SEC. 1.530. CODE OF CONDUCT.
§ 1.530
Campaign consultants in San Francisco must elect at registration whether to voluntarily adopt a Code of Conduct that prohibits false statements about candidates and measures, appeals to prejudice, financial inducements, and other unethical campaign practices, with a requirement to correct inadvertent false statements within five days.
When campaign consultants register or re-register in San Francisco, they can choose to follow a voluntary Code of Conduct. This code says they must know campaign laws, not make false claims about candidates or ballot measures, not make up fake support or opposition, and correct any honest mistakes in writing within five days. They also promise not to appeal to people's prejudices based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, disability, or economic status; not use money or threats to get support; not manipulate ballot measures just to get paid; and not knowingly help create false campaign ads. They also agree to disclose any deals where they might profit from influencing a ballot measure, not help others break campaign laws, and not work for clients with conflicting interests.
- Controversial:Campaign conduct standards and enforcement of campaign ethics are subjects of legitimate public debate and disagreement about what rules are appropriate.
- Could be simpler:The eleven separate pledges could be reorganized into broader categories (truthfulness, anti-discrimination, anti-corruption, conflict-of-interest avoidance) to make the underlying principles clearer to consultants and the public.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
At the time of initial registration and reregistration, each campaign consultant must elect whether to voluntarily comply with the following Code of Conduct:
"I am familiar with all the laws, rules and regulations applicable to local campaigns;
"I will not knowingly make false statements about the qualifications or positions of any candidate, or about the scope and effect of any measure;
"I will not knowingly make false statements that any real or fictitious person supports or opposes a candidate or measure;
"In the event that I make inadvertent false statements about the qualifications or positions of any candidate or about the scope and effect of any measure, I will endeavor to provide corrected information in written form to the Ethics Commission within five days;
"I will refrain from appealing to prejudice in the conduct of a campaign, and from conducting, managing or advising a campaign, which appeals to prejudice based on race, gender, ethnic background, religious affiliation or nonaffiliation, sexual orientation, age, disability, or economic status;
"I will refrain from seeking to obtain the support of or opposition to any candidate or measure by the use of financial inducements or by the use of threats or coercion;
"I will refrain from influencing the submission of a measure to the San Francisco voters for the sole purpose of obtaining economic consideration for campaign consulting services;
"I will disclose through a filing at the San Francisco Ethics Commission any agreements that would result in a campaign consulting contract resulting from my efforts to influence the submission of a measure to the San Francisco voters at the time that I seek submission of any such measure;
"I will refrain from seeking to evade, or participating in efforts of others to evade, the legal requirements in laws pertaining to political campaigns;
"I will not knowingly participate in the preparation, dissemination, or broadcast of paid political advertising or campaign materials that contain false information; and
"I will refrain from accepting clients whose interests are adverse to each other."
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000) (Derivation: Former Administrative Code Section 16.546; added by Proposition G, 11/4/97)