To: City Council From: Mayor Ron Gonzales

Subject: Campaign Finance Review and Date: May 23, 2003

Ethics Board Appointments

RECOMMENDATION

Direct the City Clerk to reopen the recruitment for applicants to fill the remaining vacancies on the Campaign Finance Review and Ethics Board because of the insufficient number of finalists for City Council interviews and have this item return to Council on August 12, 2003.

BACKGROUND

The Campaign Finance Review and Ethics Board plays a critical role to ensure the fairness of and public confidence in San José’s municipal election process. Because of the importance of this Board, the City Council has a great responsibility to select the best applicants from the strongest pool possible.

At this time, only two applicants from a prior pool have expressed an interest in advancing to the final round of the Council interview process. Regardless of their qualifications, we must do our due diligence to identify, interview, and select the most qualified candidates for this Board. Since the next Council election cycle begins this fall, we have adequate time to re-notice the vacancies and recruit additional applicants for our consideration to ensure we have a good pool to choose from.