Thursday, April 04, 2013

10-Months Later, SF D.A. Files Travel Gift Disclosure 





It's news to me San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon flew to Arizona on June 7, 2012, to attend a meeting titled "Sheriff Arpaio and Abuse of Power", organized by Citizens for a Better Arizona which also $280 in airfare to bring Gascon to speak.

According to a disclosure form filed with the SF Ethics Commission, the travel took place on that date but was not divulged until March 29, almost ten-months later. What took him so long to make this disclosure? The form doesn't say.

The DA seems to be having trouble filing timely disclosures.

According to a story by Rebbeca Bowe in the Bay Guardian earlier this week, via the SF Chronicle, he accepted "payments and in-kind donations for office furniture, valued at $26,445, from a roster of influential donors. Although San Francisco’s top law enforcement official minimized the issue when questioned by reporters, it appears the DA may not have followed a number of state disclosure regulations when he accepted and reported the donation, which consists of a new glass-top desk and other trimmings to spruce up his executive office and the DA’s victim services lounge."
 
Failure to disclose gifts may not rise to the level of abuse of power by a law enforcement leader in San Francisco, and rules as far as I can see for such disclosure according to the Ethics Commission site don't spell out a deadline requirement, it seems the trip to Arizona should have been disclosed last year.

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