DeMaio Releases “Integrity First” Plan for Ethics and Transparency Reforms

Integrity First Plan
Improving Ethics and Transparency at City Hall

Carl DeMaio is urging elected officials at City Hall and community leaders across the city to help lead a public dialogue on ways to enhance ethics and transparency at City Hall. To contribute to this much-needed dialogue, DeMaio is proposing several reforms as part of his INTEGRITY “FIRST” Plan.

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Free Gifts and Travel: Similar to the self-imposed ban he used during his time on the City Council, DeMaio is proposing a gift ban and travel ban for all elected officials. Filner abused the travel rules to accept a pricy trip to Paris, France – violating state law and costing the taxpayers more than $20,000 dollars. Just as City Councilmembers must receive a consent vote to be excused from missing Council meetings, any legitimate travel for an elected official paid for by outside non-profits should be publicly disclosed prior to accepting the funding and acceptance of funding subject to a vote of the City Council on the Consent Calendar.

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Inspector General on Development Projects: To ensure that all development projects are approved in a manner consistent with the law, and to prevent any inappropriate pressure on project applicants, appoint an Inspector General who would be placed in the City Attorney’s office to receive and investigate any allegations. The Inspector General would also be able to self-initiative random reviews – and would work with Development Services Department staff to improve their understanding of proper and ethical rules governing negotiations on projects.

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Recall Reforms: The Filner scandals demonstrated that the existing rules for recalling and removing unethical elected officials are broken. DeMaio is proposing that the Municipal Code be amended to emulate the same timeframe that the State of California uses for collection of recall signatures – extending the 39 day timeframe to a more reasonable 120-180 period. Additionally, DeMaio is proposing that the City Charter be revised to include a provision whereby the City Council with 7 votes may – upon recommendation from the City Attorney – place a recall question on the ballot without requiring citizens to collect signatures.

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Swearing In Requirements: The Filner Administration failed to require the Mayor or his top deputies to comply with State of California mandates for sexual harassment training. DeMaio proposes that elected officials must complete any required ethics training prior to taking their oath of office.

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Transparency on Public Records: The Filner Administration outright violated the California Public Records Act (PRA) on a consistent basis. The citizens and the media have a right to request and receive any public documents, emails or information in a timely and complete manner. The current flawed process for responding to PRA requests allows the individual departments and elected officials to decide what records are responsive and whether to provide the records. This “self-enforcement” approach is insufficient to maintain the highest standards of transparency.

To strongly enforce transparency rules at City Hall, Carl DeMaio is proposing that the City Auditor’s Office be charged with handling all PRA Requests. The Auditor’s Office would be provided two additional staff members to receive requests, work with the City Attorney’s Office to ensure proper handling of the request, examine records of the pertinent Departments, and place the results of all requests online for the public to see. Placing responses to PRA’s online can also achieve efficiencies – as some PRA’s are duplicative each year.

A Call to Action – Learning Lessons & Making Reforms

San Diego has suffered months of turmoil due to a complete failure by the Filner Administration to follow acceptable standards for ethical conduct and transparent government. The crisis caused by Bob Filner reflects not only his own personal ethical failings, but reflects flaws in a variety of processes at City Hall.

While Filner’s removal from office is an important step forward and can start a period of healing, we must insist that any lessons-learned from this painful period be addressed immediately through common-sense reforms at City Hall.

DeMaio Commits To Help Implement Reforms

“We must insist on the highest standards of ethics and transparency at City Hall,” DeMaio said in releasing his Integrity First Plan.

“This should be a time of healing for San Diego, and I hope by releasing my Integrity First Plan, it will add to a long-overdue public discussion on how to hold city government accountable,” DeMaio concluded.