Now, the County Clerk's office has revealed that at least two other Coastside political boards have multiple members who have not submitted the Form 700 required of all elected and certain advisory boards.
Only one member from the Midcoast Community Council has the form on file, and only four out of eight members on the Pescadero Municipal Advisory Council have filed the paperwork.
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The MCC and the PMAC consist of publicly elected officials, whereas the Agricultural Advisory Committee comprises appointed members. Each group of officials are required to file the forms, according to the County Counsel's office.
"The issues are clearer with the Pescadero Council and the MCC. Those bodies are elected, and, no question, those members have to fill out the Form 700," said Supervisor Rich Gordon.
Form 700, which is written and enforced by the state's Fair Political Practices Commission, is designed to reveal potential conflicts of interest for public officials who might vote on legislation that could positively influence their own financial situations.
Nonetheless, a process intended for increasing transparency among government officials for the public's wellbeing quickly becomes a convoluted discussion when it concerns advisory bodies, elected or otherwise.
"If they are participating in a solely advisory capacity, then they are usually not required to file a form of economic conflict of interest," said Roman Porter, FPPC spokesman. But Porter added that every city council or board of supervisors ultimately gets to decide which committees are advisory, and which aren't.
Michael Murphy, San Mateo County Counsel, said last week that the Agricultural Advisory Committee makes "substantive recommendations" to the Planning Commission, and therefore meets the requirement for economic disclosure, despite the "advisory" disclaimer that sits in the middle of their name.
Even in the MCC and the PMAC, some members question whether the entire form is necessary for publicly elected members who serve in low-level government office. Many meetings for these two advisory bodies suffer lackluster public attendance. And a frequent complaint from members of both committees is that the Board of Supervisors doesn't listen anyway.
"It's a very broad form. It covers the governor on down. It can be very invasive," said PMAC member Rodger Reinhart. "Disclosure is fine, but a complete financial X-ray is a bit much."
Reinhart pointed out that PMAC members are publicly elected, but that in 2005 the County Counsel distinguished them from "public officials."
"I think that we could, as part of the process, say, 'If you're on this committee, you don't have to report investments, but you do have to report property,'" Gordon said in response to the concern. "We could do that. We have not done that."
Reinhart is one of four PMAC members who have the form on file. Geoff Allen, Pattie Brixen, Edward Dee and Kate Meyer do not.
Meyer said that she thought she had filed the form. When told by a reporter that the clerk's office did not have it on file, she feared it got lost in the shuffle. "I did put it in, but I should have called up (to confirm)," Meyer said. Allen, Brixen and Dee did not return calls by press time.
On the MCC, three sitting members and three newly elected members have yet to file. Only Council Chair Gael Erickson has submitted the Form 700.
"I thought I did, because I was reminding everyone else to do it (in years past)," said Kathryn Slater-Carter, whose current term began in 2005. "Well, I'm sitting here looking at a bunch of paperwork, and going, 'Me and paperwork are not friends.'"
Neil Merrilees, who won MCC election in November, said he hadn't been informed by Gordon's office about the requirement. Merrilees said a meeting was scheduled Saturday between new MCC members and Gordon's staff to review the Brown Act, Form 700 and other public matters, but the meeting was canceled due to bad weather.
"If somebody handed it to me, I'd love to fill it out," Merrilees said. "I've got one vacant lot, one project and one house. And there could be stuff coming up on the committee that could affect me."
Gordon said he has asked county counsel to clarify the disclosure situation "as quickly as possible," given that the next filing deadline is April 1.
All of the missing forms - not counting committee members who took office this fall - were due in April of 2007, and have been overdue since then.
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WHAT'S A FORM 700?
Elected and appointed officials on the Coastside have been sparring with the county for years about whether they really have to fill out a Form 700.
The state's Fair Political Practices Commission writes the Form 700, using it to extract economic information from public servants. Boiled down, here are some of the basics - both what the form requires and what it doesn't.
OFFICIALS MUST REPORT:
• If they (or their spouse) own any businesses outright;
• If they own any stocks or options worth more than $2,000 by a company that does business in the official's jurisdiction;
• Investments in a business's retirement account (pension funds);
• Property (excluding personal residences);
• Salary;
• Gross income from selling a house or car;
• Gifts - including tickets, wedding gifts, transportation and lodging - that are worth more than $50 and are from anyone outside the official's family.
WHAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO REPORT:
• Most diversified funds, such as Roth IRAs and 401(k)s;
• Savings and checking accounts;
• Government bonds;
• A personal residence or vacation home;
• Salary, if employed by a government agency;
• Campaign contributions.
- David F. Smydra Jr.
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