Two more nominees were approved for seats on the San Diego Ethics Commission on Tuesday, boosting the independent oversight board to full capacity for the first time since Kevin Faulconer was the mayor.
Retired Judge Laura Halgren and healthcare lobbyist and former political aide James Hauser were unanimously approved for the board that enforces San Diego election rules.
The vote came over a week after former Sheriff Bill Gore withdrew from consideration for the commission amid a flurry of criticism from criminal justice reform advocates and families of the more than 170 people who died in San Diego County jails on his watch.
“I’m looking forward to the ethics commission having the roster they need to do the important work they are tasked with,” Council President Sean Elo-Rivera said ahead of the vote.
The San Diego Ethics Commission is a seven-member panel created in 2001. It is the main body that enforces the city’s election laws.
As of July, the group was down to four members, meaning it could no longer issue discipline to candidates, elected officials or campaign filers and donors because it takes five votes to approve any penalty.
Because the commission also requires four votes to open an investigation, much of its work had slowed down in recent months.
In September, however, Mayor Todd Gloria nominated Gore and San Diego attorney Deval Zaveri to seats on the panel. The Gore nomination was immediately opposed by a host of critics, and the former sheriff withdrew early last week.
The Zaveri nomination was approved without much debate, pushing the board membership to five. The Halgren and Hauser appointments reinstate the full complement of members.
Halgren is a retired judge of the San Diego Superior Court who formerly served as a senior deputy state attorney general. She also has served as a legal affairs analyst and a contributor to multiple Southern California news publications.
The longtime judge will serve through June 2025.
Hauser works as a director of government affairs for Aya Healthcare, a Sorrento Valley-based travel-nursing company. He formerly managed Chris Cate’s winning 2014 council campaign and subsequently served as the council member’s chief of staff.
His term will run through June 2027.
The ethics commission so far this year has issued three separate fines.
Chelsea Investment Corp. was issued a $1,000 fine for failing to properly disclose a political contribution.
Councilmember Marni von Wilpert received a $6,200 penalty for 27 counts of not reporting political contributions in a timely manner.
And Midway Rising and Zephyr Acquisitions Group agreed to pay $5,000 to settle complaints that they violated city lobbying rules.
