The Sunshine Ordinance Task Force found in January that Mayor Daniel Lurie’s office violated San Francisco’s transparency laws by withholding records related to the October call between Lurie and President Donald Trump that immediately preceded the cancellation of a federal immigration enforcement surge planned for San Francisco later that week.
It then referred the matter to the Ethics Commission, which concluded Friday that the referral did not contain enough evidence to determine whether an elected official or department head had committed a willful violation.
Commissioners returned the matter to the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force to consider whether to issue a new referral over willful violation. But that’s not currently possible because the task force, San Francisco’s primary enforcement body for government transparency laws, has effectively been hollowed out. Nine of its 11 voting seats are vacant because the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee failed to act on members’ reappointments before their terms expired.
The task force referred the matter to the Ethics Commission earlier this year to prompt action. The commission has the authority to issue subpoenas, investigate further and determine whether penalties are warranted. Ordinarily, the task force would send an authorized representative to explain its findings and answer commissioners’ questions. An oral presentation provides an opportunity to clarify the reasoning behind the task force’s findings, said former task force chair Matthew Yankee.
“It’s hard to gauge what might come up until you’re there in person and seeing what they’re thinking and what questions they might have,” he said.
But the task force could not authorize anyone to present to the commission this time because it lacked a quorum. Nevertheless, task force member Bruce Wolfe, whose term did not expire, and former member David Pilpel attended the commission meeting to explain their rationale.
“I’m speaking as an individual,” Pilpel said. “It seems unlikely that a phone call from the president to the mayor would not have staff analysis, note or reflection before or after. An investigation might confirm that.”
Commissioners did not ask Wolfe or Pilpel any follow-up questions before returning the complaint to the task force. The case is now in limbo until the task force can resume its work.
The vacant seats have also left the task force unable to issue new findings or hear new public records or open meetings complaints and it may be unable to function again for several months.
Yankee said that if the Board of Supervisors does not approve the reappointments to vacant seats before its August recess, the task force would be unable to meet again before October.
That’s worrying, he said, because the task force had been getting an increased number of complaints in the last several months.
“The backlog of complaints is growing, and that means that it’s going to take us that much longer to resolve cases once the task force can meet again,” he said.
He said delays are particularly problematic because cases involving public records and open meetings often require timely resolution.
A new rule might have created the problem
Yankee said he suspects the task force’s current suspension stems from an ordinance adopted this year as part of the board’s streamlining of city commissions.
Historically, the task force and many other non-charter commissions could continue operating with members serving indefinitely after their terms expired and while they waited for the board to act on reappointments. The new ordinance states that members must vacate their seats 60 days after their terms expire unless the board reappoints them, even if they’ve submitted their reappointment nominations.
The task force’s continuity appeared threatened last year when a voter-approved effort to streamline the city’s boards and commissions recommended that the body be automatically dissolved whenever appointments lapsed. The streamlining panel ultimately withdrew its recommendation, however the new ordinance has the same practical effect. Three regularly scheduled meetings of the task force and its committees since June 23 have been canceled, rendering the city’s primary body for enforcing public access laws dormant.
Yankee said the change is likely creating the same problem across multiple city boards and commissions since so many reappointments now must be considered within a compressed timeline.
“This is absolutely not business as usual,” he said.
Shamann Walton, chair of the Board of Supervisors Rules Committee, which vets applicants to city commissions, did not respond to requests for comment.
Transparency groups raise alarm
Organizations responsible for nominating four of the task force’s 11 voting members say the prolonged appointment delays threaten the city’s ability to enforce its open government laws.
“How our city government works is the public’s business and it’s not a courtesy,” said Kate Degelau-Pierce, co-president of the League of Women Voters of San Francisco, which nominates one task force member. “This is people’s right under the law, and the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force is what makes that law mean something.”
She said the organization was particularly puzzled because the board’s Rules Committee has continued processing appointments to other commissions. Yet the league received no response since sending its reappointment nomination for longtime member Maxine Anderson in June.
The Society of Professional Journalists Northern California chapter, which nominates three task force members, also expressed concern.
Laura Wenus, SPJ NorCal treasurer, said the group submitted its nominations in March and she was unaware that appointment delays had left the task force unable to function. She said any interruption to the city’s transparency enforcement system was troubling and worries complaints will languish while the task force cannot meet.
“The people who are bringing those cases might lose interest or run out of time, or they might become obsolete,” she said.
To avoid disruptions in the future, Yankee said, terms for commissions like the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force should be staggered so that a large majority of seats do not become subject to the 60-day reappointment deadline at the same time.
The combination of synchronized terms and the 60-day limit, he said, is “not really serving the public well.”
Disclosure: San Francisco Public Press Executive Director Lila LaHood has been nominated for reappointment to the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force. She was not involved in the reporting, writing or editing of this story.
Correction, July 10, 2026 7:35 pm: This story was updated to correct Bruce Wolfe’s status as a current member of the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force.
