The San Francisco Ethics Commission is seeking an unprecedented level of transparency in San Francisco politics by proposing a November ballot measure to require nonprofits, business interests and labor unions to reveal their lobbying activities. The measure is designed to reveal amounts spent on indirect lobbying including online petitions and advertising. (San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 2015, by Emily Green)
A grand jury report and a local watchdog group had called for greater transparency on lobbying. Some citizens were concerned that Airbnb in a contentious fight with the city had hired a strategy firm to help it legalize short term rentals. The firm had staged rallies supporting Airbnb. (San Francisco Examiner, June 30, 2015, by Joshua Sabatini)
Rebecca Cappy of the Alliance for Justice, August 4, 2015, opposes the measure arguing that it “would have a chilling effect on the vital participation of the nonprofit sector in shaping public policy in San Francisco.” She writes that nonprofits already have a host of laws federal and state and other pressures restricting them and further impediments may drive them out of the debate.