JULY 27, 2009 -- There are three openings on the City of San Diego’s Ethics Commission, and some are concerned with the appearance of a conflict of interest in how those positions are being filled.
“City elected officials should not be confirming their own ethics commissioners,” says San Diego city councilmember Carl DeMaio. “That’s like the IRS letting you select your mom to audit your taxes.”
DeMaio’s comment came at a joint press conference with councilmember Donna Frye today at city hall.
San Diego’s Ethics Commission is a watchdog organization that can levy fines on the city’s politicians. Currently, the mayor and city council have final say in commission appointments.
Frye is concerned about, at the very least, the “appearance” of a lack of impartiality in Mayor Jerry Sanders not re-appointing Gil Cabrera, a vocal leader on the commission, which has levied fines over the past few years on sitting councilmembers, as well as campaign supporters of Mayor Sanders.
Sanders picked a candidate nominated by Councilmember Marti Emerald. But she withdrew the nomination when it was revealed the nominee, Evonne Shulze, had been a paid campaign organizer for Emerald, and that Emerald’s campaign was under investigation by the Ethics Commission.
Democrat Frye and Republican DeMaio have created a bipartisan plan to “restore maximum integrity and independence to the appointment process,” according to DeMaio. Their plan involves having a panel of randomly chosen retired judges have the final say on commission nominations made by politicians and the public.
“The mayor wants to fully staff the commission without a delay,” says Sanders spokesperson Rachel Laing. “If anyone wants to explore a new structure later, the mayor won’t block it in any way.”
The council is set to discuss the Ethics Commission vacancies tomorrow afternoon in council session. Based on an informal canvas of councilmembers, it appears quite up in the air whether Frye and DeMaio will get the delay they are seeking on having the positions filled under the current system.
