance concerning anyone's past conduct. Accordingly, individuals are strongly urged to contact the Ethics Commission before engaging in activities that are subject to the City's governmental ethics laws. In addition, the Ethics Commission only provides assistance directly to individuals under its jurisdiction regarding their personal conduct. In other words, it does not comment to anyone regarding what another person should, or should not, be doing.